Sorting a column as a numeric value

Question

Hello,
       I have created a SQL Report using collections and having problems with sorting one of the column as a numeric value.
I have used create_collection_from_query2 to assign my numeric value as n001 variable. But, when i use the same in my SQL Report, it is considering the column as string.
Please advise if i am doing anything incorrect which is causing this issue.
Thank you in advance,
Madan

Answer 1

MadanN wrote:
An update to my above question:
      I have used to_number() function in the select statement. But, i get an error "Invalid Number" error. I have checked the underlying data and confirmed that the data is a numeric value with a 2 point decimal value.
Just an FYI., i was using to_number() on  apex_item.display_and_save function.
A function that clearly returns a VARCHAR2 result:
APEX_ITEM.DISPLAY_AND_SAVE(
   p_idx IN NUMBER,
   p_value IN VARCHAR2 DEFAULT NULL,
   p_item_id IN VARCHAR2 DEFAULT NULL,
   p_item_label IN VARCHAR2 DEFAULT NULL)
   RETURN VARCHAR2;
SQL> with t as (
   2        select trunc(dbms_random.value(0, 100)) n from dual connect by level <= 5)
   3  select
   4      n
   5    , apex_item.display_and_save(1, n) d
   6  from
   7      t
   8  order by
   9      n;
          N D
          0 <input type="hidden" name="f01" value="0" /><span>0</span>
          6 <input type="hidden" name="f01" value="6" /><span>6</span>
         27 <input type="hidden" name="f01" value="27" /><span>27</span>
         68 <input type="hidden" name="f01" value="68" /><span>68</span>
         74 <input type="hidden" name="f01" value="74" /><span>68</span>
Making attempts to convert such results to a number using to_number clearly doomed to failure:
SQL> with t as (
   2        select trunc(dbms_random.value(0, 100)) n from dual connect by level <= 5)
   3  select
   4      n
   5    , to_number(apex_item.display_and_save(1, n)) d
   6  from
   7      t
   8  order by
   9      n;
   , to_number(apex_item.display_and_save(1, n)) d
ERROR at line 5:
ORA-01722: invalid number
To make the column properly sortable in a SQL report:
Include the original number column in the query.
Reference the apex_item.display_and_save column name in the number column's HTML Expression property using column reference syntax (#COLUMN_ALIAS#).
Make the apex_item.display_and_save column hidden.