To sort the results of hierarchical queries, use a regular ORDER BY clause.
You can use the SIBLINGS option of the ORDER BY clause.
Results When Ordering By Siblings
select ename , sys_connect_by_path(ename,'|') as path from emp start with mgr is null connect by prior empno = mgr order SIBLINGS by ename;
Results from a Standard ORDER BY Clause
select ename , sys_connect_by_path(ename,'|') as path from emp start with mgr is null connect by prior empno = mgr order by ename;
SQL> SQL>-- from w w w.ja va 2s .c om SQL> drop table emp; Table dropped. SQL> create table emp( 2 empno NUMBER(4) primary key, 3 ename VARCHAR2(8) not null , 4 init VARCHAR2(5) not null , 5 job VARCHAR2(8) , 6 mgr NUMBER(4) , 7 bdate DATE not null , 8 msal NUMBER(6,2) not null , 9 comm NUMBER(6,2) , 10 deptno NUMBER(2) default 10) ; SQL> SQL> insert into emp values(7001,'SMITH','N', 'TRAINER', 7902,date '1975-12-17', 1800 , NULL, 20); SQL> insert into emp values(7002,'ALLEN','JAM','SALESREP',7006,date '1971-05-20', 1600, 300, 30); SQL> insert into emp values(7003,'WARD', 'TF' ,'SALESREP',7006,date '1972-03-02', 1250, 500, 10); SQL> insert into emp values(7004,'JACK', 'JM', 'MANAGER', 7009,date '1977-04-02', 2975, NULL, 20); SQL> insert into emp values(7005,'BROWN','P', 'SALESREP',7006,date '1976-09-28', 1250, 1400, 30); SQL> insert into emp values(7006,'BLAKE','R', 'MANAGER', 7009,date '1973-11-01', 2850, NULL, 10); SQL> insert into emp values(7007,'CLARK','AB', 'MANAGER', 7009,date '1975-06-09', 2450, NULL, 10); SQL> insert into emp values(7008,'SCOTT','DEF','TRAINER', 7004,date '1979-11-26', 3000, NULL, 20); SQL> insert into emp values(7009,'KING', 'CC', 'DIRECTOR',NULL,date '1972-10-17', 5000, NULL, 10); SQL> insert into emp values(7010,'BREAD','JJ', 'SALESREP',7006,date '1978-09-28', 1500, 0, 30); SQL> insert into emp values(7011,'ADAMS','AA', 'TRAINER', 7008,date '1976-12-30', 1100, NULL, 20); SQL> insert into emp values(7012,'JONES','R', 'ADMIN', 7006,date '1979-10-03', 8000, NULL, 30); SQL> insert into emp values(7902,'FORD', 'MG', 'TRAINER', 7004,date '1979-02-13', 3000, NULL, 20); SQL> insert into emp values(7934,'MARY', 'ABC','ADMIN', 7007,date '1972-01-23', 1300, NULL, 10); SQL> SQL> SQL> -- Results When Ordering By Siblings SQL> select ename 2 , sys_connect_by_path(ename,'|') as path 3 from emp 4 start with mgr is null 5 connect by prior empno = mgr 6 order SIBLINGS by ename; ENAME -------- PATH -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KING |KING BLAKE |KING|BLAKE ALLEN |KING|BLAKE|ALLEN ENAME -------- PATH -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BREAD |KING|BLAKE|BREAD BROWN |KING|BLAKE|BROWN JONES |KING|BLAKE|JONES ENAME -------- PATH -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WARD |KING|BLAKE|WARD CLARK |KING|CLARK MARY |KING|CLARK|MARY ENAME -------- PATH -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JACK |KING|JACK FORD |KING|JACK|FORD SMITH |KING|JACK|FORD|SMITH ENAME -------- PATH -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SCOTT |KING|JACK|SCOTT ADAMS |KING|JACK|SCOTT|ADAMS 14 rows selected. SQL> SQL> -- Results from a Standard ORDER BY Clause SQL> select ename 2 , sys_connect_by_path(ename,'|') as path 3 from emp 4 start with mgr is null 5 connect by prior empno = mgr 6 order by ename; ENAME -------- PATH -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ADAMS |KING|JACK|SCOTT|ADAMS ALLEN |KING|BLAKE|ALLEN BLAKE |KING|BLAKE ENAME -------- PATH -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BREAD |KING|BLAKE|BREAD BROWN |KING|BLAKE|BROWN CLARK |KING|CLARK ENAME -------- PATH -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FORD |KING|JACK|FORD JACK |KING|JACK JONES |KING|BLAKE|JONES ENAME -------- PATH -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KING |KING MARY |KING|CLARK|MARY SCOTT |KING|JACK|SCOTT ENAME -------- PATH -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SMITH |KING|JACK|FORD|SMITH WARD |KING|BLAKE|WARD 14 rows selected. SQL>