How can i sort y axis with category name

[PARKER-X]

how can i sort 0-5,5-10 etc

I tried CASE experience_band_sort
WHEN 1 THEN '0-5 yrs'
WHEN 2 THEN '5-10 yrs'
WHEN 3 THEN '10-15 yrs'
WHEN 4 THEN '15-20 yrs'
WHEN 5 THEN '20+ yrs'
ELSE 'Unknown'
END
if i use experience_band_sort than it works but don't want 1,2,3,4,5 etc i hope u understand what am i trying to say

[dosubot[bot]]

@PARKER-X The trick is to keep your text labels as the dimension and use the numeric CASE expression as a separate sorting metric — not as the dimension itself.

Here's how:

1. Add a calculated column (or include it in your SQL) that returns the sort order number:

   CASE 
     WHEN experience_band = '0-5 yrs' THEN 1
     WHEN experience_band = '5-10 yrs' THEN 2
     WHEN experience_band = '10-15 yrs' THEN 3
     WHEN experience_band = '15-20 yrs' THEN 4
     WHEN experience_band = '20+ yrs' THEN 5
   END

2. In your chart config:

   • Dimension (Y-axis): use experience_band (the text labels like "0-5 yrs")
   • Sort By / timeseries_limit_metric: use MIN(experience_band_sort) or MAX(experience_band_sort) — the numeric column — as the sorting metric [1]

This way the chart displays the text labels but orders them by the hidden numeric value.

Simpler alternative: If the above doesn't work well for your chart type, you can prefix the labels with zero-padded numbers in your CASE expression [1]:

CASE 
  WHEN experience_band_sort = 1 THEN '01. 0-5 yrs'
  WHEN experience_band_sort = 2 THEN '02. 5-10 yrs'
  WHEN experience_band_sort = 3 THEN '03. 10-15 yrs'
  WHEN experience_band_sort = 4 THEN '04. 15-20 yrs'
  WHEN experience_band_sort = 5 THEN '05. 20+ yrs'
END

Alphabetical sorting will then naturally produce the correct order.

Note: Superset doesn't have a built-in UI for arbitrary custom category ordering, so a data-driven approach like one of these is the standard way to handle it [2].

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[PARKER-X]

2nd solution works but don't look good

[rusackas]

Doe the first one work? Seems reasonable enough.

I would think you can also do something like 00-05 years, 05-10, 10-15, and then those leading zeros would make the alphanumeric sorting by string correct... though the leading zeros might look a bit odd.

[FrancescoCastaldi]

When working with categorical bands (such as '0-5 yrs', '5-10 yrs', '10-15 yrs', '20+ yrs'), standard alphabetical sorting fails because '10-15 yrs' precedes '5-10 yrs'.

You can sort your categories in the correct logical sequence without displaying numeric prefixes (1, 2, 3...) in the chart using either of the following approaches:

Method 1: Use a Custom SQL Metric in the "Sort By" Control (Recommended)

In the chart configuration panel in Explore:

1. Keep your categorical column (experience_band) on the X-axis (or Y-axis in a horizontal bar chart).
2. Look at the Sort By / Order by control section.
3. Switch from selecting a pre-existing column to Custom SQL.
4. Enter the ordering logic using a CASE expression wrapped in an aggregate (such as MIN or MAX):

MIN(CASE experience_band
  WHEN '0-5 yrs' THEN 1
  WHEN '5-10 yrs' THEN 2
  WHEN '10-15 yrs' THEN 3
  WHEN '15-20 yrs' THEN 4
  WHEN '20+ yrs' THEN 5
  ELSE 99
END)

5. Set the sort direction to Ascending (uncheck "Sort descending").

Because this SQL expression is added to the generated ORDER BY clause, the database orders the category buckets by their numeric rank (1, 2, 3...), while the axis labels display the clean string values (0-5 yrs, 5-10 yrs...).

Method 2: Dataset Calculated Column with Zero-Width Unicode Spaces

If your chart plugin does not expose a separate Sort By metric when grouping categories:

1. In Data -> Datasets -> Edit Dataset -> Calculated Columns, create a new column named experience_band_display.
2. Prefix each string with varying numbers of invisible zero-width spaces (U+200B):

CASE
  WHEN experience_band = '0-5 yrs' THEN CONCAT(CHAR(8203), '0-5 yrs')
  WHEN experience_band = '5-10 yrs' THEN CONCAT(CHAR(8203), CHAR(8203), '5-10 yrs')
  WHEN experience_band = '10-15 yrs' THEN CONCAT(CHAR(8203), CHAR(8203), CHAR(8203), '10-15 yrs')
  WHEN experience_band = '20+ yrs' THEN CONCAT(CHAR(8203), CHAR(8203), CHAR(8203), CHAR(8203), '20+ yrs')
  ELSE experience_band
END

Alphabetical sorting will naturally sort by the invisible character count while human eyes in the browser see clean text labels.