Sorting a column in Numbers

I find the hubris and attitudes in this thread atrocious.

It was a simple wuestion, and a capability that exists in every other spreadsheet product on the market.

The simple answer, "Numbers doesn't support single colum sorting," without the personal attacks and unneeded application developers support would have sufficed.

It is a feature lacking in the product.

Simple.

Here's what you do. I'm using this table as multiple lists of people in different categories.

Create a new table with only the columns that you want to sort. If you have multiple lists that you want kept separate you can create multiple tables side by side.

Hi MalayTim,

Wow, you have tested "every other spreadsheet on the market"!

Not sure where find "hubris" in efforts by your fellow users in this user-to-user forum to show how to sort on one column in the rare cases when that is needed.

BTW, it is really easy to sort by one column in Numbers. It takes roughly the same effort as in Excel. There have been several discussions how in the six years since this very old thread.

SG

MalayTim said:

The simple answer, "Numbers doesn't support single colum sorting,"

_______________________________

Sure it does!

1) Create a table with a single column.

2) Add a bunch of data to column (like for instance copying from another table's column one wishes to sort)

3) Sort it! (then paste it back to original column)

See? Easy!

Actually it's even easier. Say you have a multicolumn table. Just drag the column you want to sort onto the canvas, sort the resulting one-column table, and drag its column back to where it was in the original table. Drag, sort, drag. A few seconds and you're done. No choosing the right item slightly confusing menus as in in Excel.

SG

JohnGross wrote:

What is this "Drag/Sort/Drag" craziness?!?!?

Same as what you described, I think. But in the original table you can select cells, say the cells in an entire column, or part of a column, hold down the mouse button (or trackpad equivalent), and just drag them out of the table onto the canvas where they automatically for a new table that can be sorted however. Then you can select sorted cells and just drag them back into the original position in the original table. I don't think this has been documented much, except in these forums, but the drag out and drag back makes this quicker and simpler than one might imagine. It's natural in an environment like Numbers that lends itself to multiple tables on a canvas. In Excel, where each sheet is one big grid of cells, this isn't possible. Hence the menu approach there.

SG

Hi Rose,

I think your memory may be playng tricks on you.

Numbers sets up sorting on a model that considers all data in one row or a table to be part of a single record. You may sortt the rows of a table based on the content of one or more columns, but you cannot sort a single column without rearranging all of the others.

If you want to sort the data in a single column, you must remove the column (or its data) from the table to do the sort. After sorting, you can return the sorted data (or the entire column) to the original table, or keep it in a separate table where it may be sorted at will.

Regards,

Barry

"I hope the Numbers Gurus will fix it some day.

Don't you thinks it a bit predjudiced to only sort the rows?"

I suspect the 'Numbers Gurus' see no need to 'fix' something that isn't broken. Having Numbers's sorting mimic a database is a design decision, and to my mind, it's a good one, and part of a larger view of what Numbers is and how its documents should be built.

Most spreadsheet applications are based on a single large table per document, and with that model, it makes some sense to provide for sorting only part of the table. Numbers model is based on several independent (but interactive) tables, each used for a single purpose task. Within each table each row is a unit of related data that stays together. With that model, sorting the rows rather than the individual cells makes sense, and anything that needs to be sorted separately from the rest of the row would be better placed in a separate table.

"Prejudiced"? I'm not sure what you mean by the term. Every piece of software (or hardware) involves the judgement of its designers, and much of that judgement has to take place during the development process, which usually occurs prior to the product's release. So, yes, the judgement that sorting by rows is the best route was a 'pre release' judgement. But that's also true of other spreadsheet applications whose developers judged (prior to the release of that product) that sorting only selected columns was the way to go.

I (and several others who were doing the data processing for a regional science fair the year that Apple decided to introduce 'sorting only selected columns' in AppleWorks) spent the better part of a day and night repairing the effects of that unfortunate decision (while the students waited less than patiently for their results)!

That said, if you want changes to the way numbers (or any other Apple application) works, this user-to-user forum isn't the place to make your request. Current Apple applications all have an Application menu (in Numbers, called the 'Numbers' menu) and the ones I've seen all have an item in that menu named "Provide application Feedback." Requests and other feedback provided via that link go directly to Apple, and have resulted in changes to subsequent versions of a number of applications (including Numbers).

Regards,

Barry

First, I think that rather than castigating the person for making the suggestion, you should either contribute something to that person's knowledge about how he or she can get the wanted results or just keep out of the discussion. Excel with which I have done a lot of work allows you to sort only the columns that you select.

That way any data that is dependent on a quantity in the new sort will still calculate correctly. Numbers, despite checking the selection "sort selected columns" sorts the enire database thus making that selection superfluous. In Numbers, I have to either remove dependent column and later reinstall it or fix the positions of the dependent variable. A lot of extra work.

If I wanted a database application I would have used a database but I wanted to create a very simple spreadsheet that adds a value in one column to a total in another column and that I can resort by date if I have to add an item that is out of the existing date order without having to complicate the matter with database programming or removing and readding columns.

Duch46

Dutch,

What you have described is something you can do In Numbers. There is, however, no need to sort by only one column to achieve your goal. If you add a new record AND you make all your formulas sort friendly then sorting will work flawlessly.

What you may be missing is that there are formulas that will not "survive" a sort. If you provide a specific example we may be able to help you.

Regards,

Wayne

Here is a part of the spreadsheet.

The only math is in column D (Total) and it is as follows, D1 is a fixed value of $408.00. In the next row down the math in column D would be D1+C2, in row 3 it would be D2+C3 and so on. If I now add an entry on 2/25/13 and wish to sort the data in date order all I need to do is sort columns A-C in date order and the math built into column D takes care of the addition. Despite selecting the "sort selected columns" option, the application sorts all four columns carrying the values that are in columns D along with the sort. It is, in effect, fixing those cells in place even though I specified floating cell references or rather I did not select the option to fix the cells in place. This is not good. If the spreadsheet is small enough so that I can see all of the cells I can see the error and fix it but I certainly would not want to take a chance on working with behavior like that in a multi hundred cell spreadsheet application.

I duplicated the spreadsheet in Excell and repeated the sort and it worked fine.

If you want to take a look at the actual spreadsheet I will be maore than happy to send it to you to take a look at. Send me an email link and I will ship it out to you.

Thank you very much for the very prompt response.

Tom Belstler

tbelstler@gmail.com

Dutch46

Oops, the spreadsheet evidently didn't survive so here it is.

The spreadsheet didn't survive the second attempt to send it either. Sorry.