A table's rows can be automatically sorted (reordered) in ascending or descending order based on the content of the table's specific columns.

Before sorting the table rows, you may need to specify which rows should be sorted. When no rows are selected in the table, Atlantis sorts all the rows of this table except for the "header rows". Note that when there are vertically merged cells in the table, its rows cannot be sorted.

After selecting the rows, click the Sort table rows button of the Table context toolbar, or right-click the table and choose the "Sort Rows..." menu command. This will bring up the "Sort Table Rows" dialog:

In this dialog, you can choose up to three columns to sort by. The rows are first sorted according to the content of the first chosen column. If multiple rows have identical content in this column, these rows get further sorted according to the content of the second selected column. And so on.

For example, the table shown below contains multiple rows with identical "official language" values:

If we sort the table rows by the second and third columns:

the countries will be grouped according to their official language, then sorted according to their population within their language group:

When sorting rows, Atlantis may compare the values in each column either as numbers, or as dates, or lexicographically:

• When the entire column contains only numbers, Atlantis compares its values numerically. For example, when two rows contain "90" and "100" in the same column correspondingly, "90" is considered smaller than "100" because 90 is a smaller number than 100. When sorting in ascending order, rows with "smaller" values in the corresponding columns are put before rows with "greater" values. When retrieving numbers from a column, Atlantis ignores the common currency signs and abbreviations ($, €, ¥, £, USD, etc), the "%" sign, and the "thousand" separator^* that can be used to group thousands in long numbers.
• To be compared and sorted in chronological order, each cell in the column must contain a date in the "short date" format^*. The "short date" format for the current language is listed at the top of the dialog displayed by a click to the "Insert | Date & Time..." menu command.
• If Atlantis cannot detect numbers or dates in a column, it uses the default lexicographical sorting. It basically means sorting in alphabetical order. So, individual column values are treated as just text. For example, when two rows contain "90" and "100" in the same column correspondingly, "90" is considered greater than "100" because "9" (the first character in "90") is greater than "1" (the first character in "100") from the alphabetical standpoint.
  
  Note that the "Case sensitive" option in the "Sort Table Rows" dialog applies only to lexicographical sorting.

^* Atlantis retrieves the "thousand" separator and the "short date" format from the Regional Settings of your Windows. So, it is important to mark the table text as belonging to the correct language.

See also...