What is the difference between sort and index

For example:. The table below compares the benefits and drawbacks of sorting and indexing, and lists operations that require either sorting or indexing as a prerequisite. Outputs results to a new, physically separate Analytics table.

The option you specify defines what sort sequence is used when you sort or index records, or test sequential order, using a character field. A sort sequence is like a template against which Analytics compares the first character or characters of each value in a character field when sorting, indexing, testing sequential order, or performing a quick sort. The table below shows the default Analytics Sort Order setting and the associated sort sequence. Characters with diacritical marks occur at the end of the sequence and use the same uppercase before lowercase internal sequence.

You can change the Sort Order to a different language if it better matches the data you are analyzing. In the non-Unicode edition of Analytics , when you select a different language, you have the option of modifying the associated sort sequence by changing the order of the characters in the Sort Order text box.

Whatever characters you specify will be sorted before all other characters, and in the sequence you specify. For example, you could specify that lowercase and uppercase letters are intermixed by entering the values aAbBcC The default sort sequence for individual languages is derived from the byte order of each character in its character set. You can view the byte order of characters in character sets using the Windows Character Map.

Some operations, such as linking tables, require indexes. Using functions. With sorting, you can use fields only, in ascending or descending order. Adding rows. If you add rows to an indexed table, the index is updated automatically so that the rows appear in the correct order. If you add or change rows in an already-sorted table, you might need to sort it again.

Mixing field types. With indexing, you must convert field values to a common field type, for example, converting the sale date to a character type. With sorting, you can order rows on fields with different field types; for example, you can sort on customer number a character field and sale date a date field , without converting them to a common field type. Mixing order. With indexes, the entire index is either ascending or descending. With sorting, you can mix fields sorted in ascending and descending order.

What is the difference between Indexing and Sorting? Indexing and sorting are two methods that can be used to create an order in a data table. Indexing would create an index file that contains only the logical order of rows along with their physical position in the table whereas with sorting, a copy of the sorted table has to be stored.

Usually, the index file requires lesser space than storing a sorted table. Furthermore, some operations like running queries and searching would be faster with a table with indexes. In addition, indexing would not change the original order in the table, while sorting would change the order of rows.

Also, operation such as linking tables would require having an index. Indika, BSc.