Sorting according to the session language

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated April 29, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
  • Order string values according to the user's session language when sorting a column in a list.

    By default, when sorting columns in lists, string values are ordered according to the English alphabet. To support sorting a column according to the user's session language, you can configure the instance behavior and the behavior of individual columns.

    In the following example, the user's session language is Swedish. The Example string field column is sorted in descending order with the values ordered from Ö to A according to the Swedish alphabet.

    Column sorted according to the session language

    Note:
    This column attribute can't be used with the following column attribute: Locale text match. For more information see Set case and accent sensitivity on a per-column basis.

    The availability of this functionality for a supported language depends on the availability of a collation in the underlying Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) used in the instance. For a list of available collations for each language and RDBMS, navigate to the DB Collation Info [sys_db_collation_info] table. To add a collation for an unsupported language, see Add collation information for an unsupported language.

    Enable sorting according to the session language

    Enable sorting string values in columns according to the user's session language.

    Before you begin

    Role required: admin

    About this task

    Note:
    Sorting lists when the user's session language isn’t English might take longer than with English, particularly for tables with large amounts of records (100,000 or greater).

    Procedure

    1. Navigate to All > System Properties > System Localization.
    2. Select the Enable sorting (for lists) in the user's session language when the language is other than English option.
    3. Select Save.

    Result

    When sorting a column in a list, the string values are ordered according to the user's session language. If needed, you can turn off this behavior for individual columns.

    Configure sorting for a column

    Configure whether the values in columns are sorted according to the user's session language.

    Before you begin

    Enable sorting according to the user's session language for the instance.

    This column attribute can't be used with locale text match. For more information see Set case and accent sensitivity on a per-column basis.

    Role required: admin

    Procedure

    1. Navigate to a field on a form, select and hold (or right-click) the field, and select Configure Dictionary.
      The field must be a string field.
    2. From the Related Links, select Advanced view.
    3. In the Attributes field, add the i18n_session_language_sortable attribute and specify a value of true or false.
      • Enter i18n_session_language_sortable=false to turn off sorting the column by the user's session language. The column is sorted according to the English alphabet instead.
      • Enter i18n_session_language_sortable=true to enable sorting the column by the user's session language. To turn off sorting according to the user's session language for all other columns, see the following step.
    4. Optional: If you added the i18n_session_language_sortable=true attribute for one or more columns and want to change the default behavior of all other columns to sort according to the English alphabet, complete the following steps.
      1. In the navigation filter, enter sys_properties.list.
      2. Select New.
      3. On the form, fill in the fields.
        Field Value
        Name com.glide.db.i18n_session_language_sortable_default
        Type true|false
        Value false
      4. Select Submit.

    What to do next

    Configure the sorting behavior for any additional columns as needed.