I apologize for even asking, assuming there is something very simple I simply cannot find.

As [table] is the new go-to tabular presentation and analysis command in version 17, and I very much appreciate the ability to manipulate styles and easily export the results, I am trying to change my workflow to use this command instead of say [tabulate] for summary representations.

What I cannot figure out how to do, using the new [table] command, is sort summary results by order of (descending) frequency, which is extremely easy to do in tabulate. I can't seem to find a "sort", "rowsort", or "colsort" equivalent.

I can definitely get the tables I want with other commands, so that is not by itself the problem. I just can't do it with [table]. And I can get creative with value labels and renaming, and [bysort v:replace vnum = _N] etc., but that seems inelegant. Likewise, I am familiar with several SSC packages that address this challenge, but I'd prefer to do this within Stata proper if possible.

The problem I'd like to solve is described below:

* Example generated by -dataex-. For more info, type help dataex
clear
input str1 v
"a"
"a"
"b"
"b"
"b"
"c"
"c"
"c"
"c"
"d"
"d"
"d"
"d"
"e"
end

This is the table I'd let to get out of [table], that is trivial to get out of [tabulate]:

tabulate v, sort

v | Freq. Percent Cum.
------------+-----------------------------------
c | 4 28.57 28.57
d | 4 28.57 57.14
b | 3 21.43 78.57
a | 2 14.29 92.86
e | 1 7.14 100.00
------------+-----------------------------------
Total | 14 100.00

This is the closest I can come in a single command - but I can't figure out how to sort by descending frequency.

table v, stat(freq) stat(perc)

------------------------------
| Frequency Percent
--------+---------------------
v |
a | 2 14.29
b | 3 21.43
c | 4 28.57
d | 4 28.57
e | 1 7.14
Total | 14 100.00
------------------------------

It seems no matter what I do, the [v] column is sorted by the value of [v] and not by the order of the calculated summary statistics.

Again, apologies for being inept. A search through StataList and through the help files and manuals has not delivered the syntax or an example I am seeking.