Greetings,

I’m trying to sort numerically & alphabetically on the Title field (string field). The data we store in this field may contain number strings, letter strings, or a combo of both. (ex: 145, O4, QE, PN234) Sorting on the Title field will not yield a true numerical sort, instead I get 12, 120, 121, 13, etc.

If I convert the string to a numeric value using the Val() function in Crystal, my alpha character values drop off the report. What I need is a formula that converts the characters beginning with numbers to a numerical value, and the leaves the rest to sort as alpha characters. I’ve taken a stab below but it doesn’t work:

if left ( {ObjTitles.Title}, 1) in "1" to "9"

then Val({ObjTitles.Title})

else {ObjTitles.Title}

Or, there may be a simple function in crystal that I am unaware of?

Thank you Crystal gurus!

-Kate

Kate Diggle

Collections Database Administrator

Smithsonian National Postal Museum

202.633.5512