sorting in calc

[Gary_Collins]

Thanks, yes, theres some really helpful info in this reply. I had thought of using a lower value but it hadnt occurred to me to hide it using formatting (and of course i didnt want it to show). The methods of converting to text are very useful to know. In the end i did indeed use the TEXT function in a formula, and conditionally substituted a blank where the string was shorter. Again not exactly elegant but it works and thats the main thing. It would be helpful to be able to define a nonstandard sort order but i dont think thats easily possible in a case like this (?: but im very willing to be proved wrong on that ) Again i think i'd be into the realm of macros!

Thanks
G.