The query is currently: select sti.description, sc.description from scene_thing_instances sti left outer join scenes sc on sti.scene_id = sc.scene_id order by sti.description, CASE when (sti.description = 'absolute root'::text) then 1 when (sti.description ilike 'root%') then 2 else 3 END;
absolute root | root 3 | Scene 1 root 4 | Scene 2 root 6 | Scene 3 18 cm long wrench | Scene 1 blue screwdriver | Scene 1 red toolbox | Scene 1 small wrench | Scene 1 tire | Scene 2 (9 rows)
This didn't sort the way I want. It ended up as: description | description -------------------+------------- 18 cm long wrench | Scene 1 absolute root | blue screwdriver | Scene 1 red toolbox | Scene 1 root 3 | Scene 1 root 4 | Scene 2 root 6 | Scene 3 small wrench | Scene 1 tire | Scene 2
The first column is the one I want sorted.
Probably best to show us a made up sample of what you want.