sorting

[betwalk]

Hi-

I have a student who has typed a list of names and addresses in this
format:

LastName, FirstName
Address
City, State Zip

He'd like to sort these by last name. He does not want them in a list
or table, but just as he typed.

When we try sorting by paragraph, each line is sorted. I understand
why. Each line IS a paragraph. When we try sorting by Field, we get
the same result. But I must admit I don't understand this "field" kind
of sorting.

I have not found anything that helps in MS Word Help or the MSKB.
Clearly my Help search skills are lacking...

I'd appreciate any feedback or ideas. Thanks!

 

[Kim]

As far as I know it must be in a table format in order to sort. If he
didn't have the address, city and state listed below each name, but
acctually on the same line it would sort for him. I would do one of
two things. Either convert each name and address block to be in a
table cell (so convert it all to a table) or if the text looks like
this right now:

Kim Smith
123 Main Street
NY, NY 10001

Make it look like this:
Smith, Kim, 123 Main Street, New York, NY 10001

If you make it all on one line, you will then be able to sort it.

Honestly though, depending on what he needs this list for, it really
should have been created in a table from the beginning. Hope this
helps.

 

[betwalk]

I had the same thought, and I acutally tried the SHIFT-RETURN and it
produced the same results as before.

I agree that it should just be in a table format, but before he started
on the task of redoing them all, I thought I'd check here for advice.

Is the "field" sorting option just for merges? What is that a
reference to?

 

[Carol]

If you already have a comma delimited set of addresses with a return at
the end of each one, simply highlight them all and click on Table |
Convert text to Table. Then you can do your sort! I hope this helps
you.

 

[betwalk]

Hi Carol-

Thanks for this reply. Unfortunately the issue here is that the
addresses are NOT in table. They are typed like labels (see above...).
I'm just trying to explore any options to help this student avoid
having to retype his list into a sortable format...