JMP Tutorial:
Forcing Categorical Data to Display in a Specific Order

Click the link below and save the following JMP file to your Desktop:

• Class vs. Born in TN

Now go to your Desktop and double click on the JMP file you just downloaded.
This action will start JMP and display the content of this file:

Notice that the variable "Class" and "Born in Tennessee" are categorical.
(You can see this from the red bars next to the columns names.)

Many times you want to control the order that the categories are displayed (rather than just live with alpha-numeric order).  Prior to running any analysis, double click on the top of the Class column.  Click on the down arrow next to Column Properties and select Value Order. 
You should see:

Notice the names within the Value Order box (Freshman, Junior, Other, Senior, Sophomore) are in alphabetical order.  Click on a name and then click the UP arrow or the DOWN arrow until you have them in the order you want them presented.  For example:

Click OK.

Go to the Analyze menu and select Fit Y by X:

Click the Born in Tennessee column, then click Y, Response.
Click the Class column, then click X, Factor.
Click the Frequency column, then click Freq.
You should now see:

Click OK. You should see the following output:

Notice the names from the Class column appear in the order we specified. 

(Based on JMP Pro 16.0.0   Revised 7/7/2021)