Table of Authorities Sort Order

[JJD]

The Table of Authorities sorts statutes and rules incorrectly. It
consistently places subsections before sections, such as 408.035(1) before
408.035. This can be fixed manually by converting the field to text
(Ctrl+Shift+F9) and editing the final product to the appropriate order, but
the final product is not always "final" and subject to revisions. Is this a
programming error that can be resolved? This behavior is in all versions of
Word including 2007. Thank you.

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi JJD,

Are you including the period/dot as part of the statute citation mark?

================
The Table of Authorities sorts statutes and rules incorrectly. It
consistently places subsections before sections, such as 408.035(1) before
408.035. This can be fixed manually by converting the field to text
(Ctrl+Shift+F9) and editing the final product to the appropriate order, but
the final product is not always "final" and subject to revisions. Is this a
programming error that can be resolved? This behavior is in all versions of
Word including 2007. Thank you.>>
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

 

[JJD]

Yes, the long marks contain the entire citation. If you test this, are you
able to get a different result? Over several years, I have never seen it
sort in the "nothing comes before something" sequence. Just trying to
determine if this is an issue that a programmer can (or has) addressed.
Thank you.

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi JJD,

Without including the ending dot in the 408.035 citation, then your example of
408.035(1)
408.035.

sorts as
408.035.
408.035(1)

Word's sort sequence can be a bit vexing
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/212116
it would be nice to have a few more options on how to have it sort (i.e. read right to left; assume fill with zeroes or blanks...

If you use the decimal character from the Symbol Font (Insert=>Symbol) in place of the final dot in the citation that would be one
way to get a sort order that may work for you. You can replace it either in the text or in the TA field \L switch portion)

I may be overlooking a more obvious solution, but yes, a macro solution would seem to be one that is probably already available or
that one of the Word MVPs might suggest here.

=============
Yes, the long marks contain the entire citation. If you test this, are you
able to get a different result? Over several years, I have never seen it
sort in the "nothing comes before something" sequence. Just trying to
determine if this is an issue that a programmer can (or has) addressed.
Thank you. >>
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*