excel 2007 sorting issue with numbering scheme

F

facmanboss

I cannot sort properly a document numbering scheme. Currently using Excel
2007. The data is formatted as text. I keep procedure section numbers in one
column and details about each section in a seperate column. A third column
and further columns keeps cross-referenxce information. The spreadsheet may
be thousands of rows long. Details about the sections constantly change or
the data needs to be presented in different ways. Therefore, I need to
constantly sort. Filtering is no problem.

Here is an example of the numbering scheme that will not sort properly.
Sorting should be left-to-right between each decimal point. In Excel, each
number is on it's own row in the same column. The scheme may also have
letters rather than numbers or letters combined with numbers (e.g., 10a, 10b)
in any position.

Desired Excel Ascend. Sort
2.2.1 2.2.1
2.2.1a 2.2.1a
2.2.3 2.2.3
2.2.4 2.2.4
2.3.1.1 2.3.1.1
2.3.1.1a 2.3.1.10
2.3.1.2 2.3.1.11
2.3.1.2a 2.3.1.1a
2.3.1.2d 2.3.1.2
2.3.1.3 2.3.1.2a
2.3.1.10 2.3.1.2d
2.3.1.11 2.3.1.3
2.3.1a.3 2.3.10.1
2.3.1a.3a 2.3.10.12
2.3.1b.3.1a 2.3.10.13
2.3.10.1 2.3.10.2
2.3.10.2 2.3.10.3
2.3.10.3 2.3.1a.3
2.3.10.12 2.3.1a.3a
2.3.10.13 2.3.1b.3.1a

I cannot add leading zeroes to the numbers. (e.g., 2.3.1.1 -> 02.03.01.01).
Numbering scheme does not allow. I cannot manually create an artificial sort
column that massages the numbers to sort properly as the sheet data
constantly changes and is thousands of rows long. VBA may be used as a last
resort.

Any help appreciated.
Facmanboss
 

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