O3 Browser allows you to rank the elements in the analyzed dimensions according to different criteria the user can easily specify.
From the "Ranking" option in the "Explore" menu, or from the corresponding icon in the Toolbar, the dialogue box shown in picture 1 is displayed.
The "Sort" tag, in the dialogue box allows users to define the ranking of data viewed in the analysis pane.

Picture 1: Defining the ranking of elements.
The ranking definition pane is divided in sections where the user may specify the desired sorting criteria. These sections are:

Sort type

It specifies if the elements of one dimension are to be sorted within the dimension itself, or if the dimension will be sorted according to the elements of a dimension located on the other axis. The options are "Sort dimension" and "Sort By" respectively.

Axis to which sorting is applied

Which axis is to be affected by the sorting should be indicated. If a graph is viewed, the options are "X" or "Series". If a table is viewed, the options are "Columns" or "Rows".

Sort

This section shows the dimensions for which it is possible to define a sorting operation, according to the option chosen in the "Affect" section. In case there are embedded dimensions in the selected axis, the user must define which dimension the sorting operation will be applied to. 

Sort by

The first part of this section is enabled only for the sort type referred to as "Sort By"
According to the choice in the "Affect" section, the dimension on the opposite axis to the chosen one and its elements are displayed.  The user may specify if they will "Sort By" all the dimension (that is by the whole of its elements), or if they will "Sort by " some element in particular.
The second part of this section is enabled only for the sort type "Sort Dimension".  It allows users to define if the sorting will be by the values of the analyzed measure (option "Totals"), or by that dimension's element's labels, (option "Labels")         
Steps to follow to sort elements from the "Ranking" option from the "Explore" menu or through the corresponding icon in the Toolbar:

  1. Select the "Sort" tab.
  2. Select the desired type of sorting.
  3. Select the axis the sorting will affect.
  4. Select the dimension the sorting will affect in the "Sort" section
  5. Select the desired option in the "Sort by" section
  6. Press "OK" to close the dialogue box and return to the O3 Browser desktop.

In addition to the sort applied the users can state, for instance that they only wish to view the first ten elements of the sorted dimension.  The "Show" tag in the dialogue box allows users to view a subset of the sorted elements.          
Steps to follow to define the subset of elements to display:

  1. Select the "Show" tab from the "Ranking" dialogue box in the "Explore" menu, or the corresponding icon in the Toolbar.
  2. Select the set of elements to view, according to the following options:
    1. All: If you wish to show all the sorted elements.
    2. Top: If the condition to establish applies only to the first sorting elements.
    3. Bottom: If the condition to establish applies only to the last sorting elements.
  3. Restrict the result set according to the number of elements:
    1. Select the "Elements" option if the desired subset has a fixed number of elements and enter the number of elements to view.
    2. Select the "% of Total" if the subset to show must be such that the summing up of its elements exceeds at least one given percentage of the Total. Enter the desired percentage.
    3. Choose "Accumulate"  if the subset to show must be such that the summing up of its elements is no greater than the indicated value. Enter the desired value
  4. Press " OK " to close the dialogue box and go back to the O3 Browser desktop


Picture 1: Selecting the set of elements to show
To deactivate the defined ranking, the user can display the menu by right-clicking on any free place on the analysis pane. The option "Unsort" is enabled if any ranking is active.
The last ranking applied and active is shown in the Status Bar on the O3 Browser Desktop.