excel sorting task
 

I have the following data in a worksheet
Important note: it is in pairs, that is columns A,B is pair 1, C,D is pair
2, E,F is pair 3.

i want to sort it WITHIN ROW on columns b,d,f, with the smallest value in
b,d or f first then the next largest then the largest.

For example
A B C D E F
5 12 2 3 1 6

would become
A B C D E F
2 3 1 6 5 12

b=3
d=6
f=12
this is what i want, the pairs sorted in ascending order for b,d,f for a
given row.
is this possible?

i'm thinking nested IF statements.......??? but im not sure

any help very much appreciated

thanks

Ian,

Try this

A2: =B1
B2: =B1

then copy across as many columns as you need

then sort rows 1 and 2 with row 2 as the sort by row

--
HTH

Bob Phillips

"Ian" wrote in message
...
I have the following data in a worksheet
Important note: it is in pairs, that is columns A,B is pair 1, C,D is pair
2, E,F is pair 3.

i want to sort it WITHIN ROW on columns b,d,f, with the smallest value in
b,d or f first then the next largest then the largest.

For example
A B C D E F
5 12 2 3 1 6

would become
A B C D E F
2 3 1 6 5 12

b=3
d=6
f=12
this is what i want, the pairs sorted in ascending order for b,d,f for a
given row.
is this possible?

i'm thinking nested IF statements.......??? but im not sure

any help very much appreciated

thanks

thankyou for your excellent and helpful reply.
that definitely works for 1 row.
However i actually have 800 rows of differing values, sorry i should have
mentioned that before.

So somehow i need to do it for 800 rows...



"Bob Phillips" wrote:

Ian,

Try this

A2: =B1
B2: =B1

then copy across as many columns as you need

then sort rows 1 and 2 with row 2 as the sort by row

--
HTH

Bob Phillips

"Ian" wrote in message
...
I have the following data in a worksheet
Important note: it is in pairs, that is columns A,B is pair 1, C,D is pair
2, E,F is pair 3.

i want to sort it WITHIN ROW on columns b,d,f, with the smallest value in
b,d or f first then the next largest then the largest.

For example
A B C D E F
5 12 2 3 1 6

would become
A B C D E F
2 3 1 6 5 12

b=3
d=6
f=12
this is what i want, the pairs sorted in ascending order for b,d,f for a
given row.
is this possible?

i'm thinking nested IF statements.......??? but im not sure

any help very much appreciated

thanks

Does that mean that the other 799 rows just sort in concert with the first
row, or do they get involve in the determination logic somehow?

--
HTH

Bob Phillips

"Ian" wrote in message
...
thankyou for your excellent and helpful reply.
that definitely works for 1 row.
However i actually have 800 rows of differing values, sorry i should have
mentioned that before.

So somehow i need to do it for 800 rows...



"Bob Phillips" wrote:

Ian,

Try this

A2: =B1
B2: =B1

then copy across as many columns as you need

then sort rows 1 and 2 with row 2 as the sort by row

--
HTH

Bob Phillips

"Ian" wrote in message
...
I have the following data in a worksheet
Important note: it is in pairs, that is columns A,B is pair 1, C,D is
pair
2, E,F is pair 3.

i want to sort it WITHIN ROW on columns b,d,f, with the smallest value
in
b,d or f first then the next largest then the largest.

For example
A B C D E F
5 12 2 3 1 6

would become
A B C D E F
2 3 1 6 5 12

b=3
d=6
f=12
this is what i want, the pairs sorted in ascending order for b,d,f for
a
given row.
is this possible?

i'm thinking nested IF statements.......??? but im not sure

any help very much appreciated

thanks