The Sort Screen is a utility that allows you to create Sort Orders, which you may then name and save. When you click the Sort button on either the Data Entry Screen or the Standard Reports Scree n the dialog shown above appears. The list on the left displays the names of Sort Orders that you have previously created. When you highlight one of the items a text description of that Sort Order appears in the box on the right. When you first instal l The Union Organizer only the first Sort Order (NONE) will be shown. You create Sort Orders to suite your own particular needs.

To choose an existing Sort Order, highlight it and then click OK. You may also eliminate an existing Sort Order by highlighting it and then clicking Delete.

To create a new Sort Order click the New button. This brings up the New Sort Order Screen.

Creating a Sort Order with The New Sort Order Screen is as easy as a few clicks of the mouse.

The first page of the screen lists all of the data fields in the Main Data table. As you move the mouse pointer over a field name, a yellow hint box displays a description of the field, its size, and data type.

To create a Sort Order you simply click on field names in the sequence that you want the records sorted. When you click a field a dialog box appears, prompting you to choose between sorting that field in Ascending, Descending, and Atypical order:

Ascending Order sorts the data from smaller to larger - 0,1,2,3,4,... A,B,C,D,...

Descending Order sorts data from larger to smaller - 9,8,7,6,5,... Z,Y,X,W,V,...

Choosing Atypical pops up another dialog prompting you to define the way you want the records ordered:

For example, suppose you are sorting by RATING and you have assigned values of 1,2,3,4, or 0 to this field. Now if 1 is the highest rating, 4 is the lowest, and 0 is someone you haven't meet, then you may find that you want to order the records with 3 first, followed by 0, then 2, 1, and finally 4 - perhaps in order to print an Organizing List (see reports). This Sort Order - 3,0,2,1,4 - is neither Ascending nor Descending but it is easy to create simply by entering a comma-d elimited sequence in the dialog. Atypical Order works for all data types and will accommodate as peculiar a sort as you can dream up.

Data not covered by the sequence that you enter will follow in normal ascending order - So if you enter OLSEN,A,C,ANDERSON - then OLSEN will be followed by all A's except ANDERSON, then C's, then ANDERSON, and finally everyone else in alphabetical orde r B,D,E,F,G,...

You repeat this process - Click a field, Choose Ascending, Descending, or Atypical - for each field in the desired Sort Order. Hence, a typical sort such as LASTNAME, FIRSTNAME, MI would involve clicking LASTNAME, choosing..., then clicking FIRSTNAME, choosing..., and finally clicking MI, choosing...

The second page of The New Sort Screen displays a plain English description of the Sort Order as you create it. Just click on the View Sort Text tab (see below) any time you like.

You also have the option of starting the sort over by clicking ReStart, or if you decide not to sort the data after all you may Cancel. To keep the newly created Sort Order, click Done. This brings up the final dialog in the New Sort Order process:

To permanently save the Sort Order enter a name for it in the box shown above, then click Save - it will also become the presently active sort order. If you choose Skip the newly created sort will become the active sort order but will not be saved for future use.

A Saved Sort Order will thereafter be displayed on The Sort Screen with the name you assigned to it on the left, and its plain English description on the right.

The View Sort Text tab displays the Sort Order in plain English as you create it. You may jump back and forth between Build the Sort Order and View Sort Text as often as you may like in order to see the sort that you are building.