Sorting Data in Excel

[pfildes]

I have a column of data in Excel which needs sorting however its not that simple . The column of data is formatted as General format and includes alphanumeric characters similar to;

M42/7.8
M42/10.2
M42/16.03B
M42/5.2
A56/1.2
A56/6.5

Here's the difficult question. Can anybody tell me how this data can be sorted alphabetically where appropriate and also numerically again where appropriate?

 

[st24v6]

I assume you want to sort by the first part of the cell i.e. A56 then by the second part of this cell 1.2?
If so you could split the cell with Text to columns using / as your separator assuming your data is consistent with what you have shown.
Then sort by first column A56 the by second column 1.2, hope this helps and that I am understanding your issue


PJ

"If you don't know how, ask 1st"

 

[pfildes]

Thanks for the reply . Yes, I'd thought of that. I just wondered if there was a way of creating a custom format which could then be applied when doing a normal sort.

I tried creating the format @#"/"#### but that failed. Excel would not accept it.