In Dynodex, you can sort your records by any field. Sorting affects the order that records are displayed and printed. For example, if you sort by "Last Name", your records will be listed (and printed) in alphabetical order by the beginning letter of the "Last Name" for each record.
The most common way to sort is in ascending order (A-Z) by the "First Line" (which is either the Business or Last Name).
Here are all the sorting options in Dynodex:
• You can sort by any of the fields in Dynodex. For example, you could sort by "Title", "Zip", "Country", "State", or by categories you have specified in "Key 1".
• You can also sort by the "Enter Date" (the date a record was first entered), the "Modify Date" (the date a record was last changed), or the "Print Date" (the date a record was last printed).
• You can sort in ascending order (A-Z, numbers precede letters) or descending order (Z-A, letters precede numbers).
• You can specify tie-breakers when two records have the same sort field. For example, if you are sorting by Business, and you have 2 records with Business="Apple Computer", Dynodex won't know which to list first, unless you specify a tie-breaker. In this case, you might set the tie-breaker to be "Last Name". Now, Dynodex knows that "Mr. Adams" at Apple Computer comes BEFORE "Mr. Brown" (because the last names begin A, then B). If you don't want to set a tie-breaker in "2nd Field" or "3rd Field", you can choose "None".
If you add new records to a Dynodex file, they are automatically tacked onto the END of the file. This means the new records aren't necessarily in the order you want them. Because of this, Dynodex always provides a chance to re-sort before printing. In addition, you can ask Dynodex to provide a chance to re-sort before closing or quitting a file. This is done by choosing "Sort Before Close" in "Preferences".
The "Sort Records" Dialog:
• 1st Field: Select the main field you want to sort by. The most common "1st Field" is "First Line".
• 2nd Field: In case of a tie in the first field, select the "2nd Field", which will be the tie-breaker. For example, if "1st Field" is "First Line", you might want to set "2nd Field" to "Last Name". If Dynodex finds 2 records with a First Line of "Apple Computer", it will break the tie based on the Last Name: "Adams" comes before "Brown".
• 3rd Field: In case of a tie in both "1st Field" and "2nd Field", select the "3rd Field", which will be another tie-breaker. For example, if "1st Field" is "First Line", and "2nd Field" is "Last Name", you might want to set "3rd Field" to "First Name". If Dynodex finds two records with First Line="Apple Computer" and Last Name="Adams", it will break the tie by comparing the first names: "Annelie" before "Brian".
• Ascending: Orders from A-Z and from zero on up. Numbers precede letters. Undefined sort fields precede all others.
• Descending: Orders from Z-A and descending from higher numbers to zero. Letters precede numbers. Undefined sort fields are placed at the end.
SORTING AND PRINTING: Records are printed in the current sort order. If your records are not sorted alphabetically by "First Line" (this would give you a standard alphabetized address book), Dynodex gives you the chance to re-sort your records before printing.
