Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Sorting information in tables
You can sort the information stored in a table based on the values in one or more fields, in
either ascending or descending order. For example, you could sort customer information
alphabetically by last name and then by first name. This would result in the order found
in telephone topics.
Last name
First name
Smith
Brian
Smith
Denise
Smith
Jeff
Taylor
Daniel
Taylor
Maurice
Sorting a table groups all entries of one type together, which can be useful. For example,
to qualify for a discount on postage, you might want to group customer records by postal
code before printing mailing labels.
Access can sort by more than one field, but it always sorts sequentially from left to right.
You can sort by the first field, and if the second field you want to sort by is immediately to
the right of the first, you can then add the next field to the sort. If you want to sort by more
than one field in one operation, the fields must be adjacent, and they must be arranged in
the order in which you want to sort them.
SEE ALSO
For information about moving fields, see “Manipulating table columns and rows”
in Chapter 2, “Create databases and simple tables.”
TIP
You can sort records while viewing them in a form. Click the field on which you want to
base the sort, and then click the Sort command you want. You can't sort by multiple fields
at the same time in Form view, but you can sort by one field and then the next to achieve
the same results.
In this exercise, you'll sort records first by one field, and then by multiple fields.
SET UP
You need the GardenCompany04 database located in the Chapter04 practice
file folder to complete this exercise. Be sure to use the practice database for this chapter
rather than continuing on with the database from an earlier chapter. Open the database,
and if you want, save your own version to avoid overwriting the original. Then follow
the steps.
