Ian Bennett on 17 Feb 2017 08:50:54
At least as an option, allow fields to be ordered the same as the source query rather than alphabetical. This way they can be put in a logical and consistent order.
Obviously, a workaround is to prefix each column name with a number but this is clunky, unattractive and a pain if the columns change often.
- Comments (77)
RE: Customize fields list ordering
It is amazing that this was not implemented in the first release of PowerBI Desktop let alone left unaddressed for years. Does anyone want to always be forced to have their fields listed in alphabetical order when designing in PowerBI desktop? (Not talking about sorting in visuals) It makes one wonder if any user testing or feedback was considered in the initial design of the interface. Does anyone know if there is a reason why this would be difficult to fix?
RE: Customize fields list ordering
Database fields in a table are always created in a specific order. When working with the tables in BI it creates an unnecessary unfamiliarity when working with the tables, especially when you are used to working with them in their designed order. I agree with an earlier comment, the original order should be the default, and alphabetical order an option. Especially when working with databases.
RE: Customize fields list ordering
Many have already said it. When looking for populating certain logical data objects, like an address, we would like to be able to customize this order.
Street
City
State/Region
Zip
Country
Not alphabetical:
City
Country
State/Region
Street
Zip
And that's a simple example where you don't have addressee type information like a customer name or customer contact, etc. Add that, and the alphabetical representation makes even less sense to the end user.
City
Country
Name
Phone
State/Region
Street
Zip
Also, a similar idea seems to have been recorded here: https://ideas.powerbi.com/ideas/idea/?ideaid=fa1e508d-c4fe-4886-b6f1-cc4c9b8b7757
RE: Customize fields list ordering
Please implement the field's list ordering. Having the field list in alphabetical just make me create many tables that I consider annoying.
RE: Customize fields list ordering
How has this been up for several years and hasn't been implemented yet?
RE: Customize fields list ordering
Please implement this.
RE: Customize fields list ordering
This should be a option...pain ********** when you create data sets with specific columns at the end on purpose so that you can easily find them....
RE: Customize fields list ordering
Please implement. Even the Pivot table in Excel has this basic feature.
RE: Customize fields list ordering
I've used the software for 20 minutes and run into this immediately. This is appalling default behavior. Yikes.
RE: Customize fields list ordering
I can't believe this can't be done yet. Often I work with primary data with 100+ fields extracted straight from databases which need to be constantly updated from PBI (I won't download the whole database everytime, so I can't do the column prefix workaround). Most databases have a logical order in their fields. The alphabetical ordering makes me lose so much time looking for each field because it's extremely ILLOGICAL.