Sorting data in Microsoft Excel is one of the essential skills that every individual that works with tables must have. Having a correctly sorted data in Excel can make it much easier to analyze the information in a worksheet. If you are a beginner and do not know how to sort data in excel, you’ve come to the right place.
Sorting Data in Excel by Alphabetical Order
Sorting data by alphabetical order means that Excel will rearrange the order of the rows based on the column you selected. For instance, if you have a table with a column labeled “Names” and you select that column, Excel will sort your data in alphabetical order by the names column.
To sort by alphabetical order, simply follow these steps:
- Highlight the cells you want to sort.
- Click on the “Data” tab.
- Click on “Sort A to Z” to sort the data in ascending order or “Sort Z to A” to sort the data in descending order.
Sorting Data in Excel by Date Order
Sorting data in Excel by date order is a little bit more complicated than sorting by alphabetical order. When you sort by date order, Excel will sort your data by the date column based on the oldest to the newest or vice versa.
To sort by date order, simply follow these steps:
- Highlight the cells you want to sort.
- Click on the “Data” tab.
- Click on “Sort Oldest to Newest” to sort the data in ascending order or “Sort Newest to Oldest” to sort the data in descending order.
Displaying Data Based on Today’s Date in PHP
When you are working with PHP, there are times when you want to display data based on today’s date. For example, if you want to display the newest blog post, you can use PHP to automatically find and display the post that has today’s date.
To display data based on today’s date in PHP, follow these steps:
- Create a new PHP file.
- Set the timezone to your local timezone using the following code:
- Get today’s date using the following code:
- Construct a SQL query that selects the data you want based on today’s date. For example, if you want to display the newest blog post that was published today, your SQL query could look like this:
- Execute the SQL query and display the data.
date_default_timezone_set("America/New_York");
$today = date("Y-m-d");
The “Y-m-d” format means that the date will be formatted as “year-month-day.”
$sql = "SELECT * FROM blog_posts WHERE publish_date='$today' ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 1";
This query will select all blog posts that were published today and then order them in descending order by the post id. The “LIMIT 1” clause ensures that only one blog post is returned.
Filtering Data in Excel with Autofilter
If you have a large dataset in Excel, filtering data can help you narrow down your results and make your data easier to analyze. One way to filter data is by using Autofilter.
Autofilter allows you to filter data based on certain criteria. For example, if you have a data set with a column labeled “Product,” you can use Autofilter to only display the rows that have a certain product name.
To filter data in Excel with Autofilter, follow these steps:
- Select the column you want to filter.
- Click on “Data” -> “Filter” -> “Autofilter.”
- A dropdown menu will appear in the column you selected. Click on the dropdown and select the criteria you want to filter by.
- Excel will automatically display only the rows that match your criteria.
FAQs
1. Can I sort data based on multiple columns in Excel?
Yes, you can sort data based on multiple columns in Excel. To do so, follow these steps:
- Select the entire table.
- Click on “Data” -> “Sort.”
- A “Sort” dialogue box will appear. Select the first column you want to sort by and click “OK.”
- Repeat step 3 for each additional column you want to sort by.
- Excel will sort the data based on the multiple columns you selected.
2. Can I use Autofilter to filter data based on multiple criteria?
Yes, you can use Autofilter to filter data based on multiple criteria in Excel. To do so, follow these steps:
- Select the column you want to filter.
- Click on “Data” -> “Filter” -> “Autofilter.”
- Select the first criteria from the dropdown menu in the column you selected.
- Click on “Add Criteria” to add another criteria.
- Select the second criteria from the dropdown menu in the column you selected.
- Repeat steps 4-5 to add additional criteria.
- Excel will automatically display only the rows that match all of your criteria.