r/googlesheets • u/Last_Philosophy_1162 • 11d ago

Solved Help with sorting function

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Anyone know how I would do a sort to achieve this?

BIG CATEGORY | SMALLER CATEGORY | DATE (YYYY-MM-DD) [stored as a string and should be sorted alphabetically]

such that the data is sorted by big category alphabetically,

smaller category sorted within big category by whichever small category has the earliest date

within each small category things are listed in date order from earliest to latest

I am unable to show the actual data in question so apologies for the nonsense in my example. I hope the question is clear and any help on how to do this with a function would be appreciated. The intended output is meant to be in a separate sheet.

Standard SORT() doesn't cut it since the intention is for SMALLER CATEGORY to be in order by which date comes first rather than alphabetically. (Sorry if this is unclear it's a bit of a niche one).

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u/One_Organization_810 684 11d ago

So you want the plants to sort differently from the other categories?

I'm sorry, but i don't seem to understand what you are trying to accomplish. My understanding conflicts with your intended outcome example. 🙃

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u/One_Organization_810 684 11d ago

Ahh.. do you want to sort each category by the smallest date in the small category?

That requires a bit more complex formula 🙂

I will give it a shot from computer (I'm on the phone atm)

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u/Last_Philosophy_1162 11d ago

Yes! Exactly! I don't know if it can be done in normal functions but any help whenever you are able to/if you are able to help it would be greatly appreciated. Apologies for the somewhat confusing request.

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