A method for sorting a group of managed devices includes querying a database of managed device with a sort query, such as an SQL query. The sort query captures an initial adjacency list in which managed devices are ordered, based on their respective parent device. Each of the managed devices is associated with a set of attributes. The initial adjacency list is sorted, e.g., using a depth-first search, based on at least one sorting criterion to generate a sorted adjacency list in which managed devices having a common parent device are reordered, based on respective attributes. The sorted adjacency list can be represented as a sorted directed graph, such as a directed tree. Modifications can be made to the sorted directed graph. A visualization of the sorted and optionally modified directed graph is output and/or a file is distributed to at least some of the managed devices, based thereon.