Order By property doesn't work in my tables

[Guest]

I can't seem to get my tables to display data in a sort order based on my
entry in the Order By property. I've tried typing in the field name by
itself, surrounded by quotes, and surrounded by brackets, but the table
always displays sorted by the autonumber field.

 

[John W. Vinson]

I can't seem to get my tables to display data in a sort order

Correct.

Tables HAVE NO ORDER.

They are unordered "buckets" of data.

If you want to see records in a particular order, create a Query sorting the
records. You can use this query wherever you would use a Table. Better, you
can base a Form on the query and use the Form to edit the data. Table (or
query) datasheets have very limited capabilities, and are not designed for
data entry or editing.

John W. Vinson [MVP]

 

[Guest]

Thanks very much John. That is what I expected. But then why do tables have
an Order By property?

 

[John W. Vinson]

Thanks very much John. That is what I expected. But then why do tables have
an Order By property?

Probably for the same reason that they have Lookup Fields and Subdatasheets -
people at Microsoft who misguidedly (IMO) put "quick and dirty", thoughtless
use ahead of good database design.


John W. Vinson [MVP]