Sorting a Fieldsheet

The order rows print in is the difference between a sheet you can work from and one you fight. A fieldsheet can be sorted on up to three columns at once — sort by pasture, then by ear tag, and each pasture stays together with its animals in tag order.

Setting the Saved Sort

This is the order the sheet prints in every time it is opened.

1. Open the fieldsheet for editing.
2. Scroll to Sort Order.
3. Click Add sort, choose a Column and a Direction.
4. Click Add another level to break ties, up to three levels.
5. Click Save.

The first level reads Sort by and the rest then by, so the sentence matches what it does. Direction is A → Z / low → high or Z → A / high → low. Remove a level with the × beside it.

Things to Know

• You can only sort on data columns you have added. If the section says “Add a data column above to sort by it”, add the column first.
• Writable columns cannot be sorted on — they hold nothing to sort.
• Each column can appear once. Picking a column already used on another level swaps the two rather than duplicating it.
• Removing a data column drops its sort level.
• No sort set means rows print in no particular order.
• A fieldsheet built from a report inherits that report’s sort as its first level, so it prints the way the report reads.

Re-Sorting on Screen

While viewing a fieldsheet you can re-order it without editing anything — useful when you want the same sheet a different way for one job.

• Click a column heading to sort by it, ascending.
• Click it again for descending.
• Click a third time to go back to the saved order.
• Shift-click another heading to add it as a further level within the current order, up to three. Shift-clicking a heading already in the sort flips just that level.

Sorted headings show an arrow, and a small number beside it when more than one column is in play — 1 is the outermost level. A Saved order button (or Clear sort, if the sheet has no saved sort) appears in the toolbar as soon as you have moved off the saved order; click it to snap back.

On-screen sorting is not saved. Reopen the sheet and it is back to its saved order — to make it stick, edit the fieldsheet.

How Values Are Compared

• Each column sorts by its own type, not by what is printed. Dates sort chronologically, money and weights numerically — so a date column doesn’t come out alphabetically and 1,200 lbs doesn’t land next to 12.
• Blanks always sort last, whichever direction a column is pointed, so empty cells never split the rows that do have data.
• Equal rows keep a stable order between renders — nothing shuffles when you re-sort.

On the Printed Sheet

The printed header records the order — “Sorted by Pasture, then Ear Tag (descending)” — alongside the sheet name, your account name, when it was generated and how many records it holds. Whatever order is on screen when you print is what prints, so an on-screen re-sort carries onto the paper.

Tips

• Sort in the order you’ll work. Pasture first if you are riding a loop; ear tag first if animals come down an alley in tag order.
• Two levels are usually enough. A grouping column, then an identifier to break ties inside it.
• Sort the sheet, not the spreadsheet. Getting the paper right the first time beats re-sorting a CSV after the fact.