Microsoft KB Archive/108484

= Data Sort Using Incorrect Guess Range =

Article ID: 108484

Article Last Modified on 8/15/2003

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Excel 97 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q108484





SYMPTOMS
In Microsoft Excel, when you select a single cell in a list and click Sort on the Data menu, an incorrect range of data may be selected.



CAUSE
This problem occurs when the data in the second row of the first column in the list is typed entirely in capital letters and the data in the third row of the first column in the list is not typed entirely in capital letters.

When you sort data by selecting a single cell in a list and clicking Sort on the Data menu, Microsoft Excel detects the column labels in the list, excludes them from the data that is sorted, selects the data to be sorted, and then displays the Sort dialog box. However, if the data in the second row of the first column in the list is typed entirely in capital letters and the data in the third row of the first column in the list is not typed entirely in capital letters, Microsoft Excel treats the first two rows as column labels and does sort these rows.

Example
If you select a single cell in the following list

A1: peach A2: APPLE A3: orange A4: banana

and click Sort on the Data menu, the items orange and banana are selected as the data to be sorted. Microsoft Excel treats the items peach and APPLE as column labels and excludes them.



WORKAROUND
To work around this behavior, select the entire list (including the column labels) before you click Sort on the Data menu, and select Has Header Row under "My list has" in the Sort dialog box.



Excel 97
For more information about sorting, click the Office Assistant, type "sort," click Search, and then click to view "Sort a List."

NOTE: If the Assistant is hidden, click the Office Assistant button on the Standard toolbar. If Microsoft Help is not installed on your computer, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

120802 Office: How to Add/Remove a Single Office Program or Component

Excel 5.0
For more information about sorting a list from top to bottom, click the Search button in Help and type:

sorting

Additional query words: 8.00 97 XL97 XL

Keywords: kbprb KB108484

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