Retrograde 'Sort' in latest Numbers?

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Level 1

16 points

Retrograde 'Sort' in latest Numbers?

Can't help but wonder where Apple developers get their ideas for upgrades. The latest revision to Numbers seems to have removed one of the most valuable spreadsheet tools, the 'sort' of a chosen area of a spreadsheet. I regularly used this to re-arrange data within my spreadsheets after an update. Now impossible so I have no choice but to return to the previous version. Probably no bad thing given the some of the other daft changes like a 'saved' sheet when re-opened starts off as an A4 size even if you'd saved it as a nice wide size which suited your work.

Does anyone have another solution?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Nov 21, 2013 6:54 AM

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Answer 1

SGIII

Level 8

37,568 points

Nov 21, 2013 7:21 AM in response to gordonsetter

Hi Gordon,

I don't have the A4 size problem here.

Apple has announced in this support document that they will be bringing back "multi-column and range sort" sometime within the next six months.

For more on the differences between Numbers 2.3 and Numbers 3.0 see the features gained, features lost and workarounds threads.

SG

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Answer 2

gordonsetter Author

Level 1

16 points

Nov 21, 2013 9:20 AM in response to SGIII

Thanks SGlll. The support document is some comfort in the longer term. As a relative newcomer to Apple I am trying to go with all Apple rather than a mix of Microsoft etc so would prefer to stick with Numbers.

Can't fathom why my saved spreadsheets always reopen with the small page size. Very frustrating as most of my sheets use almost the full screen. I don't suppose you have any suggestions? Have I missed a setting somewhere? I thought 'lock' would help but I've realised it's not intended for this sort of thing.

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Answer 3

SGIII

Level 8

37,568 points

Nov 21, 2013 10:27 AM in response to gordonsetter

Can't fathom why my saved spreadsheets always reopen with the small page size. Very frustrating as most of my sheets use almost the full screen.

Do you mean page size in Print Preview?

Or do you mean how your document appears on the screen?

The old Numbers (which you should still have on your Mac, by the way, in a subfolder within your Applications folder called iWork '09 or similar) had a Print View in which, as you are editing your document, you could visualize exactly how it would print out.

Numbers 3.0 is less print-oriented, with more emphasis on syncing to the web and iOS. If you want to see how your document will look if it is printed out, you need to File > Print or command-p and look at it in Print Preview.

SG

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Answer 4

gordonsetter Author

Level 1

16 points

Nov 21, 2013 11:06 AM in response to SGIII

Oh nothing to do with printing. It's purely the spreadsheet nevers appears at the size it was when saved. So if I adjust the borders to almost fill the screen, on re-opening it's always closed up to the default size you get when first starting out. I refered to A4 just to indicate the size on the screen.

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Answer 5

SGIII

Level 8

37,568 points

Nov 21, 2013 11:54 AM in response to gordonsetter

Yes, there doesn't seem to be much control over that or the zoom when reopening a document. For me explicitly saving via command-s before closing seems to "stick" sometimes, but not always. If this behavior bothers you, you could give feedback to Apple via your menu Numbers > Provide Numbers Feedback.

SG

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