excel sorting task

I have the following data in a worksheet
Important note: it is in pairs, that is columns A,B is pair 1, C,D is pair
2, E,F is pair 3.

i want to sort it WITHIN ROW on columns b,d,f, with the smallest value in
b,d or f first then the next largest then the largest.

For example
A B C D E F
5 12 2 3 1 6

would become
A B C D E F
2 3 1 6 5 12

b=3
d=6
f=12
this is what i want, the pairs sorted in ascending order for b,d,f for a
given row.
is this possible?

i'm thinking nested IF statements.......??? but im not sure

any help very much appreciated

thanks

Ian,

Try this

A2: =B1
B2: =B1

then copy across as many columns as you need

then sort rows 1 and 2 with row 2 as the sort by row

--
HTH

Bob Phillips

"Ian" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have the following data in a worksheet
> Important note: it is in pairs, that is columns A,B is pair 1, C,D is pair
> 2, E,F is pair 3.
>
> i want to sort it WITHIN ROW on columns b,d,f, with the smallest value in
> b,d or f first then the next largest then the largest.
>
> For example
> A B C D E F
> 5 12 2 3 1 6
>
> would become
> A B C D E F
> 2 3 1 6 5 12
>
> b=3
> d=6
> f=12
> this is what i want, the pairs sorted in ascending order for b,d,f for a
> given row.
> is this possible?
>
> i'm thinking nested IF statements.......??? but im not sure
>
> any help very much appreciated
>
> thanks

thankyou for your excellent and helpful reply.
that definitely works for 1 row.
However i actually have 800 rows of differing values, sorry i should have
mentioned that before.

So somehow i need to do it for 800 rows...



"Bob Phillips" wrote:

> Ian,
>
> Try this
>
> A2: =B1
> B2: =B1
>
> then copy across as many columns as you need
>
> then sort rows 1 and 2 with row 2 as the sort by row
>
> --
> HTH
>
> Bob Phillips
>
> "Ian" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I have the following data in a worksheet
> > Important note: it is in pairs, that is columns A,B is pair 1, C,D is pair
> > 2, E,F is pair 3.
> >
> > i want to sort it WITHIN ROW on columns b,d,f, with the smallest value in
> > b,d or f first then the next largest then the largest.
> >
> > For example
> > A B C D E F
> > 5 12 2 3 1 6
> >
> > would become
> > A B C D E F
> > 2 3 1 6 5 12
> >
> > b=3
> > d=6
> > f=12
> > this is what i want, the pairs sorted in ascending order for b,d,f for a
> > given row.
> > is this possible?
> >
> > i'm thinking nested IF statements.......??? but im not sure
> >
> > any help very much appreciated
> >
> > thanks
>
>
>

Does that mean that the other 799 rows just sort in concert with the first
row, or do they get involve in the determination logic somehow?

--
HTH

Bob Phillips

"Ian" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> thankyou for your excellent and helpful reply.
> that definitely works for 1 row.
> However i actually have 800 rows of differing values, sorry i should have
> mentioned that before.
>
> So somehow i need to do it for 800 rows...
>
>
>
> "Bob Phillips" wrote:
>
> > Ian,
> >
> > Try this
> >
> > A2: =B1
> > B2: =B1
> >
> > then copy across as many columns as you need
> >
> > then sort rows 1 and 2 with row 2 as the sort by row
> >
> > --
> > HTH
> >
> > Bob Phillips
> >
> > "Ian" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> > > I have the following data in a worksheet
> > > Important note: it is in pairs, that is columns A,B is pair 1, C,D is
pair
> > > 2, E,F is pair 3.
> > >
> > > i want to sort it WITHIN ROW on columns b,d,f, with the smallest value
in
> > > b,d or f first then the next largest then the largest.
> > >
> > > For example
> > > A B C D E F
> > > 5 12 2 3 1 6
> > >
> > > would become
> > > A B C D E F
> > > 2 3 1 6 5 12
> > >
> > > b=3
> > > d=6
> > > f=12
> > > this is what i want, the pairs sorted in ascending order for b,d,f for
a
> > > given row.
> > > is this possible?
> > >
> > > i'm thinking nested IF statements.......??? but im not sure
> > >
> > > any help very much appreciated
> > >
> > > thanks
> >
> >
> >