# Sort by a field containing array of strings with sort mode min
**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/sort-by-a-field-containing-array-of-strings-with-sort-mode-min/273215
**Category:** Elasticsearch
**Created:** [May 17, 2021, 8:01pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/sort-by-a-field-containing-array-of-strings-with-sort-mode-min/273215 "2021-05-17T20:01:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@curlyheads](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/curlyheads)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2021, 8:01pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/sort-by-a-field-containing-array-of-strings-with-sort-mode-min/273215/1 "2021-05-17T20:01:38Z")
Hi everybody,
I want to sort the following example documents by the first array value of the field "name":
```
curl -X PUT "localhost:9200/my-index-000001/_doc/1?refresh&pretty" -H 'Content-Type:
application/json' -d'
{
"name": ["arthor", "chris"]
}
'
curl -X PUT "localhost:9200/my-index-000001/_doc/2?refresh&pretty" -H 'Content-Type:
application/json' -d'
{
"name": ["bunis", "bunas"]
}
'
curl -X PUT "localhost:9200/my-index-000001/_doc/3?refresh&pretty" -H 'Content-Type:
application/json' -d'
{
"name": ["chris", "arthor"]
}
'
```
with the following query:
```
curl -X GET "localhost:9200/_search?pretty" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d'
{
"query" : {
"wildcard" : {
"name" : {
"value" :"*"
}
}
},
"sort" : [
{"name.keyword" : {"order" : "asc", "mode" : "min"}}
]
}
'
```
But the result is:
1. ["arthor", "chris"]
2. ["chris", "arthor"]
3. ["bunis", "bunas"]
I would expect the following result:
1. ["arthor", "chris"]
2. ["bunis", "bunas"]
3. ["chris", "arthor"]
as hinted in the reference docs:
[https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/sort-search-results.html#\_sort\_mode\_option](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/sort-search-results.html#_sort_mode_option)
by the sort mode option.
Is this a bug or just not intended for arrays of strings?
Elasticsearch version used: 7.12.1
Thanks in advance for any help!
---
### Author:  [@mayya](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/mayya)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2021, 9:57pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/sort-by-a-field-containing-array-of-strings-with-sort-mode-min/273215/2 "2021-05-19T21:57:54Z")
There is no order in array values. Internally they will be sorted and stored alphabetically. For sort mode "min" for each document a minimum value from these values are chosen.
If you need an order, you need to present each option as a nested document.
---
### Author:  [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2021, 9:58pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/sort-by-a-field-containing-array-of-strings-with-sort-mode-min/273215/3 "2021-06-16T21:58:45Z")
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