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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2023-06-23
Concept: Report Sorting Behavior

Concept: Report Sorting Behavior

Workday uses International Components for Unicode (ICU) collation to compare and sort text strings, making it easier to find data within a list. Because sorting data alphabetically can vary among languages, Workday sorts the data according to the locale of the report runner. Example: The letters A through Z sort differently in English than in Bulgarian, Lithuanian, or Japanese.
Workday takes these characters into consideration when sorting for custom or standard reports and drill-down data:
  • Spaces.
  • Special characters, such as dashes, parentheses, and tildes.
Example: Workday sorts data based on the placement of spaces within a text string. Spaces take precedence over letters and numbers.
Sort Order for Spaces Before ICU Collation
Sort Order for Spaces After ICU Collation
  1. John Apple
  2. Johnny Mango
  3. John Pear
  1. John Apple
  2. John Pear
  3. Johnny Mango
Example: Workday sorts data based on the use of special characters within a text string. Special characters take precedence over letters and numbers, but not spaces.
Sort Order for Special Characters Before ICU Collation
Sort Order for Special Characters After ICU Collation
  1. 123456789
  2. 123-456-789
  3. 213456789
  1. 123-456-789
  2. 123456789
  3. 213456789
The current Unicode Standard determines special character precedence. The selection is consistent across tenants.