Referring to Excel General Question at 12/12/2006 5:09 PM PST
Does anyone know how to perform this kind of sorting in excel?

13, 8, 7, 7, 14, 14, 14, 3, 3, 3, 23, 19, 2, 2

The above values are listed from cell A1 to A14
A1 has a higher priority than A2 on selection, and A14 has the lowest
priority on selection, because it located on the bottom of the list. I need
to select the top five numbers from the list without duplication, but the
distance between any two numbers must be bigger than / [equal to] the
smallest value from the list. On the other words, 2 is the smallest number
from the list,

13, 8, 7, 7, 14, 14, 14, 3, 3, 3, 23, 19, 2, 2
the first number is 13 for selection, and
[13]

13, 8, 7, 7, 14, 14, 14, 3, 3, 3, 23, 19, 2, 2
the second number is 8, which 13-8=5 and is bigger than / equal to the
smallest number 2.
[13 8]

13, 8, 7, 7, 14, 14, 14, 3, 3, 3, 23, 19, 2, 2
the third number cannot be 7, because abs(8-7)=1, which is less than the
smallest number 2, even through abs(13-7)=6, which is bigger than 2.
the next third number cannot be 7 again, then skip it for the next one.
the next third number cannot be 14, because abs(13-14)=1, which is less than
2.
....
the next third number is 3, abs(13-3)=10, abs(8-3)=5, which is bigger than 2
[13 8 3]

13, 8, 7, 7, 14, 14, 14, 3, 3, 3, 23, 19, 2, 2
the next forth number is 23, which is OK, abs(13-23)=10, abs(8-23)=15, which
is bigger than 2
[13 8 3 23]

13, 8, 7, 7, 14, 14, 14, 3, 3, 3, 23, 19, 2, 2
the next fifth number is 19, abs(13-19)=6, abs(8-19)=11, abs(23-19)=4,
abs(3-19)=16

[13 8 3 23 19] DONE, which values are stored in cell B1 to B5

Does any have any suggestion?
Thank you very much in advance
Eric

Try B1 =A1 and fill down from B2:

=INDEX(A:A,MIN(IF(MMULT(--(ABS(A$1:A$14-TRANSPOSE(B$1:B1))
<MIN(A$1:A$14)),ROW(B$1:B1)),"",ROW(A$1:A$14))))

Eric wrote:

Referring to Excel General Question at 12/12/2006 5:09 PM PST
Does anyone know how to perform this kind of sorting in excel?

13, 8, 7, 7, 14, 14, 14, 3, 3, 3, 23, 19, 2, 2

The above values are listed from cell A1 to A14
A1 has a higher priority than A2 on selection, and A14 has the lowest
priority on selection, because it located on the bottom of the list. I need
to select the top five numbers from the list without duplication, but the
distance between any two numbers must be bigger than / [equal to] the
smallest value from the list. On the other words, 2 is the smallest number
from the list,

13, 8, 7, 7, 14, 14, 14, 3, 3, 3, 23, 19, 2, 2
the first number is 13 for selection, and
[13]

13, 8, 7, 7, 14, 14, 14, 3, 3, 3, 23, 19, 2, 2
the second number is 8, which 13-8=5 and is bigger than / equal to the
smallest number 2.
[13 8]

13, 8, 7, 7, 14, 14, 14, 3, 3, 3, 23, 19, 2, 2
the third number cannot be 7, because abs(8-7)=1, which is less than the
smallest number 2, even through abs(13-7)=6, which is bigger than 2.
the next third number cannot be 7 again, then skip it for the next one.
the next third number cannot be 14, because abs(13-14)=1, which is less than
2.
...
the next third number is 3, abs(13-3)=10, abs(8-3)=5, which is bigger than 2
[13 8 3]

13, 8, 7, 7, 14, 14, 14, 3, 3, 3, 23, 19, 2, 2
the next forth number is 23, which is OK, abs(13-23)=10, abs(8-23)=15, which
is bigger than 2
[13 8 3 23]

13, 8, 7, 7, 14, 14, 14, 3, 3, 3, 23, 19, 2, 2
the next fifth number is 19, abs(13-19)=6, abs(8-19)=11, abs(23-19)=4,
abs(3-19)=16

[13 8 3 23 19] DONE, which values are stored in cell B1 to B5

Does any have any suggestion?
Thank you very much in advance
Eric

Thank you very very much
Eric

Thanks for the reply!

Eric wrote:

Thank you very very much
Eric