inconsistency between sort and filter with space characters

[MWFW]

Hi

I recently had a user discover a inconsistency between the sort function and the filter functions, in the presence of suffixed space characters. If you copy the following data into a spreadsheet - notice that the size for bob is "small " whereas the size for john is "small".

name size number
bob medium 4
bob small 1
john small 3
mary medium 2

If you then sort this data by size first then name, you will see the following results:
name size number
bob medium 4
mary medium 2
john small 3
bob small 1

This could be deemed as correct, as all the "small" sizes are listed first, followed by the "small " sizes.
However, if you place an autofilter on this data, you would expect to be able to select to view all the "small" sizes and all the "small " sizes - this is not the case. The autofilter only has one option for small, which does include both versions of it in this case.

I use Excel 2007, SP2. I will try to find a copy of Excel 2003 to see if also affects that version.
Is this a known issue? Is this present on anyone else's Excel 2007?

Any questions drop me a line.

Thanks

-Marc

[MWFW]

*** UPDATE

Excel 2002 displays exactly the same behaviour.

[martindwilson]

name size number
mary medium 2
bob medium 4
john small 3
bob small 1
is what i get if i sort 1,size 2 name
what does
view all the "small" sizes and all the "small " sizes mean? please refer to column hedings!