ECharts Bar Chart: Cannot sort descending by total metric when applying a Dimension (Sorts Alphabetically instead)

[LoneWolfRakesh]

Superset Version: [6.0.0]

The Goal:
I am trying to create a horizontal Bar Chart that shows a list of products, color-coded by their "Product Type". I need the chart to sort strictly descending from the highest total score to the lowest.

The Mock Data:
Imagine a simple dataset of products. A product only belongs to ONE type (Sparse Data).

• Product A | Type 1 | Score: 85
• Product B | Type 1 | Score: 60
• Product C | Type 2 | Score: 90
• Product D | Type 2 | Score: 40

Chart Configuration:

• Y-axis: Product_Name
• Metrics: AVG(Score)
• Dimensions: Type (This successfully splits the bars into two colors)
• Sort Query By: AVG(Score) (Descending)
• Customize Tab: Stacked Style = Stack, Sort Series By = Total value

The Problem:
When the Type dimension is empty, the chart perfectly sorts by the highest score (C, A, B, D).
However, the moment I drop Type into the Dimensions box to get my colors, Superset pivots the data. Because ECharts encounters NULL values (e.g., Product A has no score for Type 2), it discards the mathematical sort entirely and defaults to sorting the Y-axis alphabetically (A, B, C, D).

EXPECTED BEHAVIOR (Sorted by Total Size):
Product C | ██████████████████ (Category 2)
Product A | ██████████████ (Category 1)
Product B | ██████████ (Category 1)
Product D | ██████ (Category 2)

ACTUAL BUG BEHAVIOR (Sorted Alphabetically):
Product A | ██████████████
Product B | ██████████
Product C | ██████████████████
Product D | ██████

What I have already tried (that didn't work):

1. Custom SQL Zero-Filling: I tried forcing COALESCE(AVG(Score), 0) to prevent the sparse data panic, but ECharts still overrides the sort.
2. Hidden Sort Metrics: I tried adding a fractional invisible metric (AVG(Score) * 0.00001) and setting the master sort to that, but the frontend still ignores it.
3. Dual Metrics instead of Dimensions: I removed the Dimension entirely and created two separate metrics AVG(CASE WHEN Type='1'...). This still resulted in alphabetical sorting.

Has anyone found a reliable frontend workaround or Custom CSS/JSON trick to force ECharts to respect the Total value descending sort when dealing with a split dimension? Any guidance would be massively appreciated!

[dosubot[bot]]

Hi @LoneWolfRakesh! I'm Dosu and I’m helping the superset team.

This is a confirmed bug in Superset's ECharts bar chart implementation. You're not doing anything wrong—when dimensions are added, the sorting logic fails to apply the configured sort settings and defaults to alphabetical ordering.

Issue: #34352 - Bar chart "X-AXIS SORT BY" options differ when "DIMENSIONS" is set

Fix status: PR #37712 addresses this issue but has not been merged yet (as of Feb 2026). This affects versions 4.1.3, 4.1.4, and 6.0.0.

Available workarounds:

1. Pre-sort data in your dataset — Create a calculated column that encodes the desired sort order (e.g., using ROW_NUMBER or a ranking function), then use "Category name" sorting which will respect your pre-encoded order.

2. Use the legacy Bar Chart — The "Bar Chart (legacy)" chart type reportedly still allows metric-based sorting when dimensions are configured.

Unfortunately, the Custom CSS/JSON tricks won't help here since the issue is in the data transformation logic before the data reaches ECharts—the isMultiSeries flag causes the axis sorting settings to not be properly applied when dimensions are present.

A maintainer acknowledged this as "an unacceptable lack of functionality", so the fix should hopefully land soon.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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