software

I am new to excel and I am trying to get numbers to sort ascending to
descending but there is stil #'s at the top that did not sort. Can anyone
please help me???

Is it possible that you are sorting both text and numbers?

quot;Trishaquot; gt; wrote in message
...
gt;I am new to excel and I am trying to get numbers to sort ascending to
gt; descending but there is stil #'s at the top that did not sort. Can anyone
gt; please help me???
Hi Trisha,
You might find some help and solutions with sorting problems in
www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/sorting.htm

Excel more or less follows the ASCII collating sequence (number order of
characters) which places digits before the alpha characters, but Excel
also sorts all cells that the sort considers as numbers before the
cells that the sort considers as text.

When sorting you would generally be better off selecting all cells
on the sheet before invoking the sort -- the fact that Excel chooses
the current region (Ctrl *) is a common problem that results in loss
of a useable worksheet -- hopefully you make that mistake only once
if you have to discover it yourself. The exceptions would be when
you want to sort only within a limited area and not carry other cells
in a row or column with a cell being moved when sorting.
---
HTH,
David McRitchie, Microsoft MVP - Excel [site changed Nov. 2001]
My Excel Pages: www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/excel.htm
Search Page: www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/search.htm

quot;Barb Reinhardtquot; gt; wrote in message ...
gt; Is it possible that you are sorting both text and numbers?
gt;
gt; quot;Trishaquot; gt; wrote in message
gt; ...
gt; gt;I am new to excel and I am trying to get numbers to sort ascending to
gt; gt; descending but there is stil #'s at the top that did not sort. Can anyone
gt; gt; please help me???
gt;
gt;
As a further rider to this problem, I have also had a problem trying to sort
a column of numbers when some of them start with a zero. I've tried
formatting the cells as text, general, number and custom. None of them seem
to give consistantly correct sorting. What's the best way? Can anyone
advise?

(Sorry to piggy-back on someone else's posting, but my problem is in the
same context).quot;David McRitchiequot; gt; wrote in message
...
gt; Hi Trisha,
gt; You might find some help and solutions with sorting problems in
gt; www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/sorting.htm
gt;
gt; Excel more or less follows the ASCII collating sequence (number order of
SNIP
gt; gt;
gt;
gt;
David Ritchie answered my problem in an earlier response to another
question:-

QUOTE
But formatting after entry does not change a number to text, nor text to
a number so changing the format would have no effect until reentered.
Reentering would remove leading zeros at least in Excel 2002.
UNQUOTE

Thanks David

Steve

quot;42410quot; gt; wrote in message
...
gt; As a further rider to this problem, I have also had a problem trying to
sort
gt; a column of numbers when some of them start with a zero. I've tried
gt; formatting the cells as text, general, number and custom. None of them
seem
gt; to give consistantly correct sorting. What's the best way? Can anyone
gt; advise?
gt;
gt; (Sorry to piggy-back on someone else's posting, but my problem is in the
gt; same context).
gt;
gt;
gt; quot;David McRitchiequot; gt; wrote in message
gt; ...
gt; gt; Hi Trisha,
gt; gt; You might find some help and solutions with sorting problems in
gt; gt; www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/sorting.htm
gt; gt;
gt; gt; Excel more or less follows the ASCII collating sequence (number order of
gt; SNIP
gt; gt; gt;
gt; gt;
gt; gt;
gt;
gt;
Sorry - I meant David Mc Ritchie!!

Steve

quot;42410quot; gt; wrote in message
...
gt; David Ritchie answered my problem in an earlier response to another
gt; question:-
gt;
gt; QUOTE
gt; But formatting after entry does not change a number to text, nor text to
gt; a number so changing the format would have no effect until reentered.
gt; Reentering would remove leading zeros at least in Excel 2002.
gt; UNQUOTE
gt;
gt; Thanks David
gt;
gt; Steve
gt;
gt; quot;42410quot; gt; wrote in message
gt; ...
gt; gt; As a further rider to this problem, I have also had a problem trying to
gt; sort
gt; gt; a column of numbers when some of them start with a zero. I've tried
gt; gt; formatting the cells as text, general, number and custom. None of them
gt; seem
gt; gt; to give consistantly correct sorting. What's the best way? Can anyone
gt; gt; advise?
gt; gt;
gt; gt; (Sorry to piggy-back on someone else's posting, but my problem is in the
gt; gt; same context).
gt; gt;
gt; gt;
gt; gt; quot;David McRitchiequot; gt; wrote in message
gt; gt; ...
gt; gt; gt; Hi Trisha,
gt; gt; gt; You might find some help and solutions with sorting problems in
gt; gt; gt; www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/sorting.htm
gt; gt; gt;
gt; gt; gt; Excel more or less follows the ASCII collating sequence (number order
of
gt; gt; SNIP
gt; gt; gt; gt;
gt; gt; gt;
gt; gt; gt;
gt; gt;
gt; gt;
gt;
gt;
quot;42410quot; wrote:
gt; ... I have also had a problem trying to sort
gt; a column of numbers when some of them start with a zero.
gt; I've tried formatting the cells as text, general, number and custom.
gt; None of them seem to give consistantly correct sorting. ..

Try this ..

Assuming source numbers in A1 down
Put in B1, say: =TEXT(A1,quot;000quot;)
Copy down
Then sort both cols A and B by col B, ascending (say)
Delete col B

Adapt the part: quot;000quot; in the formula
to suit the maximum figure that is present in the source col A
--
Max
Singapore
savefile.com/projects/236895
xdemechanik
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