Sorting - Toolbar or Menubar?

[Hélène]

Hello,

Could it be possible that the sorting function in the Tables and Borders
toolbar is not working properly?

Thank you.
Hélène

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Please describe what you are trying to do (that is, what the expected result
is) and what result you are getting instead. I hadn't even realized this
function was on the Tables and Borders toolbar, as I usually use the Table |
Sort dialog, which offers more control.

 

[Hélène]

Thank you Suzanne for such a quick reply. I am trying to sort a very simple
list, eg. Oranges, Bananas, Apples, Pears, in alphabetical order and it will
not do it. Of course, the Table/Sort dialog box works fine.

Hélène

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Is the list plain text or in a table? According to "WD2000: Err Msg: 'The
current selection does not contain a valid table or list'" at
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=224045, "Sort Ascending and Sort
Descending on the Tables and Borders toolbar will not sort a normal text
list." When I try this in Word 2003, I get a weird dialog asking me for the
field separator; when I say (Enter), it tells me the field separator can't
be the same as the record separator. So then I tried (None), and I got the
error message cited above.

But even when I tried it in a table, it didn't work. I first tried
converting the text list to a (one-column) table. No joy. So I added another
column. Still no luck. In the process, however, I discovered that you can
sort by specific fields within a column provided the field separator is the
same in all the cells. That was a new one on me. If the buttons on the
Tables and Borders toolbar *ever* work, it is in some set of conditions I
have not yet discovered.

At least you know it's not just you!

 

[Hélène]

Hi Suzanne,

Well, I tried both formats, i.e. plain text and table and none of them work.
But, like you said, at least I know it's not me!

Again, thank you for your help.