Microsoft KB Archive/117156

= WD: Numbers Containing Hyphens Sort Incorrectly =

Article ID: 117156

Article Last Modified on 8/16/2005

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Word 2.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Word 2.0a
 * Microsoft Office Word 2003
 * Microsoft Word 2.0c
 * Microsoft Word 6.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Word 6.0a
 * Microsoft Word 6.0c
 * Microsoft Word 6.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Word 95 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Word 95a
 * Microsoft Word 6.0 for Macintosh
 * Microsoft Word 6.01 for Macintosh
 * Microsoft Word 6.01 for Macintosh
 * Microsoft Word 98 for Macintosh

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This article was previously published under Q117156





SYMPTOMS
In some cases, Word may sort numbers incorrectly.

Case 1
When you perform a numeric sort operation on numbers that contain hyphens, such as social security numbers, phone numbers, and nine-digit ZIP Codes (postal codes), Word may sort the numbers incorrectly.

Case 2
Similarly, Word may sort your mail merge data incorrectly when you sort mail merge data records by using the Sort Records tab in the Query Options dialog box (Word 6.0 and later).



Case 1
If you select Number for the Sort By Type setting in the Table Sort Numbers dialog box (in Word 2.x, select Numeric for the Key Type setting in the Sorting dialog box), Word treats the hyphen as a minus sign. As a result, Word performs a subtraction operation and then sorts the difference. For example, if you sort the following list of nine-digit ZIP codes, Word performs a subtraction operation and then sorts the result.   Nine-Digit ZIP Code               Result If Subtracted --

11111-1111                       10000   99999-9999                        90000   95000-0001                        94999   98000-9999                        88001

Result of Sorting as Number      Number Used for Sorting -

11111-1111                       10000   98000-9999                        88001   99999-9999                        90000   95000-0001                        94999

Case 2
Similarly, in a mail merge operation, if you perform a sorting operation based on a field that contains hyphenated numeric data, Word automatically treats your data as numeric and, therefore, uses the hyphen as a minus sign. (To sort from a mail merge operation, open the Mail Merge Helper and then click Query Options.)

NOTE: Word treats the data in any mail merge field as numeric if the first character in the field is a number.



Method 1: Sort as Text
To correctly sort numbers that contain hyphens, select Text as the Sort By Type setting in the Table Sort Numbers dialog box (in Word 2.x, select Alphanumeric for the Key Type setting in the Tools Sorting dialog box).

Method 2: Sort Data File Before Merging
For a mail merge operation, if you want to sort based on a field that contains hyphenated numbers, sort the data source before you perform the mail merge operation instead of using the Mail Merge Helper.

Method 3: Replace Hyphens Before You Sort the Data
If you want to sort hyphenated data and use the Number (Numeric) Type setting, follow these steps:


 * 1) Before you perform the sorting operation, replace the hyphens with periods (.).
 * 2) Sort the data using the Mail Merge Helper (Word 6 and later) or the Sort Text command on the Table menu (the Sorting command on the Tools menu in Word 2.x).
 * 3) Replace the periods with hyphens to restore your original numeric data.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

