# Kibana Sort in visualization is not correct
**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-sort-in-visualization-is-not-correct/272607
**Category:** Kibana
**Created:** [May 10, 2021, 6:24pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-sort-in-visualization-is-not-correct/272607 "2021-05-10T18:24:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@lachlann562](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/lachlann562)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2021, 6:24pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-sort-in-visualization-is-not-correct/272607/1 "2021-05-10T18:24:15Z")
In some visualizations, the sorting appears to not respect the selected values. for example, when using metricbeat i have a scripted field for "hour of day", "day of week" and "sundayOfWeek". Depending on how i filter my data, if i use the "hour of day" as the x axis, even if i set the data to be sorted alphatbetically i sometimes get wierd sort results like 7,8,9,10,1,2,3,14,15,16, etc
This tends to happen most when i'm splitting series/charts (e.g. chart on servername, series on sundayOfWeek).
I believe the issue is because the sort is done as each result set comes back, if the first result set does not include a particular time, it is excluded from the sort, if a later server includes it then it is placed after the first group.
in the graph above, you can see the hour of day ends with 9,10 but that should have been the 2nd/3rd column, and the day of week is 04/25, 04/18, 05/02, 04//11, 04/04 there is no rhyme or reason to this sorting.
here are my sort definitions
 
**Request:**
```auto
{
"aggs": {
"2": {
"terms": {
"script": {
"source": "doc['@timestamp'].value.hour",
"lang": "painless"
},
"order": {
"_key": "asc"
},
"value_type": "float",
"size": 24
},
"aggs": {
"3": {
"terms": {
"script": {
"source": "doc['@timestamp'].value.plusDays(-1*(doc['@timestamp'].value.dayOfWeek)).truncatedTo(ChronoUnit.DAYS)",
"lang": "painless"
},
"order": {
"_key": "desc"
},
"value_type": "date",
"size": 5
},
"aggs": {
"4": {
"terms": {
"field": "agent.hostname",
"order": {
"_key": "asc"
},
"size": 8
}
}
}
}
}
}
},
"size": 0,
"stored_fields": [
"*"
],
"script_fields": {
"dayOfWeek": {
"script": {
"source": "[\"\", \"1Mon \", \"2Tue \", \"3Wed \", \"4Thu \", \"5Fri \", \"6Sat \", \"7Sun \"][doc['@timestamp'].value.dayOfWeek]",
"lang": "painless"
}
},
"hourOfWeek": {
"script": {
"source": "[\"\", \"1Mon \", \"2Tue \", \"3Wed \", \"4Thu \", \"5Fri \", \"6Sat \", \"7Sun \"][doc['@timestamp'].value.dayOfWeek] + String.format( \"%02d\", new def[]{ doc['@timestamp'].value.hour } )",
"lang": "painless"
}
},
"hourOfDay": {
"script": {
"source": "doc['@timestamp'].value.hour",
"lang": "painless"
}
},
"sundayOfWeek": {
"script": {
"source": "doc['@timestamp'].value.plusDays(-1*(doc['@timestamp'].value.dayOfWeek)).truncatedTo(ChronoUnit.DAYS)",
"lang": "painless"
}
}
},
"docvalue_fields": [
{
"field": "@timestamp",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "azure.app_insights.end_date",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "azure.app_insights.start_date",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "azure.billing.usage_date",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "azure.billing.usage_end",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "azure.billing.usage_start",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "ceph.monitor_health.last_updated",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "docker.container.created",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "docker.healthcheck.event.end_date",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "docker.healthcheck.event.start_date",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "docker.image.created",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "event.created",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "event.end",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "event.ingested",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "event.start",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "file.accessed",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "file.created",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "file.ctime",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "file.mtime",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "kubernetes.container.start_time",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "kubernetes.event.metadata.timestamp.created",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "kubernetes.event.timestamp.first_occurrence",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "kubernetes.event.timestamp.last_occurrence",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "kubernetes.node.start_time",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "kubernetes.pod.start_time",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "kubernetes.service.created",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "kubernetes.storageclass.created",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "kubernetes.system.start_time",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "mongodb.replstatus.server_date",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "mongodb.status.background_flushing.last_finished",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "mongodb.status.local_time",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "mssql.transaction_log.stats.backup_time",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "mysql.performance.events_statements.last.seen",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "nats.server.time",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "package.installed",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "php_fpm.pool.start_time",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "php_fpm.process.start_time",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "postgresql.activity.backend_start",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "postgresql.activity.query_start",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "postgresql.activity.state_change",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "postgresql.activity.transaction_start",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "postgresql.bgwriter.stats_reset",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "postgresql.database.stats_reset",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "process.parent.start",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "process.start",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "system.process.cpu.start_time",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "system.service.state_since",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "tls.client.not_after",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "tls.client.not_before",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "tls.server.not_after",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "tls.server.not_before",
"format": "date_time"
},
{
"field": "zookeeper.server.version_date",
"format": "date_time"
}
],
"_source": {
"excludes": []
},
"query": {
"bool": {
"must": [],
"filter": [
{
"bool": {
"filter": [
{
"bool": {
"should": [
{
"range": {
"system.cpu.total.norm.pct": {
"gt": 0.8
}
}
}
],
"minimum_should_match": 1
}
},
{
"bool": {
"should": [
{
"query_string": {
"fields": [
"agent.hostname"
],
"query": "SERVER*"
}
}
],
"minimum_should_match": 1
}
}
]
}
},
{
"range": {
"@timestamp": {
"gte": "2021-04-05T00:00:00.000Z",
"lte": "2021-05-09T23:59:59.999Z",
"format": "strict_date_optional_time"
}
}
}
],
"should": [],
"must_not": []
}
}
}
```
---
### Author:  [@wylie](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/wylie)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2021, 6:39pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-sort-in-visualization-is-not-correct/272607/2 "2021-05-10T18:39:16Z")
Yes, you are right about how sorting is done in the heatmap. This is a long-standing issue: [Sub-aggregations should be sorted globally · Issue #14536 · elastic/kibana · GitHub](https://github.com/elastic/kibana/issues/14536)
Currently, your only option for building a sorted heatmap is using Vega. [Vega | Kibana Guide [7.12] | Elastic](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/kibana/current/vega.html)
---
### Author:  [@lachlann562](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/lachlann562)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2021, 2:59pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-sort-in-visualization-is-not-correct/272607/3 "2021-05-11T14:59:23Z")
This is not just heatmaps, this same problem occurs in line graphs, bar graphs, etc.
---
### Author:  [@wylie](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/wylie)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2021, 3:11pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-sort-in-visualization-is-not-correct/272607/4 "2021-05-11T15:11:10Z")
Yes, this is a long-standing issue in Kibana. The underlying cause is the same for all visualization types, which is the theory you shared earlier.
---
### Author:  [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2021, 3:11pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-sort-in-visualization-is-not-correct/272607/5 "2021-06-08T15:11:20Z")
This topic was automatically closed 28 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.