[Novalug] OT: sorting spreadsheet columns

Peter Larsen plarsen@famlarsen.homelinux.com
Wed Jul 2 15:39:55 EDT 2008


Hmmm - it looks like most in here uses Excel like they used Lotus-123 :)
Things have sorta changed, and many of the issues limiting table
overlaps etc. have been solved quite elegantly.

The only "rule" to remember, is to have a heading of each column. One
you have that, place the cursor on the header, choose the menu "data"
and then "filter". Turn on auto-filter, and you get a small drop-down
for each column header. Not only can you now filter in your data, but
easily sort the data.  Blank rows mean "end of table" and it won't go
any further than this.

In theory you can have as many tables as you want down. But for
usability I would recommend using "sheets" (the tabs at the bottom of
the window) which are all saved in the same file. 

Btw. this feature is also in OpenOffice - and should be part of the
standard "arsenal" of spreadsheet tools that you use, if you use
spreadsheets often.

The problem with spreadsheets is it's all memory contained. If you get
enough data you're going to run into limits very quickly.

-- 
Peter Larsen <plarsen@famlarsen.homelinux.com>


-----Original Message-----
From: Bonnie Dalzell <bdalzell@qis.net>
To: Jim Ide <jimsmaillists@yahoo.com>
Cc: novalug@calypso.tux.org
Subject: Re: [Novalug] OT: sorting spreadsheet columns
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2008 12:15:20 -0400 (EDT)


On Tue, 1 Jul 2008, Jim Ide wrote:

JI >Spreadsheets are sometimes used as quick and dirty databases,
JI >although they were probably not intended to be used this
JI >way.  Many times, I have received emails with attached
JI >spreadsheets containing team rosters, club members, etc.
JI >
JI >Suppose you have a spreadsheet with the columns Last Name,
JI >First Name, Address, etc., and you want to sort the rows
JI >by Last Name.  If you click the Last Name column and select
JI >Sort from the menu, only the Last Name column will be sorted,
JI >and the other columns will remain unsorted.  This often
JI >surprises/confuses new spreadsheet users.  If you want the
JI >entire row to be sorted by Last Name, you must select the
JI >entire range and *then* sort by Last Name.  It seems to me
JI >(a database guy) that row-oriented database-style sorting
JI >as the default behavior is more useful and intuitive than
JI >column-oriented sorting, but I rarely use spreadsheets
JI >and haven't had to solve a problem in which this behavior
JI >would be helpful.  I asked several persons I consider to
JI >be spreadsheet gurus why you would want this, and asked
JI >them to give me an example of when sorting just one column
JI >without disturbing the other columns would be useful,
JI >but none could come up with an answer.
JI >
JI >Any ideas?

in the upper left hand side of the table of the spreadsheet there is a 
blank bnox which is in line with the left hand labels row and the top 
labels row.

clicking on that should select all of the spreadsheet.

when you go under data in the menu and then select sort you should get a 
choice as to which column you want to sort by. select the column you 
need to sort by.

the details of this can vary a bit from spread sheet application to 
spread sheet application but the principle is the same.

 JI >
JI >
JI >
JI >      
JI >_______________________________________________
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JI >Novalug@calypso.tux.org
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JI >

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                       Bonnie Dalzell, MA
mail:5100 Hydes Rd PO Box 60, Hydes,MD,USA 21082-0060|EMAIL:bdalzell@qis.net

freelance anatomist, vertebrate paleontologist, writer, illustrator, dog
breeder, computer nerd & iconoclast... Borzoi info at www.borzois.com.
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