Make order_by work for column alpha sorts

README.md

@@ -442,7 +442,7 @@ group by 1
 This macro returns the unique values for a column in a given [relation](https://docs.getdbt.com/docs/writing-code-in-dbt/class-reference/#relation).
 It takes an options `default` argument for compiling when the relation does not already exist.
 
-The `sort_column` argument allows for sorting of values. The default is highest to lowest frequency of values. You can also specify a `sort_direction`.
+The `order_by` argument allows for sorting of values. The default is highest to lowest frequency of values. You can also specify a `sort_direction`.
 
 Usage:
 ```
@@ -458,7 +458,7 @@ Usage:
 
 ```
 -- Returns a list of user names sorted by name from the `users` table
-{% set names = dbt_utils.get_column_values(table=ref('users'), column='name', sort_column='name', default=[]) %}
+{% set names = dbt_utils.get_column_values(table=ref('users'), column='name', default=[], order_by='name') %}
 
 {% for name in names %}
     ...
@@ -469,7 +469,19 @@ Usage:
 
 ```
 -- Returns a list of user cities sorted by name from the `users` table
-{% set cities = dbt_utils.get_column_values(table=ref('users'), column='city_name', sort_column='city_name', default=[]) %}
+{% set cities = dbt_utils.get_column_values(table=ref('users'), column='city_name', default=[], order_by='city_name') %}
+
+{% for city in cities %}
+    ...
+{% endfor %}
+
+...
+```
+
+
+```
+-- Returns a list of user cities sorted by name from the `users` table
+{% set cities = dbt_utils.get_column_values(table=ref('users'), column='city_name', default=[], order_by='max(created_at)') %}
 
 {% for city in cities %}
     ...

integration_tests/models/sql/test_get_column_values.sql

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 
-{% set columns = dbt_utils.get_column_values(ref('data_get_column_values'), 'field', default = []) %}
+{% set columns = dbt_utils.get_column_values(ref('data_get_column_values'), 'field', default = [],  order_by="field", sort_direction="desc") %}
 
 
 {% if target.type == 'snowflake' %}

macros/sql/get_column_values.sql

@@ -18,7 +18,15 @@ Returns:
     {% endif %}
 {#--  #}
 
-    {%- set order_by = kwargs.get('order_by', 'count(*)') -%}
+    {%- set order_by = order_by if order_by else 'count(*)' -%}
+    {%- set order_by = 'max(' ~ order_by ~ ')' if order_by == column else order_by -%}
+    {%- set sort_direction -%}
+        {%- if order_by == column -%}
+        {{ sort_direction or 'asc' }} 
+        {%- else -%}
+        {{ sort_direction or 'desc' }}
+        {%- endif -%}
+    {%- endset -%}
 
     {%- set target_relation = adapter.get_relation(database=table.database,
                                           schema=table.schema,
@@ -46,7 +54,7 @@ Returns:
                     {{ order_by }} as sort_column
                 from {{ target_relation }}
                 group by 1
-                order by {{ order_by }} {{ sort_direction or "desc" }}
+                order by {{ order_by }} {{ sort_direction }}
                 {% if max_records is not none %}
 
                 limit {{ max_records }}