Question Spreadsheet multi-column sorting question

[mikeymikec]

Until today, whenever I've done multi-column sorting in a spreadsheet, I've tended to use the manual sort option:

LibreOffice: Data menu > Sort... > specify which columns to sort by and in what order
Excel: Data tab > Sort

As a result of a job change, my wife has gone from 'allergic to spreadsheets' to an increasingly-spreadsheet-happy mindset and also inherited some spreadsheets as a result of that job change. Those spreadsheets steered her towards AutoFilter.

Admittedly I'm full of cold and on hayfever meds so my brain really isn't with it today, but at a glance it seems to me that AutoFilter is a great way of doing things if you want to be able to quickly switch from sorting by one column to another. Both methods fall over if cells include formulae based on a cell from relative locations that get affected by the sort. The first sort method is seemingly better for complex sorting (e.g. sort by column C then by column D).

Can you guys think of any other advantages/disadvantages of each approach and when you decide to use one technique over the other?

 

[igor_kavinski]

As a result of a job change, my wife has gone from 'allergic to spreadsheets' to an increasingly-spreadsheet-happy mindset and also inherited some spreadsheets as a result of that job change.

I recall that your wife is German (apologies if I assumed incorrect)? That would explain the allergy thing. Germans need serious incidents (like changing a job) to change their minds.

I can't say much about the advantages of both approaches but I would advise you to advise your wife to be very, very careful with Excel. One mistake can cost several minutes of having to redo everything or may have even worse consequences. Tread with caution. Excel does not prevent the user from shooting themselves in the foot and does not give any indications that something has gone very wrong with the data after completing the operation (like failing to select one column by mistake and sorting the rest so the values don't correspond to each other anymore).

 

[bba-tcg]

I recall that your wife is German (apologies if I assumed incorrect)? That would explain the allergy thing. Germans need serious incidents (like changing a job) to change their minds.

I can't say much about the advantages of both approaches but I would advise you to advise your wife to be very, very careful with Excel. One mistake can cost several minutes of having to redo everything or may have even worse consequences. Tread with caution. Excel does not prevent the user from shooting themselves in the foot and does not give any indications that something has gone very wrong with the data after completing the operation (like failing to select one column by mistake and sorting the rest so the values don't correspond to each other anymore).

That's what "save a copy" before changing something was invented for.

 

[igor_kavinski]

That's what "save a copy" before changing something was invented for.

Yes but the real danger is not realizing that something doesn't feel right.

 

[bba-tcg]

Yes but the real danger is not realizing that something doesn't feel right.

My philosophy is any time I make a change to something that I'm not sure of the outcome, saving a copy is prudent. In fact, I even apply this to hardware. I service PCs for a living and when a customer tells me that the PC is their business machine and they have no other PC, they get no sympathy from me. I have multiple computers and if one fails, it's next man up.