Sorting Fields

Sorting Fields

Sort fields determine the order in which records appear on the report. Most reports with dollar amounts, including several reports from the Gifts and Grants Management modules, allow you to include subtotal lines for subgroups of records in the report (a grand total always is included).

To include subtotals for groups, the report must be sorted into those groups. For example, when a historic Gift listing is sorted by ID Code, all Gifts given by a particular Donor are grouped and subtotal lines can be printed that sum the Gift Amounts for each Donor.

Note: You can include up to six subtotal lines in your reports. However, for most reports, only one or two sorts will be meaningful.

Example: Historic Gifts Sorted and Subtotaled by ID Code

In the FIMS Report Selections window, click the Sorting tab.
Example: Sorting Tab

Click the drop-down on the upper left-hand side of the tab and select the table (or tab) that you want to select fields from. This allows you to select the desired table and view only those fields (instead of having to scroll through all of the available fields, in all available tables to get to the one you want).

Note: Many reports include a Frequently Used Fields option in the drop-down that shows the fields that are most often included in the report. When you first access the Sorting tab, the Frequently Used Fields are displayed by default. You can select from this list or choose the desired table / tab to locate the desired fields.

Select the field that you want to use to sort your report from the left-hand pane and then click the Add button. The selected field is added to the right-hand pane.

Tip: You can add multiple criteria at one time by holding down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and selecting multiple items from the list before clicking the Add button.

Tip: If you want to remove any sorting criteria from the list, select it in the right-hand pane and click the Remove button.

(Optional) If you want to rearrange the selected sorting criteria, click the Move Up or Move Down buttons until your criteria are in the desired order.

Select either the Ascending or Descending radio button to determine whether your report will be sorted in ascending (A through Z) or descending (Z through A) format. The default sort order is Ascending.

(Optional) If you want to subtotal on the selected field, highlight the desired field in the right-hand pane and then select the Subtotal checkbox.

Tip: You can include more than one subtotal line in your reports.

(Optional) If you want to run the report in Totals Only mode (the detail will be suppressed, and only the totals for the sorting criteria will be displayed), highlight the desired field in the right-hand pane and then select the Totals Only checkbox.

Once you have added all of the desired selection criteria, click the Affiliations tab to continue setting up the report. Refer to Choosing Affiliation Codes for more information.

Note: The Affiliations tab is not available for all reports. If there is no Affiliations tab available, refer to Setting Mailing Options. If there is no Mailing tab for the report you are running, refer to Setting Send To Options.