excel sorting task

[Guest]

I have the following data in a worksheet
Important note: it is in pairs, that is columns A,B is pair 1, C,D is pair
2, E,F is pair 3.

i want to sort it WITHIN ROW on columns b,d,f, with the smallest value in
b,d or f first then the next largest then the largest.

For example
A B C D E F
5 12 2 3 1 6

would become
A B C D E F
2 3 1 6 5 12

b=3
d=6
f=12
this is what i want, the pairs sorted in ascending order for b,d,f for a
given row.
is this possible?

i'm thinking nested IF statements.......??? but im not sure

any help very much appreciated

thanks

 

[Bob Phillips]

Ian,

Try this

A2: =B1
B2: =B1

then copy across as many columns as you need

then sort rows 1 and 2 with row 2 as the sort by row

 

[Guest]

thankyou for your excellent and helpful reply.
that definitely works for 1 row.
However i actually have 800 rows of differing values, sorry i should have
mentioned that before.

So somehow i need to do it for 800 rows...

 

[Bob Phillips]

Does that mean that the other 799 rows just sort in concert with the first
row, or do they get involve in the determination logic somehow?