Sorting/Grouping within a report

[Guest]

Basically, I have a report that includes individuals with the same last name,
and since I have instructed it to sort by the last name the report
automatically merges the two individual's records and displays them under one
person's name. How can I separate their data in a way that will still allow
the report to be sorted by their last name?

 

[Joseph Meehan]

Basically, I have a report that includes individuals with the same
last name, and since I have instructed it to sort by the last name
the report automatically merges the two individual's records and
displays them under one person's name. How can I separate their data
in a way that will still allow the report to be sorted by their last
name?

You may need to sort by two fields or more.

 

[Guest]

Include the first name in the grouping and sorting. You do not have to
display the first name.
Why would not want to display the first name?

 

[Guest]

Never rely on names as personal identifiers, they are often duplicated - I
used to work with two Maggie Taylors! Always use a unique number, which more
often than not will be an autonumber column.

In your report Group first on the LastName; this will sort the report
alphabetically by last name. Don't give this group level a header or footer,
though. Then sort on the unique ID number as the second group level. Give
this a group header and/or footer if required and put the relevant controls
in these sections. Each individual will then have their own header and/or
footer, so if they have the same name this will be the same in their headers,
but the other data in the header/footer and detail section will relate solely
to that individual.