Arranging Information in Strategies

The Sort dialog box enables you to arrange information in ascending or descending order based on five criteria:

underlying root

expiration date

strike price

instrument type

transaction time

If you are familiar with databases, think of these sort criteria as keys. You have five of them, and they enable you to rearrange the information in your menus quickly. The ability to rearrange information enables you to view the “positional aspects” of a strategy. Let’s take a closer look at the capabilities that sorting affords.

First, sorting enables you to arrange information by changing the “pecking order” of the sort criteria. The pecking order, or criterion order, determines which criterion is sorted first, which is sorted second, and so on. Rearranging the criterion order changes the result of the sort.

You determine the criterion order by changing the value in the Sort Criterion field, and you determine whether the criterion is sorted ascending or descending by toggling the Reverse field.

The reverse field is a toggle. If the field contains no asterisk, ascending sort is active. If the Reverse field contains an asterisk, descending sort is active. All criterion are, by default, sorted ascending (no asterisk).

Selecting the value in the Sort Criterion field displays a menu that contains the five sort criteria. Selecting a different sort criterion from the menu changes the sort criterion order.

The following table summarizes these criteria and their sort characteristics:

Criterion	Definition	Sort Characteristics
Underlying Root	The symbol of the underlying instrument.	Ascending sorts alphabetically order all instruments based on the symbols of underlying instruments (A, B, C, etc.). Descending, or reverse, sorts arrange the same information in reverse alphabetical order (Z, Y, X, etc.).
Expiration Date	The expiration date of the respective instrument.	Ascending sorts order instruments based on expiration month (lead-month precedes out-month). Descending sorts reverse this order (out-month precedes lead-month).
Strike Price	The option strike price.	Ascending sorts order options from lower strike to higher strike, options before underlying instruments. Descending sorts order options from higher strike to lower strike, underlying instruments before options.
Instrument Type	The instrument’s classification, that is, whether the instrument is a call, a put, or an underlying instrument	Ascending sorts order calls before puts, and puts before underlying instruments. Descending sorts reverse this order.
Transaction Time	The time and date the respective transaction was entered.	Ascending sorts order transactions from youngest to oldest. Descending sorts order transactions from oldest to youngest.