Sorting Call Numbers

[Guest]

I'm trying to sort a list of call numbers for a library and I want the list
to read as follows:
AM7 .G55 1996
AM7 .R435 2004
AM11 .G45 1994
AM101 .S55 S555 1993

But when I sort, it looks like this:
AM101 .S55 S555 1993
AM11 .G45 1994
AM7 .G55 1996
AM7 .R435 2004

Any suggestions?

 

[Guest]

I think you need a separate sort field where you give each code section the
maximum space the code section can take, then sort on this

e.g. AM7--.G55--2004-----, where - is a space

all codes need to be the same length for sorting to work correctly

 

[Dave Peterson]

You can make your life easier by using:

AM007 .G055 1996
AM007 .R435 2004
AM011 .G045 1994
AM101 .S055 S555 1993

Although, I'm not sure how that last one fits in.