1. Module No. - 8
Sorting the Data List:
Excel provides the facility to sort the Data List on any column of the Data List.
Sorting means rearranging the row in increasing or decreasing column value.
When you sort the rows then rows having the same column-value, appear together.
Table on the next page show a Data List that has been sorted on “Department”
Column.
Sorting order can either be ascending (increasing) or descending (decreasing) Excel
sorting process can be broadly categorized into following categories.
(a)
Simple or Single level sorting
(b)
Complex or Multi level sorting
Simple Sorting:
In simple sorting, list is sorted only on single field/ column. To sort the list on
Department, following steps are observed :
(a)
Select those records of the Data List that have to be sorted. If the complete list
is to be sorted then place the cell pointer anywhere in the list, instead of
selecting the complete list by dragging the mouse.
(b)
Select Data option from the bar menu, it will display a submenu. On choosing
Sort... option from the submenu, Excel will display the following dialog box.
(c)
Clicks on down arrow button of Sort by drop down list box and choose Dept
in the option because you want to sort the list on department. After selecting
the sort field select sorting order, as ascending, by clicking on corresponding
radio button. At last select OK button. Data List will rearrange itself to
acquire following arrangement of records.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
2. 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Code
E005
E010
E003
E002
E006
E007
E001
E004
E008
E009
Name
Rahul
Anil
Ramesh
Ajit
Babita
Subodh
Anil
Anil
Ajit
Ramesh
Dept.
Hardware
Hardware
Hardware
Software
Software
Software
Software
Support
Support
Support
Designation
Manager
Executive
Executive
Executive
Executive
Manager
Executive
Manager
Executive
Executive
Salary Bonus Total
8000
2000 10000
4000
2000
6000
6000
2000
8000
5500
3000
8500
6000
3000
9000
10000
3000 13000
7000
3000 10000
9000
2500 11500
4500
2500
7000
6000
2500
8500
Since this list is sorted on department, hence all the records having same department
name appear together and the order of sorting is ascending, therefore the order of the
department name has been kept as Hardware, Software and then Support.
Multi Level Sorting:
Sometimes you want the sorting to be more systematic. Once the records have been
sorted on one column, then you would like them to get further sorted on some other column
within the group. For example, we would like to sort the Data List on department but within
the department, we want to sort on the basis of designation in the descending order, so that
within the same group, records having Manager designation appears before the records,
having Executive designation. This type of sorting is called Multi level sorting. To perform
this type of sorting, follow the following steps:
(a)
Select the Data List that is to be sorted.
(b)
Chose Sort option from Data submenu, so as to get Sort dialog box on the
screen.
(c)
Select Dept and order as Ascending in Sort by list box and then select
Designation, and Descending radio button in first Then by list box. Finally,
select OK button.
Following Data List will be provided, which is sorted on Department and within
department, it is sorted on designation (descending order).
A
B
C
D
1 Code
Name
Dept.
Designation
2 E005
Rahul
Hardware
Manager
8000
2000
10000
3 E010
Anil
Hardware
Executive
4000
2000
6000
4 E003
Ramesh
Hardware
Executive
6000
2000
8000
2
E
Salary
F
Bonus
G
Total
3. 5 E007
Subodh
Software
Manager
10000
3000
13000
6 E002
Ajit
Software
Executive
5500
3000
8500
7 E006
Babita
Software
Executive
6000
3000
9000
8 E001
Anil
Software
Executive
7000
3000
10000
9 E004
Anil
Support
Manager
9000
2500
11500
10 E008
Ajit
Support
Executive
4500
2500
7000
11 E009
Ramesh
Support
Executive
6000
2500
8500
We can resorted Data List further. For example, in the above case, sorting is to done
so that for the same designation, higher salary records appear first (descending order).
To introduce this step of sorting, select Salary in second Then by dialog box and
keep the order of sorting as Descending. This selection will result into following Data List.
A
B
C
D
E
Salary
F
Bonus
G
1 Code
Name
Dept.
Designation
Total
2 E005
Rahul
Hardware
Manager
8000
2000
10000
3 E010
Anil
Hardware
Executive
4000
2000
6000
4 E003
Ramesh
Hardware
Executive
6000
2000
8000
5 E007
Subodh
Software
Manager
10000
3000
13000
6 E006
Babita
Software
Executive
6000
3000
9000
7 E002
Ajit
Software
Executive
5500
3000
8500
8 E001
Anil
Software
Executive
7000
3000
10000
9 E004
Anil
Support
Manager
9000
2500
11500
10 E009
Ramesh
Support
Executive
6000
2500
8500
11 E008
Ajit
Support
Executive
4500
2500
7000
When we sort a table on the basis of any column, the records of similar value are
displayed together. These are called as Groups. In the above example, records are grouped
on the basis of department. The place where one group ends and another group starts, a group
break is said to have occurred.
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4. Assignment No. – 8
Q.1.
What is sorting? Explain by giving a suitable example.
Q.2.
How data in a worksheet can be sorted according to a given column?
Q.3.
What is multilevel sorting? Explain by giving a suitable example.
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