Database Manager automatically sorts all the blocks in the spreadsheet whenever you query or open a database. The blocks are sorted according to the current sort order. A sort order defines:
- The columns to sort on.
- The column to sort first, the column to sort second, and so on.
- How to sort each column, either in ascending or descending order.
How Sort Orders Work
Database Manager sorts the spreadsheet, by:
- Identifying which columns to sort.
- Sorting the first column in ascending or descending order.
- Repeating the previous step for the remaining columns in the sort order.
When sorting by ascending or descending order, Database Manager sorts:
- Special characters (such as marks of punctuation) by ASCII value.
- Numbers by numeric value.
- Letters in alphabetical order.
For example, suppose you want to sort the spreadsheet by the Type and Scan Time columns in ascending order. Once you select these columns:
- Database Manager sorts the spreadsheet by the Type column alphabetically (ascending order).
- Next, the program sorts the Scan Time column in numeric order.
