topic Re: How do I sort my dates in order? in Discussions

How do I sort my dates in order?

cchueng — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 00:22:03 GMT

Attached is my data table. You can see that my dates in the x-axis in my chart is not in order. How do I write a script to sort the date column before I build the chart? Notice that my date column in the table is in char.

Re: How do I sort my dates in order?

Dan_Obermiller — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 01:04:41 GMT

This is a common problem when you are new to JMP. Dates should be stored as a number. Numbers are right-justified in the data table. Your date column is stored as a character string, which you can tell because it is left-justified. JMP orders character strings alphabetically. I added a column to convert your date to numeric. Open up the column info on the new Date field so you can see how this conversion is made. It could have been done on the original date column, but I thought it would be harder for you to see.

Re: How do I sort my dates in order?

txnelson — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 01:02:35 GMT

The vDate column needs to be converted to a JMP Date value.

Double click on the vdate column header to open the Col Info column
Click on Remove Formula
Change the Data Type to Numeric
Change the Modeling Type to Continuous
Click on the down arrow for the Format and select Date=>m/d/y
Click on OK

Your column should now be in a JMP date format. You can now use Tables=>Sort to sort the data table.

Re: How do I sort my dates in order?

cchueng — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 05:04:22 GMT

Hello Dan,

I know how to do it in JMP. But how do you write a script in JSL to convert the vDate column from char to numeric date?

Re: How do I sort my dates in order?

cchueng — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 05:04:57 GMT

Hello Jim,

I know how to do it in JMP. But how do you write a script in JSL to convert the vDate column from char to numeric date?

Re: How do I sort my dates in order?

txnelson — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 05:48:32 GMT

JMP will create the JSL version of how to do the conversion, after you go through it interactively.

Here is the JSL taken from the log, after I converted the column interactively

// Change column info: vDate
Data Table( "table1" ):vDate << Data Type(
	Numeric,
	Format( "m/d/y", 10 ),
	Input Format( "m/d/y" )
) << Delete Formula << Set Modeling Type( "Continuous" ) << Set Field Width( 12 );You

Re: How do I sort my dates in order?

cchueng — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 05:57:31 GMT

Hi Jim,

A big thank you, it worked for me!