XL: Sorting Alphanumeric Text as Numeric Values

ID: Q126931

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

In Microsoft Excel, a value formatted as a number will be sorted differently than a number formatted as text. Because of this difference, you may receive unexpected results when you mix numeric and text strings in a sort.

CAUSE

When Microsoft Excel sorts text, it does so one character at a time from left to right. For example, if you sort the values 1 and 1A, when these values are formatted as text, the text with the fewest number of characters is at the top (1) of the sorted values, while text with the greatest number of characters is at the bottom (1A). Each character is then sorted from 0 to 9 and then from A to Z.

For example, suppose you have the following values in a worksheet: 

   A1:     1
   A2:     12
   A3:     1A1
   A4:     1A2
   A5:     2
The desired sort result is 1, 1A1, 1A2, 2, 12. However, the actual result will be 1, 2, 12, 1A1, 1A2.

WORKAROUND

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   http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/refguide/
To achieve the desired sort result, use the following Visual Basic custom function.

Sample Visual Basic Procedure

Type the following code in a Visual Basic module: 

   ' Assume a cell entry of 1A 'myvalue' is the cell reference of the
   ' number to be sorted.
   Function numsort(myvalue As Variant)

      ' Calculates the function any time the worksheet recalculates.
      Application.Volatile

      ' Initializes the variable count as 0.
      Count = 0

      ' If the cell is numeric, the variable 'count' is equal to the value
      ' in the cell times 1000.
      ' 1A is not numeric
      If IsNumeric(myvalue) Then
         Count = myvalue * 1000
      Else
         no_text_yet = True

         ' Sets a For-Next loop from 1 to the length of characters in the
         ' cell.
         ' With 1A, the For-next loop will be from 1 to 2.
         For x = 1 To Len(myvalue)

            ' Sets the variable 'current' to the character of position x,
            ' for a length of 1 character.
            ' The first time through, 'current' will equal 1.
            ' The second time through, 'current' will equal A.
            current = Mid(myvalue, x, 1)
            If IsNumeric(current) Then

               ' If 'current' is numeric, then 'count' is equal to itself
               ' times ten plus 'current'.
               ' The first time through, 'count' is numeric and will equal
               ' 1.
               ' (0 * 1 + 1).
               ' The second time through, A is not numeric.
               Count = Count * 10 + current

            ' If 'current' is not numeric, then 'count' is equal to itself
            ' times 1000 plus the ASCII value of the letter.
            ' The first time through, 1 is numeric.
            ' The second time through, 'count' equals itself(1) times 1000
            ' + the ASCII character value of A(65), or 1065
         Else
            Count = Count * 1000 + Asc(current)

            ' Exits the For-Next loop as soon as we reach the first alpha
            ' character
            Exit For
         End If
      Next

      ' If the For-Next loop variable is not equal to the length of
      ' characters of myvalue then the last characters must be calculated.
      If x <> Len(myvalue) Then Count = _
         Count + Right(myvalue, Len(myvalue) - x) * 0.001

         ' This will happen as soon as we encounter the first alpha
         ' character. In this is the case, 'count' equals itself plus the
         ' right character of the total length minus the For-Next variable
         ' "x".
      End If
      numsort = Count
   End Function

To Use the Custom Function

1. Type the following in a worksheet: 

      A1: 1
      A2: 12
      A3: 1A1
      A4: 1A2
      A5: 2
2. Select the range A1:A5, and click Sort on the Data menu.

3. Under My List Has, click No Header Row, and Sort By 

   Column A in ascending order.
3. The worksheet will be sorted as follows: 

      A1: 1
      A2: 2
      A3: 12
      A4: 1A1
      A5: 1A2
5. Enter the following formula into cell B1: 

      B1: =numsort(A1)

   NOTE: This should return a numeric value of 1000 for the number 1
   in cell A1.
6. With cell B1 selected, click Copy on the Edit menu. Select cells 
   B2:B5 and click Paste on the Edit menu.

   The worksheet should have the following information in it:

      A1:     1     B1:     1000
      A2:     2     B2:     2000
      A3:     12    B3:     12000
      A4:     1A1   B4:     1065.001
      A5:     1A2   B5:     1065.002
7. Select the range A1:B5, and click Sort on the Data menu. Under My List 
   Has, click No Header Row, and Sort By Column B in ascending order. The
   sort should return the following:

      A1:     1     B1:    1000
      A2:     1A1   B2:    1065.001
      A3:     1A2   B3:    1065.002
      A4:     2     B4:    2000
      A5:     12    B5:    12000
Additional query words: 5.0 5.00 5.0a 5.00a 5.0c 5.00c 7.00 8.00 97 sort weird wrong incorrect XL5 XL95 XL97 alpha-numeric 
Keywords          : kbdta kbdtacode xlvbahowto 
Version           : WINDOWS:5.0,5.0c,7.0,97; MACINTOSH:5.0,5.0a
Platform          : MACINTOSH WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: May 17, 1999