Apr 06 2019 10:41 AM - edited Apr 06 2019 10:42 AM
I need to sort grades in order, e.g., A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, etc.
Normal sort places has the order B, B-, B+, and using the custom list with the grades in perfect order results in, A-, B+, B-, C+,C-, A, B, C, D, F. It somehow places all +/- grades first and then the others.
Is there any workaround? I would expect a custom list to dictate the order of sorting.
I'm using Excel for Mac 2011.
Thanks,
Chazzs
Apr 06 2019 11:13 AM
@Chazzs , on Windows it sorts correctly if add custom list from from File->Options->Advanced (imported from column E here)
Perhaps something similar for Mac, not sure
Apr 06 2019 11:30 AM - edited Apr 06 2019 12:24 PM
Thanks Sergei. I did a little more investigating. When I TYPE in random grades and sort with a custom list it's correct, but when I copy and past a list of grades off of a website the sorting is incorrect. Something is being copied from the webpage that is confusing the sorting. I'll see if I can save it as a text file and then try a new sort. Interesting.
Chazzs
Apr 06 2019 12:22 PM
SOLVED!!!!!
When a table is copied from a webpage it needs to be Paste Special as Unicode Text. This strips whatever malicious formatting is hiding in each cell, and now can be sorted correctly with a custom list. Whew.
Chazzs
Apr 06 2019 12:48 PM
@Chazzs , yes, when you just copy/paste from web, quite often you copy with your data invisible characters from HTML code which you shall to remove after that.
Anyway, so far so good.