Gotcha for the unaware - column sorting

[Dr Teeth]

Luckily for me the 'sheet in which the following occurred was not a
biggie.

I'm very much a spreadsheet novice and hope the following helps
somebody else.

Thought I'd sort about 20 comments in column A into A-Z order. I
selected the column and sorted it.

Only later did I realise that Excel 2007 did not keep the data in the
other columns with that in A. The rows got 'broken' so that the data
in column B did not match up with A.

I expected the rows to be sorted and not just the column. I have
figured out how to keep the rows intact during a sort, but is it
possible to sort a column and have the rows kept intact by just
selecting the column to be sorted?

Cheers,

Guy

** Stress - the condition brought about by having to
** resist the temptation to beat the living daylights
** out of someone who richly deserves it.

 

[Ron Rosenfeld]

Luckily for me the 'sheet in which the following occurred was not a
biggie.

I'm very much a spreadsheet novice and hope the following helps
somebody else.

Thought I'd sort about 20 comments in column A into A-Z order. I
selected the column and sorted it.

Only later did I realise that Excel 2007 did not keep the data in the
other columns with that in A. The rows got 'broken' so that the data
in column B did not match up with A.

I expected the rows to be sorted and not just the column. I have
figured out how to keep the rows intact during a sort, but is it
possible to sort a column and have the rows kept intact by just
selecting the column to be sorted?

Cheers,

Guy

** Stress - the condition brought about by having to
** resist the temptation to beat the living daylights
** out of someone who richly deserves it.

What version of XL are you using?

In XL2002+, if you select a column and there is other data adjacent, it will
ask you if you want to expand the selection to include the adjacent material.

I don't know about earlier versions.

To keep all the stuff together, if the range of columns is adjacent, you just
need to select a single cell in the column you want to sort; or accept the
"expand selection" option if you select a range.

OR, you can select the entire range you wish to sort, and execute the sort on
the desired column using the Data/Sort command.
--ron

 

[JE McGimpsey]

No - Sort, like many XL commands operates on a selection. So if you
select a column, the Sort will operate on that column (it may ask if you
want to expand). To sort all rows, you need to select the entire data
set (either all the columns or all the rows).

The exception is that when a single cell is selected, the "current area"
(area bounded by blank rows/columns) of that cell is assumed to be the
area you want to sort

 

[Stan Brown]

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 22:16:04 +0000 from Dr Teeth

I expected the rows to be sorted and not just the column. I have
figured out how to keep the rows intact during a sort, but is it
possible to sort a column and have the rows kept intact by just
selecting the column to be sorted?

No. You must select the whole range of data that you want to move,
then you designate the columns within that that are to be used as
sort keys.

 

[Dr Teeth]

No - Sort, like many XL commands operates on a selection.

Hi guys,

I realise that now. I just did not expect there to be such an easy
way to kibosh a spreadsheet. I expected the rows to stay intact...oh
well, another lesson learnt the hard way.

Happy New Year to you all and thanks for your replies.

Cheers,

Guy

** Stress - the condition brought about by having to
** resist the temptation to beat the living daylights
** out of someone who richly deserves it.