alphabetizing list of names and addresses

[judinan]

Hi,

I have a list of names with their full addresses. How
can I alphabetize them by last names?

Mary Zacary
1234 Main Street
Albany, NY 11111

Joe Smith
123 Oak Street
Willow Bend, ME 11111

I've gotten as far as alphabetizing the last names, (Joe
Smith moves above Mary Zachary, but the entire block of
the address moves, too. It becomes Bend, ME, Willow.

HELP, I don't want to type 9 pages of addresses over
again!

Thanks.

 

[Graham Mayor]

Frankly not without some difficulty.
Best plan is to turn the lot into a table - Table > convert text to table -
if the records are separated by a blank line as in the example then you need
a four column table.
Then see http://word.mvps.org/faqs/general/UsingWildcards.htm which will
demonstrate how to transpose the names to surname first. Then sort the
table. Then transpose the names back again, then convert the table back to
text. You might want to think about leaving the names as a table - see
http://www.gmayor.com/convert_labels_into_mail_merge.htm

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>>< ><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

Web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site www.mvps.org/word
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>>< ><<>

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Make sure that each address is a single paragraph. Do this by substituting
line breaks for paragraph breaks at the ends of lines. Then sort by Word 2.

 

[June]

The easiest way is to have them in an Access table. Then you can transport them by any sort and merge them into documents easily.

 

[judinan]

Hi June,

It has been quite awhile since I've thought about how to tackle this problem. I've really put it on the back burner. I don't know how to make an Access table. Can you explain that, then transport? I'm really new at this kind of adventure and need all the help you are willing to give.

Sincerely,

Judi

PS I have 10 pages of 30 names and addresses each. I can easily copy and paste them into just a word document. But then what?

 

[judinan]

It has been a long time since I've thought about trying to accomplish this. Thanks for the information you sent. However, I don't understand how to make each address into a single paragraph. I tried a few different ways, but I wasn't sucessful. It sounds as if this would be an easy solution to the problem.

Sincerely,

Judi