How do you sort Grouped Data in 2003?

**Noshiza** · 01-18-2012, 05:06 PM

Hello Everyone,

I have just run in to this problem myself. I have a few groups or "Layers" as I like to call them of information. I have a master header which explains the level 1 information and then another header which explains level 2 information. What I am trying to do is to sort by the Level 1 headers and keep all the information underneath it linked to that header. That way I could pull the grouped row out and put it somewhere else and the information it had below it will stick with it. This isn't working for me in Excel 2003, I have read some replies and tried doing it the Subtotals way but that is no good. I am up for any suggestions!

Thank you,
Blake

EDIT: Please find a link to the discussion on the same topic http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...-in-excel.html

**Noshiza** · 01-18-2012, 09:22 PM

Just bumping up the post.

**Noshiza** · 01-19-2012, 05:22 PM

Just bumping up the post.

**Noshiza** · 01-22-2012, 04:37 PM

Still looking for some help, would it be better if I uploaded a test file?

**Noshiza** · 01-23-2012, 06:58 PM

Hello,

I have attached a sample of what I would like to be able to sort. Ideally I would be able to sort by Shipment Date, Delivery Date and Supplier.

Thank you for your help,
Blake

**Noshiza** · 01-24-2012, 05:55 PM

Bumping up the post!

**OnErrorGoto0** · 01-24-2012, 06:20 PM

Could you clarify why the Subtotals method is no good?
It would be far easier if you could populate all columns for all rows as I see it - at the moment you have something that looks a little like a pivot table but with limited functionality.

**Noshiza** · 01-24-2012, 06:56 PM

Hello On Error,

Thank you for the reply, When I tried using Subtotals it seems like it is performing a calculation on the data which could produce funny results when I only want to sort. See Ideally i would like to be able to sort like you would a normal excel sheet. (EG. Sort by Shipping Date then by Supplier).

If you think it would be wise to try a pivot table I could try and give that a shot, never tried before.

Thank you,
Blake

**OnErrorGoto0** · 01-25-2012, 03:54 AM

Subtotals do indeed do calculations - (that is the purpose of them). But here they are only really used to properly group your data so that the sorting will work after you collapse the outline. If this is not just a one off operation, I would recommend filling in the blanks in your data so that you can sort/filter and otherwise report (e.g. pivot tables) much more easily.

**Noshiza** · 01-26-2012, 05:47 PM

Hello OEGO,

Thank you for the reply, when I was playing around with Pivot Tables (Albeit poorly) it seemed to report everything at once. If it would almost look the same I would be willing to learn it.

Is there no way I could, even with macros, that I could sort the spreadsheet based on Shipment Date, Delivery Date or Supplier?

What is the purpose of grouping data in Excel then? I thought it was to make sorting easier.

Thank you,
Blake