Access sorts records on export

[VMiller]

When I export a table as a .txt file (or any other for
that matter) I end up with the records out of order. This
is a replicated database with s-generation, s-guid, and s-
lineage fields automatically added to my table. I also
have a key autonumber field which apparently does not
determine the sort order. Any ideas? Can someone explain
the s-guid field?

Thanks

Vicki Miller

 

[Rick Brandt]

When I export a table as a .txt file (or any other for
that matter) I end up with the records out of order. This
is a replicated database with s-generation, s-guid, and s-
lineage fields automatically added to my table. I also
have a key autonumber field which apparently does not
determine the sort order. Any ideas? Can someone explain
the s-guid field?

By definition, tables are unorderd "buckets" of data. The ONLY way to
impose an order is with a query that has an OrderBy clause. Any order you
think you see in the table is being imposed by the Access User-Interface and
will almost certainly not apply to any processing you do on the table.

 

[david epsom dot com dot au]

the s-guid field?

it is a kind of String field, containing a Globally Unique ID,
which identifies the record.

(david)

 

[david epsom dot com dot au]

FWIW, access stores records in pages in a disk file, which
imposes a physical order on the data. The physical order
is retained by default, which is predictable enough to be
confusing. Records are added sequentially: by default compacting
sorts to Primary Key order. Simple queries and unordered
table views do not loose the physical sort order.

The physical order is particularly misleading when the normal
sequence order matches the primary key order: unsorted data
will normally appear in order both before and after compacting,
but records added out of sequence will unexpectedly appear in
the wrong position.

(david)