-=PCTechTalk=- Re: Sorting in Excel

Betty, the table is basically the set of cells that are grouped together to 
display the information.
So... here's an example:
http://gisgeek.pdx.edu/swrp/excel_table.jpg

Your table, here, is cells A1,A2,A3,B1,B2,B3.

Your columns, in this example, is column A and column B... and your rows are 
1,2,3.

So... using this example... do not highlight the colum...

Instead... left-click on A1, and drag to cell B3. You should now have all the 
cells in the table highlighted (and ONLY the cells in the table). Now, with 
those cells highlighted (hence, the table highlighted), go ahead and go to DATA 
> SORT on top.

Then follow the rest of the onscreen instructions.

On a side note... if you highlight an entire column, and not the rest of the 
table... IF you are successful sorting, you will ONLY sort that column. The 
other columns will not sort with that first column. THAT is why it is better to 
highlight the entire table.

For example... if your table is this:

A          B          C
2          yes       no
1          no        yes
3          big       small

If you highlight column A and successfully sort, the end result is going to be:

A          B          C
1          yes       no
2          no        yes
3          big       small

Notice that columns B and C remained the same.

This is just FYI.

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On Mon, 25 Sep 2006 13:02:25 -0400, betty wrote:
> I;ve tried clicking on the very top of the column, and the entire
> column is highlighted. But I still get "The operation requires that
> the merged cell to be
> identically sized. And when that comes up, all the columns are
> highlighted. And BTW, I don't know what you mean by TABLE; I want
> to alphabetize the first column, which is the only column that has
> text rather than numbers. Betty ~OoO~ wrote:
>
>> Best way to do it is to highlight the entire table that needs
>> sorting, THEN click SORT. When you do it the way YOU explained,
>> its taking a guess at what the table is. And, while this usually
>> works fine, it sometimes misjudges.
>>
>> ======================================
>> = SirTroth
>> = ICQ: 1717439
>> = AIM/AOL: SirTrothX
>> = YAHOO: SirTroth
>> = MSN: SirTroth@xxxxxxxxxxx (don't email me here) = SKYPE:
>> SirTroth = XFIRE: SirTroth ======================================
>>
>> On Mon, 25 Sep 2006 10:01:52 -0400, betty wrote:
>>
>>> Good morning, all:
>>> I would like to alphabetize the first cell column in Excel. The
>>> instructions are to highlight an item in the column, and clik
>>> Sort. When I do that, it says "All cells have to be the same
>>> length". I don't understand that. The column is the same all
>>> the way down to the bottom.
>>>
>>> Could someone explain/help, please?
>>>
>>> Betty
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>
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