Difficult Sorting Problem

Hi,
I would like to thank all in advance for helping with this. Here is my
problem:

I am trying to make a spreadsheet to list all of our inventory items. We
currently use Great Plains as our financial and manufacturing software, and
all of our inventory numbers are like this:

1-10-3001
1-10-3099
1-11-3013
1-12-3005
2-15-2099

etc. (We have approx. 7,000 inventory items)

Now here is the dilema, the first sets of numbers (2-15-XXXX) are for the
computer use, and the the last four (X-XX-2099) are how the parts are sorted
and used by the people on the floor. So I get a report from Great Plains
that is sorted by the first digits, but I need the report sorted by the last
four digits of that part number :

2-15-2099
1-10-3001
1-12-3005
1-11-3013
1-10-3099

I have experimented with macros and other ways, to no avail.

Also as a note the first column is the part numbers, 2nd column is the part
description, 3rd column is the unit of measure, and 4th column is the
quantity on hand.

Again, any help will be greatly appriciated.
--
Thanks,
Rob

Try sorting on a helper col, say col F?

Put in F2: =RIGHT(A2,4)*1
Copy down

Select the data range inclusive of col F
Click Data > Sort > Sort by col F (Ascending) > OK
--
Rgds
Max
xl 97
---
GMT+8, 1° 22' N 103° 45' E
xdemechanik <at>yahoo<dot>com
----
Rob <Rob@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:D2F71544-E4A4-4B7C-BFA4-CFE422CAC56F@microsoft.com...
> Hi,
> I would like to thank all in advance for helping with this. Here is my
> problem:
>
> I am trying to make a spreadsheet to list all of our inventory items. We
> currently use Great Plains as our financial and manufacturing software,
and
> all of our inventory numbers are like this:
>
> 1-10-3001
> 1-10-3099
> 1-11-3013
> 1-12-3005
> 2-15-2099
>
> etc. (We have approx. 7,000 inventory items)
>
> Now here is the dilema, the first sets of numbers (2-15-XXXX) are for the
> computer use, and the the last four (X-XX-2099) are how the parts are
sorted
> and used by the people on the floor. So I get a report from Great Plains
> that is sorted by the first digits, but I need the report sorted by the
last
> four digits of that part number :
>
> 2-15-2099
> 1-10-3001
> 1-12-3005
> 1-11-3013
> 1-10-3099
>
> I have experimented with macros and other ways, to no avail.
>
> Also as a note the first column is the part numbers, 2nd column is the
part
> description, 3rd column is the unit of measure, and 4th column is the
> quantity on hand.
>
> Again, any help will be greatly appriciated.
> --
> Thanks,
> Rob

Try this:

First, assuming your inventory numbers are in column A, in column B write:

=right(A1,4)

This will show only the 4 digits to the right.

Then do a data sort using column B as the sorting column.

This should solve your problem.

Chris

"Rob" wrote:

> Hi,
> I would like to thank all in advance for helping with this. Here is my
> problem:
>
> I am trying to make a spreadsheet to list all of our inventory items. We
> currently use Great Plains as our financial and manufacturing software, and
> all of our inventory numbers are like this:
>
> 1-10-3001
> 1-10-3099
> 1-11-3013
> 1-12-3005
> 2-15-2099
>
> etc. (We have approx. 7,000 inventory items)
>
> Now here is the dilema, the first sets of numbers (2-15-XXXX) are for the
> computer use, and the the last four (X-XX-2099) are how the parts are sorted
> and used by the people on the floor. So I get a report from Great Plains
> that is sorted by the first digits, but I need the report sorted by the last
> four digits of that part number :
>
> 2-15-2099
> 1-10-3001
> 1-12-3005
> 1-11-3013
> 1-10-3099
>
> I have experimented with macros and other ways, to no avail.
>
> Also as a note the first column is the part numbers, 2nd column is the part
> description, 3rd column is the unit of measure, and 4th column is the
> quantity on hand.
>
> Again, any help will be greatly appriciated.
> --
> Thanks,
> Rob