Hello,

Using Excel 2007 and W7.

Wish to do a "Custom Sort" on a column that has all text.

I would like to do it in alphabetical order, depending on the very first
letter that appears.

I tried, but the results are not what I would like.

Is it possible to do a Sort like this, with Excel only looking at
the very first letter, and using only this as the criteria ?

e.g., if C.G. is there, it would use only the "C"
If Maritime was there, it would use only "M"

Thanks,
Bob

Bob
Not sure if I understand correctly but I don't think you can do that.
Hopefully someone will prove me wrong.
HTH
Cimjet
"Bob" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:huu41s$6k5$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hello,
>
> Using Excel 2007 and W7.
>
> Wish to do a "Custom Sort" on a column that has all text.
>
> I would like to do it in alphabetical order, depending on the very first
> letter that appears.
>
> I tried, but the results are not what I would like.
>
> Is it possible to do a Sort like this, with Excel only looking at
> the very first letter, and using only this as the criteria ?
>
> e.g., if C.G. is there, it would use only the "C"
> If Maritime was there, it would use only "M"
>
> Thanks,
> Bob

I would just insert a helper column and use a formula that extracts the first
character from the cells in the other column:

=left(a1,1)
(and drag down)

And sort my data by this helper column.

And delete the helper column when I was done.

On 06/11/2010 14:50, Bob wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Using Excel 2007 and W7.
>
> Wish to do a "Custom Sort" on a column that has all text.
>
> I would like to do it in alphabetical order, depending on the very first
> letter that appears.
>
> I tried, but the results are not what I would like.
>
> Is it possible to do a Sort like this, with Excel only looking at
> the very first letter, and using only this as the criteria ?
>
> e.g., if C.G. is there, it would use only the "C"
> If Maritime was there, it would use only "M"
>
> Thanks,
> Bob

--
Dave Peterson

If you want to make sure you maintained the original order within each
single-letter group, add a second helper column numbering the rows (from 1
to however many rows you have). When you sort, the first sort column is the
one with =left(a1,1) and the second is the numbered rows.


"Dave Peterson" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:huuobo$vnj$(E-Mail Removed)...
>I would just insert a helper column and use a formula that extracts the
>first character from the cells in the other column:
>
> =left(a1,1)
> (and drag down)
>
> And sort my data by this helper column.
>
> And delete the helper column when I was done.
>
> On 06/11/2010 14:50, Bob wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> Using Excel 2007 and W7.
>>
>> Wish to do a "Custom Sort" on a column that has all text.
>>
>> I would like to do it in alphabetical order, depending on the very first
>> letter that appears.
>>
>> I tried, but the results are not what I would like.
>>
>> Is it possible to do a Sort like this, with Excel only looking at
>> the very first letter, and using only this as the criteria ?
>>
>> e.g., if C.G. is there, it would use only the "C"
>> If Maritime was there, it would use only "M"
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Bob
>
> --
> Dave Peterson

If you're only sorting on that one helper column, then excel will keep the
original order of the data. It won't do any more than it's asked.

On the other hand, I sometimes use this technique so that I can sort the data in
any way I want and always have a way to get back to the original order.

On 06/11/2010 22:04, AndyM wrote:
> If you want to make sure you maintained the original order within each
> single-letter group, add a second helper column numbering the rows (from 1
> to however many rows you have). When you sort, the first sort column is the
> one with =left(a1,1) and the second is the numbered rows.
>
>
> "Dave Peterson"<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:huuobo$vnj$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> I would just insert a helper column and use a formula that extracts the
>> first character from the cells in the other column:
>>
>> =left(a1,1)
>> (and drag down)
>>
>> And sort my data by this helper column.
>>
>> And delete the helper column when I was done.
>>
>> On 06/11/2010 14:50, Bob wrote:
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> Using Excel 2007 and W7.
>>>
>>> Wish to do a "Custom Sort" on a column that has all text.
>>>
>>> I would like to do it in alphabetical order, depending on the very first
>>> letter that appears.
>>>
>>> I tried, but the results are not what I would like.
>>>
>>> Is it possible to do a Sort like this, with Excel only looking at
>>> the very first letter, and using only this as the criteria ?
>>>
>>> e.g., if C.G. is there, it would use only the "C"
>>> If Maritime was there, it would use only "M"
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Bob
>>
>> --
>> Dave Peterson
>
>

--
Dave Peterson

No argument, and the "getting back to the original order" is the important
part for me.


"Dave Peterson" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:huvo15$f4b$(E-Mail Removed)...
If you're only sorting on that one helper column, then excel will keep the
original order of the data. It won't do any more than it's asked.

On the other hand, I sometimes use this technique so that I can sort the
data in any way I want and always have a way to get back to the original
order.

On 06/11/2010 22:04, AndyM wrote:
If you want to make sure you maintained the original order within each
single-letter group, add a second helper column numbering the rows (from
1
to however many rows you have). When you sort, the first sort column is
the
one with =left(a1,1) and the second is the numbered rows.


"Dave Peterson"<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:huuobo$vnj$(E-Mail Removed)...
I would just insert a helper column and use a formula that extracts the
first character from the cells in the other column:

=left(a1,1)
(and drag down)

And sort my data by this helper column.

And delete the helper column when I was done.

On 06/11/2010 14:50, Bob wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Using Excel 2007 and W7.
>
> Wish to do a "Custom Sort" on a column that has all text.
>
> I would like to do it in alphabetical order, depending on the very
> first
> letter that appears.
>
> I tried, but the results are not what I would like.
>
> Is it possible to do a Sort like this, with Excel only looking at
> the very first letter, and using only this as the criteria ?
>
> e.g., if C.G. is there, it would use only the "C"
> If Maritime was there, it would use only "M"
>
> Thanks,
> Bob