Hierarchical Sorting Problem

Welcome to the board.

Function PadNum(sInp As String, Optional ByVal iLen As Long = 1) As String
  ' shg 2003

  ' Expands numbers in a string to iLen characters for sorting; e.g.,
  '   PadNum("13A1U3", 2)    = "13A01U03"
  '   PadNum("1.2.3.15", 3)  = "001.002.003.015"

  ' Numbers are not shortened below their minimal representation:
  '   PadNum("1.123.2.3", 2) = "01.123.02.03"

  ' Returns unpadded values if iLen = 1 or omitted
  '   PadNum("01.123.02.03") = "1.123.2.3"

  ' All characters other than digits 0-9 are returned as-is

  Dim sFmt          As String
  Dim iChr          As Long
  Dim sNum          As String
  Dim sChr          As String
  Dim bNum          As Boolean

  sFmt = String(IIf(iLen < 1, 1, IIf(iLen > 15, 15, iLen)), "0")

  For iChr = 1 To Len(sInp) + 1   ' the +1 flushes a trailing number
    sChr = Mid(sInp, iChr, 1)
    If sChr Like "#" Then
      bNum = True
      sNum = sNum & sChr
    Else
      If bNum Then
        bNum = False
        PadNum = PadNum & Format(CDbl(sNum), sFmt)
        sNum = vbNullString
      End If
      PadNum = PadNum & sChr
    End If
  Next iChr
End Function

Use the UDF in a different column and sort by that column:

Row\Col	A	B	C	D
1	WBS	Description	Sort By
2	6.1	Whatever	06.01	C2: =padnum(A2, 2)
3	6.1.1	Whatever	06.01.01
4	6.1.2	Whatever	06.01.02
5	6.1.3	Whatever	06.01.03
6	6.1.4	Whatever	06.01.04
7	6.1.5	Whatever	06.01.05
8	6.1.6	Whatever	06.01.06
9	6.1.7	Whatever	06.01.07
10	6.1.8	Whatever	06.01.08
11	6.1.9	Whatever	06.01.09
12	6.1.10	Whatever	06.01.10
13	6.2	Whatever	06.02
14	6.3	Whatever	06.03
15	6.4	Whatever	06.04
16	6.5	Whatever	06.05
17	6.6	Whatever	06.06
18	6.7	Whatever	06.07
19	6.8	Whatever	06.08
20	6.9	Whatever	06.09

You're welcome.

Copy the code from the post.

In Excel, Alt+F11 to open the VBE, Insert > Module, paste the code in the window that opens.

Save as an xlsm file, close, reopen, enable macros when prompted.