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Heatmap y-axis sorting logic broken #31318
Description
Bug description
Observed on Superset 4.1.1, deployed on Kubernetes using the Helm chart.
The Echarts-based Heatmap chart seems to sort the Y-axis through some unknown logic.
A similar issue was raised for the legacy Heatmap chart at #27357 and was fixed in PR #27360. The legacy Heatmap was sorting numeric values as strings, but this behaviour seems to be a bit different. Regardless of whether there is a string or numeric value on the Y-axis, sorting does not seem to make sense as it does not seem to be in alphabetical or numeric order.
X-axis sorting seems to work with my timestamp column both in ascending and descending order.
Screenshots/recordings
With Y-axis sorted by 'Axis ascending':
| String values on Y-axis | Numeric values on Y-axis |
|---|---|
 |
 |
Superset version
4.1.1
Python version
3.9
Node version
16
Browser
Chrome
Additional context
No response
Checklist
- I have searched Superset docs and Slack and didn't find a solution to my problem.
- I have searched the GitHub issue tracker and didn't find a similar bug report.
- I have checked Superset's logs for errors and if I found a relevant Python stacktrace, I included it here as text in the "additional context" section.
Activity
dosubot commentedon Dec 6, 2024
@nicholaslimck Hello! I'm here to help you with your Superset issue. I can assist with bug fixes, answer your questions, and guide you on becoming a contributor. Let's work together to resolve the problem you're experiencing.
The Y-axis sorting logic in the Echarts-based Heatmap chart in Superset 4.1.1 is controlled by the
sort_y_axisparameter. The available sorting options arealpha_asc(Axis ascending),alpha_desc(Axis descending),value_asc(Metric ascending), andvalue_desc(Metric descending), with the default beingalpha_asc[1].For
alpha_ascandalpha_desc, the sorting is done alphabetically using a comparison function. Specifically,alpha_ascsorts the Y-axis values in ascending alphabetical order, whilealpha_descsorts them in descending order by reversing the result of the ascending sort [2].If the sorting does not appear to be working as expected, especially with mixed data types (strings and numbers), it might be due to how the sorting logic handles these types. The current implementation may not correctly handle mixed data types, leading to unexpected sorting behavior. This could be a point of investigation or improvement in the codebase.
To continue talking to Dosu, mention @dosu.
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nicholaslimck commentedon Dec 9, 2024
@dosu I don't think the Echarts-based Heatmap uses the same sorting logic as the legacy Heatmap chart. Is the sorting logic inherited from the Echarts project or is it defined within Superset?
dosubot commentedon Dec 9, 2024
The sorting logic for the Y-axis in the Echarts-based Heatmap chart is defined within Superset, not inherited from the Echarts project. The
sort_y_axiscontrol is configured in Superset with specific sorting options (alpha_asc,alpha_desc,value_asc,value_desc) in thecontrolPanel.tsxfile. Additionally, thebuildQuery.tsfile specifies how the Y-axis is sorted based on thesort_y_axisvalue, confirming that the sorting logic is implemented in Superset [1][2].To continue talking to Dosu, mention @dosu.
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nicholaslimck commentedon Dec 9, 2024
@dosu The sorting logic seems to only consider the query results. Given the following data:
The resultant Heatmap looks like this:
The Y axis is sorted by the value in the 'machine' column, but the sorting is dependent on the timestamp order instead of purely in alphabetical order. This results in a staggered sort effect, where the 'machine' values are sorted on the Y axis based on:
However, I want to sort the Y axis only on the alphabetical order of the 'machine' column.
dosubot commentedon Dec 9, 2024
To sort the Y-axis of the Heatmap chart in Superset based solely on the alphabetical order of the 'machine' column, you should set the
sort_y_axiscontrol toalpha_asc. This configuration ensures that the Y-axis is sorted alphabetically, independent of the timestamp order [1].To continue talking to Dosu, mention @dosu.
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nicholaslimck commentedon Dec 11, 2024
@michael-s-molina I noticed that the legacy Heatmap chart is scheduled for removal in Superset 5.0. Probably a good idea to make sure that feature parity is maintained since the legacy Heatmap's sorting logic was fixed.
I couldn't figure out if there was any other sorting logic applied outside of the query so hopefully someone more familiar with the implementation could take a look.
michael-s-molina commentedon Dec 11, 2024
Hi @nicholaslimck. I was able to reproduce the problem and I'll submit a fix before 5.0. Thank you for the issue and for adding a dataset example.
bluespring2812 commentedon Mar 9, 2025
Hi @michael-s-molina, do you know if this issue has been fixed yet? I'm facing a similar problem. I'd like to sort time_range of a day in asc. Everything seems fine except 6:00 - 7:00.
I have set up the sorting as shown in the image
michael-s-molina commentedon Mar 10, 2025
Hi @bluespring2812. The sorting was fixed in #31752 which is not included in a official release yet. It was merged to master. Looking at your screenshot, you might want to remove the X axis sorting to only sort by the Y field.