Olathe Mike
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Sorting by Multiple Columns in Numbers 3.0

The new Numbers 3.0 update has moved some stuff around I need, and can not find. 

 

Where is "Reorganize"?  The ability to sort multiple by columns.  (e.g. Sort Ascending Column A, THEN Column B, THEN Column C)

 

 

mf

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Oct 23, 2013 5:56 AM

by Joe M,Solvedanswer
Joe M Joe M
Level 1 (90 points)
A:

Update is on the way:  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6049?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Posted on Nov 6, 2013 10:33 AM

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Olathe Mike

Q: Sorting by Multiple Columns in Numbers 3.0

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  • by Jerrold Green1,Helpful

    Jerrold Green1 Jerrold Green1 Oct 23, 2013 6:12 AM in response to Olathe Mike
    Level 7 (30,001 points)
    Oct 23, 2013 6:12 AM in response to Olathe Mike

    Mike,

     

    Multiple sort, and the entire Reorganize Panel, seem to be casualties.

     

    I guess we'll be sorting one column at a time. Remember to sort least important column (lowest order) first.

     

    Jerry

  • by pbacchi,

    pbacchi pbacchi Oct 23, 2013 6:21 AM in response to Jerrold Green1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 23, 2013 6:21 AM in response to Jerrold Green1

    I sure hope they fix this.  Being able to do multi column sort was a much used feature for me. 

     

    Philip

  • by Jerrold Green1,

    Jerrold Green1 Jerrold Green1 Oct 23, 2013 6:25 AM in response to pbacchi
    Level 7 (30,001 points)
    Oct 23, 2013 6:25 AM in response to pbacchi

    Phillip,

     

    Use the Feedback option in the Numbers menu to register your wishes.

     

    Jerry

  • by Olathe Mike,

    Olathe Mike Olathe Mike Oct 23, 2013 9:34 AM in response to Jerrold Green1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 23, 2013 9:34 AM in response to Jerrold Green1

    Jerry,

     

    I sent in the Feedback to Apple just now.  I can't imagine Apple seeing justify removing this function.  If they did, I wonder why.

     

    mf

  • by douglasfromnewton,

    douglasfromnewton douglasfromnewton Oct 26, 2013 1:35 PM in response to Olathe Mike
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 26, 2013 1:35 PM in response to Olathe Mike

    I am eager to switch from excel to numbers. Not being able to sort by multiple columns (defining priorities) and not being able to select and print a portion of one page is a real impediment. This is my first day using Numbers. I hope there are not more surprises.

  • by Jerrold Green1,

    Jerrold Green1 Jerrold Green1 Oct 26, 2013 1:42 PM in response to douglasfromnewton
    Level 7 (30,001 points)
    Oct 26, 2013 1:42 PM in response to douglasfromnewton

    This is probably not a good time to switch. Depends on what you are looking for, but Numbers is less powerful now that it ever was. What Numbers 3.0 offers that earlier versions didn't is cross-platform compatibility and a collaborative mode.

     

    I haven't checked out either of these new features though, so I can't comment on how well they work.

     

    Jerry

  • by SGIII,Helpful

    SGIII SGIII Oct 26, 2013 1:55 PM in response to douglasfromnewton
    Level 6 (10,796 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 26, 2013 1:55 PM in response to douglasfromnewton

    Just in case you want to stick with Numbers 3 because it works on tablets, etc., the price is right, and it (we hope) will improve:

     

    There is a not-too-painful workaround for multicolumn sort, from the early days of spreadsheets.

     

    Say you have column A, B, and C and you want to sort first by A then by C then by B. Add a column D with the formula =A&C&B. Then sort by D.

     

    The multicolumn filtering (as opposed to sort) isn't bad at all, in my opinion. And single-column filtering from any cell in the body of a table is handy too.

     

    (I'm an Excel user myself and find them good at different things).

     

    SG

  • by douglasfromnewton,

    douglasfromnewton douglasfromnewton Oct 26, 2013 2:47 PM in response to SGIII
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 26, 2013 2:47 PM in response to SGIII

    Thank you very much. I think this will work until the resources are supplied to improve Numbers. And yes, I am eager to use Numbers (and Pages) for the ease of using on multiple Apple devices.

  • by purple meanie,

    purple meanie purple meanie Oct 26, 2013 3:27 PM in response to Jerrold Green1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 26, 2013 3:27 PM in response to Jerrold Green1

    wow, so the upgrade is misnamed.  it should be a downgrade.

  • by SGIII,

    SGIII SGIII Oct 26, 2013 4:58 PM in response to purple meanie
    Level 6 (10,796 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 26, 2013 4:58 PM in response to purple meanie

    More like an "outgrade".  Dragged down toward the lowest common denominator, but the lowest common denominator is greater than before. So, if you want something that works across devices and on the web, on balance you're better off than before, I think... And, of course, the price is tough to beat.

     

    SG

  • by BobHallsworth,

    BobHallsworth BobHallsworth Oct 28, 2013 11:07 PM in response to douglasfromnewton
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iPad
    Oct 28, 2013 11:07 PM in response to douglasfromnewton

    Not a cheap solution, but Excel on Mac and Windows, with docstogo on iOS devices, using dropbox works :-(

     

    Bob

  • by Saqib,

    Saqib Saqib Oct 31, 2013 1:53 AM in response to SGIII
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Oct 31, 2013 1:53 AM in response to SGIII

    this didn't work for me - i have item, then price, then checkbox. using the formula just gave an amalgamation of the three cells.

     

     

    totally sucky. you hear me Apple?

     

    edit: just figured out you can export to 09 format. i have done so and changed the system wide settings to use 09 first.

  • by SGIII,

    SGIII SGIII Oct 31, 2013 5:46 AM in response to Saqib
    Level 6 (10,796 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 31, 2013 5:46 AM in response to Saqib

    this didn't work for me - i have item, then price, then checkbox. using the formula just gave an amalgamation of the three cells.

     

    Hi Saqib,

     

    The very idea of the workaround is to give an amalgamation, more often called "concatenation", and then just sort on the column containing the concatenated "string."

     

    As you've discovered, the =A&C&B formula only works if A,C, and B are all text. If you've got numbers in the mix then you have to pad them with leading zeros for them to sort as you want. That's easily done.

     

    Let's say C is a number and A and B are strings. You could put somethng like this in column D:

     

    =A&RIGHT("0000"&C,4)&B

     

    It's certainly not convenient to have to add a new column and put in a formula. But this is not *that* difficult as a workaround until the day multcolumn sort is added back in.

     

    SG

  • by Saundra Curry,

    Saundra Curry Saundra Curry Oct 31, 2013 8:28 AM in response to SGIII
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 31, 2013 8:28 AM in response to SGIII

    My husband has a NeoOffice SS file of all the books he has read, and no longer wants to pay $10 per year to upgrade NeoOffice versions. We exported that file in .csv format and opened that .csv file with Numbers 3.0. He wants to sort first by author, then by copyright date, which are columns A and B. There are over 600 rows.

     

    To follow the instructions, "Say you have column A, B, and C and you want to sort first by A then by C then by B. Add a column D with the formula =A&C&B. Then sort by D," where would we insert the formula (in our case) =A&B; does it have to go in every row of the new column we created, or can you put a formula in a header cell which would affect every row in that column?

     

    Thanks for your help! Sorry to be such a dunce...my understanding of spreadsheets is somewhat limited.

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