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change sorting sequence in numbers app

my number sorting sequence in my numbers app has changed, I entered my data information in numerical order 1-200 and all was well, today I requested a sort by date and it went well till I was done working on my spreadsheet and changed the sort by data number and now my order is 1-10 then 100- 109, 11, 110-119, 12 etc. I have looked everywhere and can't figure out where I can change the rules back to standard sequence. HELP!



Posted on May 9, 2023 10:24 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 12, 2023 12:03 AM

"the sequence was mix text and # as in text 1, text 2, text 3 in sequence"


If I'm reading this correctly, the column on which you were sorting has a series of entries that follow a pattern similar to this example:


some text 1

same text (or different text) 2

same text (or different text) 3

same text (or different text) 4


Entries containing both text and numerals will not be recognized as 'number' values, and will be sorted using the rules for sorting text, as noted in Badunit's first reply above.


If the text portion is different in each entry, the numerals will likely have only a a minor influence on the order of the list. If the text part of all entries in a group, the sort within that group will depend on the 'numbers', but will interpret those 'numbers' using alphabetical rules


Here is a demonstration table:

Column A contains a series of integers to make it easy to see that the table has been sorted in the examples below. (also useful in returning the table to its original order).


Column B contains only numbers, and has its data format set to 'Number'.

Column C contains the same numbers, and has its data format set to 'Text'.


Columns D through F contain variations of the 'number' set, with either a variety of text parts or with the same text part preceding the number on each row.


Each copy of the table has been sorted ascending on the content of the column selected in that image.




Flavia wrote:


" I had tried, the column was originally formatted "multiple" and I changed it to "number" and nothing happened."


"multiple" in this case means only that the data format of the cells in this column have not been user-set, and contain a variety of data types. Numbers automatically interprets the format setting for each cell in the column, using that data type of the contents of that cell. That interpretation allows Numbers to recognize number values in the column to as numbers and use them in calculations, but to interpret the same values as 'text' when applying sorting rules to a sort of the table on that column.


"I tried several different formats to see if anything might change the sequencing but it went from 1-10 then jumped to the 100's.. like it was formatting the first digit then the second."


…Which is, if you replace "formatting" with "reading" or "interpreting", exactly what it should be doing when sorting 'text'.


I have had a running in with this particular problem a while ago, like years. Lucky for me it doesn't happen often."


Regards,

Barry

5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 12, 2023 12:03 AM in response to flavia141

"the sequence was mix text and # as in text 1, text 2, text 3 in sequence"


If I'm reading this correctly, the column on which you were sorting has a series of entries that follow a pattern similar to this example:


some text 1

same text (or different text) 2

same text (or different text) 3

same text (or different text) 4


Entries containing both text and numerals will not be recognized as 'number' values, and will be sorted using the rules for sorting text, as noted in Badunit's first reply above.


If the text portion is different in each entry, the numerals will likely have only a a minor influence on the order of the list. If the text part of all entries in a group, the sort within that group will depend on the 'numbers', but will interpret those 'numbers' using alphabetical rules


Here is a demonstration table:

Column A contains a series of integers to make it easy to see that the table has been sorted in the examples below. (also useful in returning the table to its original order).


Column B contains only numbers, and has its data format set to 'Number'.

Column C contains the same numbers, and has its data format set to 'Text'.


Columns D through F contain variations of the 'number' set, with either a variety of text parts or with the same text part preceding the number on each row.


Each copy of the table has been sorted ascending on the content of the column selected in that image.




Flavia wrote:


" I had tried, the column was originally formatted "multiple" and I changed it to "number" and nothing happened."


"multiple" in this case means only that the data format of the cells in this column have not been user-set, and contain a variety of data types. Numbers automatically interprets the format setting for each cell in the column, using that data type of the contents of that cell. That interpretation allows Numbers to recognize number values in the column to as numbers and use them in calculations, but to interpret the same values as 'text' when applying sorting rules to a sort of the table on that column.


"I tried several different formats to see if anything might change the sequencing but it went from 1-10 then jumped to the 100's.. like it was formatting the first digit then the second."


…Which is, if you replace "formatting" with "reading" or "interpreting", exactly what it should be doing when sorting 'text'.


I have had a running in with this particular problem a while ago, like years. Lucky for me it doesn't happen often."


Regards,

Barry

May 9, 2023 6:35 PM in response to flavia141

If it is 1, 10,100-109,11,110-119, 12, etc then your numbers are formatted as text, which will make them sort as text rather than numerically as numbers. Change the column of numbers to "automatic" or "number" and sort it again.


If it actually starts as you said with "1-10" not "1, 10". I cannot think of a scenario where that would happen, unless you sorted by a different column.

May 10, 2023 5:31 AM in response to Badunit

:) the sequence was mix text and # as in text 1, text 2, text 3 in sequence, the column was already formatted as number, so I changed it to automatic and nothing happened, then back to number, then text etc, nothing brought it to the original sequence, but your comments reminded me there was an easier solution, create another column and separate the text from the # and that did the trick :) thank you.

May 11, 2023 5:15 AM in response to Badunit

I agree, but I had tried, the column was originally formatted "multiple" and I changed it to "number" and nothing happened, I tried several different formats to see if anything might change the sequencing but it went from 1-10 then jumped to the 100's.. like it was formatting the first digit then the second. I have had a running in with this particular problem a while ago, like years. Lucky for me it doesn't happen often.

change sorting sequence in numbers app

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