Sorting problem

[Mark Christensen]

Hello,

I've got Excel 2002 SP3. I've got a spreadsheet with part numbers in column
A, and then prices in column B. I used Data > Sort by column A to get the
list of 600+ part numbers in alphanumeric order. The first five part
numbers are:

0405
0433
0435
0503
0615

This is fine. But then I have to scroll down about 30 rows to find these
part numbers:

0401-B
0406*
0422*
0423*

I would like these to be at the top of the list with the other part numbers
(so that 0401-B is first and the others fall in line where they should). Is
there a way to automatically do this? I don't want to have to manually move
rows because this sheet gets changed frequently and having to do anything
other than Data > Sort is really not feasible. Thanks.

Mark

 

[Pete]

If your part numbers are always 4 characters with possibly some others
as in your sample, you could introduce a new column with the formula

= LEFT(A2,4)

copied down the column for as many rows as you have. You could then
sort on this column first and column A second.

Pete

 

[Mark Christensen]

Pete,

Part numbers are not always 4 characters. I have:

28146
A28136
A110-11
C1470012

just as examples. Would your solution work with this?

 

[Pete]

No, the "28146" would be sorted as if it was 2814, though the codes
beginning with letters would be in the right place.

Pete