Sort just a block within a spreadsheet - could do that easily in Appleworks!

Hi Guy,

Try the powerful Filter feature in Numbers.

Filter applied, but not active:

With the Filter now active (click on the checkbox)

Select all the visible cells, Copy and Paste into a new table.

Then you have a new table to manipulate for a presentation 🙂.

Regards,

Ian.

Hi guy,

"Numbers does not support this function, only sorting all rows or columns - why on earth not?"

As Ian notes, Numbers sorts a table, but not individual columns or groups of columns.

But you can limit the sort to a selected group of rows within a column.

The contextual menus attached to the column reference tabs offer only sorts that affect all (non-header, non-footer) rows, but the Sort and Filter button (beside the Format brush) opens an Inspector pane that includes the option of sorting "selected rows."

The table in the image has undergone three sorts:

In its original state, the numbers in column E were in ascending order from 1-12.

Sort 1: Ascending order on column A

Sort 2: Descending order on column D.

Sort 3: Selected rows, descending order on column A.

Giving the results above.

Deselecting the selected rows by clicking on a single cell (I clicked D1, but the actual cell chosen shouldn't matter),

I did one more sort:

Sort 4: Ascending on column D.

Note that the order of values in column A is unchanged from that above except for the first three (ascending) values being moved to the bottom three rows, and the descending values moving up three rows, while maintaining their previously sorted order.

" why on earth not?

If memory serves, sorting individual columns was not included in any version of ClarisWorks, which was rebranded as AppleWorks at version 5. The feature was introduced was included (without much, if any, 'introduction') in AppleWorks 6.

I don't know how others were affected by this, but I do recall several hours of frustration for a group (including me) rushing to do the calculations to determine who would move on the the 'final' round of a fair involving between 150 and 200 entrants, scored on a multi item rating sheet by several independent interviewers.

Assuming we weren't the only users caught off guard, I would expect Apple received several complaints at that time, which may have had some influence on the 'feature' being omitted from Numbers when It came along.

Regards,

Barry

Hi Guy,

Numbers mimics a database.

Each column of a table is a field.

Each row of a table is a record.

Numbers sorts each row as a unit, to keep the relationships intact.

Please reply with more information about your overall aim.

Numbers works best by "pulling" relevant data from a master table into several small tables, each with a purpose.

Then you create a "presentation" of results (perhaps on other Sheets) for printing.

More information will lead to a solution 😉.

Regards,

Ian.

Hi Guy,

I wonder if you noticed a nifty feature in Numbers where you can select a range of cells (perhaps cells in one column) hold down the mouse button, and drag them onto the canvas. They automatically become a separate table. Sort that table as desired, select its cells and just drag them back into the original table. It's really handy. Only takes a few seconds.

SG

Hi Guy,

I am glad that Numbers does not allow sorting individual columns within a table. I recall many times when using Excel, a colleague would ask: "How do we sort in Excel? We select that column and sort, yes?"

Me: "Oh, **sugar**. No. You have just turned years of work into a dog's breakfast. Do we have a backup copy?"

Regards,

Ian.

can you give us a mock up or screen shot of how you want to see the data? I am having a problem seeing why you need to sort the column if the boats are listed in the order they placed. You would put the first place winners number in the top most row down to the last place in the last row. Each column would be different of course, one for each race.

i.e. i am thinking if you sort the column by itself you just put the boats back in their numeric order form boat 1 to boat 5, not in the order they placed. I had to do this for a pinewood derby and each row was a race, placing each cars number in the specific lane, then what the placing of the lanes was in a second table, and it computed the points in another table. did this for dozens of races and it all worked out nicely.

thanks

Jason