WD: Word Sorts Numeric Index Entries as Alphabetic Entries

ID: Q104877

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, versions 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.1a
Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition

SYMPTOMS

In an index, Microsoft Word incorrectly sorts INDEX ENTRY (XE) field text that contains numbers. For example, if your document contains the following numeric XE fields,

{XE "735"}
{XE "76"}
{XE "7123"}

the entries appear in the following order when you compile the index:

7123
735
76

CAUSE

Word sorts numbers in the same way that it sorts alphabetic entries, that is, one character at a time. For example, Word places all numbers that begin with 1 (such as 12, 156, or 1147) before all numbers that begin with 2 (such as 22, 256, or 2276). If two or more items begin with the same character, Word evaluates subsequent characters in each item to determine which item should come first. For example, Word places 124 before 19 based on the second digit (2 is smaller than 9, so 124 comes before 19).

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, add a sorting text argument to your XE field. The sorting text argument is the index entry number padded with leading zeros. Pad the number with leading zeros so all your numeric XE fields contain the same number of digits. In other words, the sorting text arguments should contain as many digits as the largest number used in an XE field.

To correctly sort the numbers listed in the "Symptoms" section above, insert the following XE fields:

{XE "735;0735"}
{XE "76;0076"}
{XE "7123;7123"}

Word places these XE entries in the following order in your index (notice that Word sorts the entry based on the sorting text argument instead of the actual XE text, but places the actual XE text in the index):

76
735
7123

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Word User's Guide," version 6.0, chapter 20, "Indexes, Tables of Contents, and Other Tables".

Additional query words: sorting wrong order

Keywords : kbfield winword macword word6 word7 word95
Version : MACINTOSH:6.0,6.0.1,6.0.1a,98; WINDOWS:6.0,6.0a,6.0c,7.0,7.0a
Platform : MACINTOSH WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb