The Sort Data tool can be utilized to sort data in any specific order you would like. To sort the data you have to provide the sort order you would like in the form of a comma separated string.

This is very useful if you need to sort your data in a particular order for grouped bar charts, heatmaps or correlation maps.

For example, if you had a list of samples (data titles) of lectins in the order: AAL, ConA, DBA, DSL. If you draw the heatmap, you will see this order of samples on the top. However, you wanted the order to be: DBA, DSL, ConA, AAL, all you have to do is:

  1. Click on the  button.
  2. Put the Sort Data Order as “DBA,DSL,ConA,AAL”
    Note the query string does not need to contain full names of the samples, just enough information to differentiate between the 4 names is sufficient.
  3. Click the  button to sort the data by the Titles.

If you now draw the heatmap, the samples will be in the order DBA, DSL, ConA and AAL.