How to sort a Table Frame on a Field not being actively shown

[KateNewell1]

I have a table frame that I have added to my ArcGIS Pro layout.  I need to sort the information on a number field that I am not actively displaying on the map in the Table Frame.  Only the fields that are showing in the Table Frame are allowed to be sorted on as far as I can tell?  Would be really helpful if you could sort on fields in the table regardless of whether or not they are displayed.  Maybe I'm missing something?

[DanPatterson_Retired]

did you try sorting then hiding the field? never had a use case for your workflow, but maybe it might work

[KateNewell1]

That is a good idea! I tried it but when I sorted and then hid the field, it reverted back to the old sorting. 

I have alpha-numeric data I am sorting on. I created a new field that is numeric to sort the table/legend but don't want to display the numeric information (SA_NUM needs to be used to sort but not shown on layout. See below:

[KateNewell1]

I guess another workaround would be to use the "Sort" tool in Data Management.  Seems like more work and a new table creation than should be necessary but could work.

[DanPatterson_Retired]

or maybe just uncheck its visibility once sorted

[KateNewell1]

That is what I did and it reverted to the old sorting.

[KoryKramer]

Hi Kate, I reviewed the idea that you posted.  Allow sorting on any field in Table Frames 

It's a totally valid idea.

While I was playing with this, though, I thought I might offer a quick workaround.

Could you just place the column used for sorting outside of the page?

So you would see this in Pro:

And when you export it, you end up with:

Just a thought so that you don't have to run the Sort gp tool etc. etc.

[KateNewell1]

Thanks Kory! Yep that could work too.  I have a set of tasks that run to create the legend tables, so adding the sort at the end of the tasks worked too.  Just seemed like a simple tweak to the table frames that could make them more powerful/productive

Thanks!

-Kate

[Mark_Johnson]

What worked for me was leaving the sort column(s) visible in the table frame, turning off Auto Width, then setting the column width(s) to zero (makes it 0.0001 actually), then the "hidden" columns can be used in the table frame Sorting rules.

(I also up-voted your Idea, IMO logically it should default to how the table view is sorted)

[JordanSeider]

Thanks for this suggestion! When I went to 0.0001 width, though, it still showed the first letters so I changed the font to have a clear colour. 

Really hope ESRI can implement this in future updates.