# Search, sort & filter

Irelia offers several ways to search within your data or to organize data to be at your fingertips.

## Searching <a href="#searching" id="searching"></a>

At the top of the document screen, you'll see a magnifying glass icon (<img src="https://2146076455-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FnkD4RCjP1WLRakyVkU17%2Fuploads%2FKOnGTNedTSX8guXyhigG%2FScreen%20Shot%202022-07-13%20at%2019.35.51.png?alt=media&#x26;token=2521537b-6023-4993-8214-642f8caa8df2" alt="" data-size="line">) which opens a spreadsheet-like search.

![](https://2146076455-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FnkD4RCjP1WLRakyVkU17%2Fuploads%2F3HtKQLI8DcRxIb7raNsF%2FScreen%20Shot%202022-07-13%20at%2019.36.25.png?alt=media\&token=c92a7f27-4a02-4369-b464-624dc96c3e2d)

You can also start searching using the keyboard shortcut _`⌘`_`F` .

As you type into the search textbox, Irelia will move the cursor to the next cell containing your search text. If there are no more matches in the current widget or page, the cursor will move to the next widget or switch to the next page.

## Sorting

It's easy to find a word in a dictionary, but it wouldn't be if the words weren't sorted! Irelia offers flexible and convenient sorting options, which are quite different from a traditional spreadsheet.

To sort a table in Irelia by a column, open the menu from the column's header and select "Sort":

![](https://2146076455-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FnkD4RCjP1WLRakyVkU17%2Fuploads%2FyzBdpWiKaASPBRXjbYzw%2FScreen%20Shot%202022-07-13%20at%2019.40.32.png?alt=media\&token=e9509680-998c-4020-879b-08b55e479538)

In the same menu item, you can choose to sort in ascending or descending order.

<mark style="color:red;">**Difference from Excel**</mark>: Importantly, sorting does not change any formula calculations, it only changes the order in which you see the records. This is different from spreadsheets like Excel.

## Advanced sorting options

The "Sort & Filter" subtab exposes additional sorting options that might be useful for various column types:

* `Use choice position` – available on the `Choice` column, sorts records using the configured order of choice items, rather than their names.
* `Empty values last` – in alphabetical order empty values are shown first by default, use this option to put them at the end.
* `Natural sort` – for Text column will treat multi-digit numbers in strings as if they were a single character, allowing more human-friendly ordering. For example, using `natural sort`, _Product10_ will be positioned after _Product2_.

## Filtering

You can choose to see only a subset of data in a table by filtering for certain values in a column. Open the column menu from any column’s header, and click "Filter Data". You'll see a dialog listing the values in the column:

![](https://2146076455-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FnkD4RCjP1WLRakyVkU17%2Fuploads%2FaSnkkDnRzIprUqF0uQy6%2FScreen%20Shot%202022-07-13%20at%2019.50.36.png?alt=media\&token=c370b20c-f16b-473e-ab14-bebfc93e572b)

Uncheck the values you don't want to see, or click "Select none" and then check only the values you do want to see. The magnifying glass icon in the corner of the dialog lets you find values of interest if the list is long.

Click "Apply" to apply your setting.

You can filter by more than one column. Only those rows will appear that match all of the filters.

## Complex Filters <a href="#complex-filters" id="complex-filters"></a>

To filter for more complex conditions, create a new formula column and filter this column for values of "true".

For example, to filter for "Persons with a salary over $100,000 or a position of Board Member", you can use a formula like this:

`$Salary > 100000 or $Position == 'Board Member'`

This will produce a column of true and false values, which you can filter for the value `true`.



