sorting error message

AllenL · Mar 20th, 2002, 12:56 PM

Question: I am trying to sort a worksheet. However, I got an error message"This operation requries the merged cells to be identially sized" when I click the sort button
I have some merged cells but how could I make them identically sized???
Thanks in advance

Al Chara · Mar 20th, 2002, 01:03 PM

Basically it is saying you cannot sort merged and unmerged cells. I do not know of a way around this.

Jay Petrulis · Mar 20th, 2002, 01:19 PM

Hi Allen,

The only workaround I can think of is to copy your data to another (hidden?) column and sort on that one. Other than that, you will have to unmerge the cells.

Bye,
Jay

AllenL · Mar 20th, 2002, 01:29 PM

Hello Jay
Could you explain your answer a little bit more.
Do you mean copy my entire data to another hidden column or just the data that have merged cells?
Also what is hidden column?
Thanks in advance

Jay Petrulis · Mar 20th, 2002, 03:27 PM

Hi Allen,

My thoughts were that you would be able to copy the values to a new column and then sort that. You could then hide the extra column so you wouldn't have to show the duplicate data. That doesn't work, though. Big OOPS! on my part.

You can still do this with the new data if you only wish to sort that particular new column (the selection is *not* expanded). However, if you wish to sort the entire data range, including the merged columns, it fails.

You will have to unmerge the cells to sort the entire data set.

Regards,
Jay

Mar 20th, 2002, 01:03 PM	#2
Al Chara MrExcel MVP Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Monterrey, Mexico Posts: 1,433	Basically it is saying you cannot sort merged and unmerged cells. I do not know of a way around this. __________________ Kind regards, Al Chara

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Mar 20th, 2002, 12:56 PM	#1
AllenL Board Regular Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 67	Question: I am trying to sort a worksheet. However, I got an error message"This operation requries the merged cells to be identially sized" when I click the sort button I have some merged cells but how could I make them identically sized??? Thanks in advance

Mar 20th, 2002, 01:19 PM	#3
Jay Petrulis MrExcel MVP Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Chicago, IL USA Posts: 2,042	Hi Allen, The only workaround I can think of is to copy your data to another (hidden?) column and sort on that one. Other than that, you will have to unmerge the cells. Bye, Jay

Mar 20th, 2002, 01:29 PM	#4
AllenL Board Regular Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 67	Hello Jay Could you explain your answer a little bit more. Do you mean copy my entire data to another hidden column or just the data that have merged cells? Also what is hidden column? Thanks in advance

Mar 20th, 2002, 03:27 PM	#5
Jay Petrulis MrExcel MVP Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Chicago, IL USA Posts: 2,042	Hi Allen, My thoughts were that you would be able to copy the values to a new column and then sort that. You could then hide the extra column so you wouldn't have to show the duplicate data. That doesn't work, though. Big OOPS! on my part. You can still do this with the new data if you only wish to sort that particular new column (the selection is not expanded). However, if you wish to sort the entire data range, including the merged columns, it fails. You will have to unmerge the cells to sort the entire data set. Regards, Jay