Works: How to Rank Items in a Works Spreadsheet (126666)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Works 2.0
  • Microsoft Works 2.0a
  • Microsoft Works 3.0
  • Microsoft Works 4.0
  • Microsoft Works 4.0a
  • Microsoft Works 4.5
  • Microsoft Works 4.5a

This article was previously published under Q126666

SUMMARY

Works has no function to rank a list of items (for example, test scores) in a spreadsheet. However, you can find the rank by performing multiple sorts on the data.

MORE INFORMATION

Create the following spreadsheet, starting with the word "Name" in cell A1.
        A                 B     C
        ---------------------------
   1    Name            Grade  Rank
   2    Ms. Frizzle     96.7
   3    Liz             84.5
   4    Maggie          93.1
   5    Max             94.8
   6    McZee           88.1
				
If you have a long list of names and scores, you would not want to have to calculate and enter their ranks manually in column C. In the example above, you can rank the scores from 1 to 5 (1 being the top or highest score), by sorting the rows first. To do this, use the following steps:

  1. Click on column A to select it. From the Insert menu, click Row/Column. This new column is necessary to perform the sort.
  2. Enter 1 in cell A2.
  3. Highlight cells A2 through A6.
  4. From the Edit menu, click Fill Series. Click OK in the next dialog box. You will see the numbers 1 to 5 appear down column A.
  5. Highlight cells C2 to C6. In Works for MS-DOS 2.0 or 3.0, or Works for Windows 2.0, click Sort Rows from the Select menu. In version 3.0 of Works for Windows, click Sort Rows from the Tools menu.
  6. Column C will be selected by default under 1st Column. Click the Descend option and choose OK to sort the rows from highest to lowest value.

    Your list should now look as follows:
                A   B               C      D
                -------------------------------
           1        Name            Grade  Rank
           2    1   Ms. Frizzle     96.7
           3    4   Max             94.8
           4    3   Maggie          93.1
           5    5   McZee           88.1
           6    2   Liz             84.5
    					
  7. Enter the number 1 in cell D2.
  8. Highlight from D2 to D6.
  9. From the Edit menu, click Fill Series. Click OK on the next dialog box. You will see the numbers 1 to 5 down column D.
  10. Highlight cells A2 through A6. In Works 2.0 or 3.0 for MS-DOS, or Works 2.0 for Windows, click Sort Rows from the Select menu. In version 3.0 of Works for Windows, click Sort Rows from the Tools menu.
  11. Column A will be selected by default under 1st Column. Click Ascend and click OK to sort the rows back into their original order. The list should now look as follows:
                A   B               C      D
                ---------------------------------
           1        Name            Grade  Rank
           2    1   Ms. Frizzle     96.7   1
           3    2   Liz             84.5   5
           4    3   Maggie          93.1   3
           5    4   Max             94.8   2
           6    5   McZee           88.1   4
    					
  12. If you don't need to know the original order of your items, you can delete column A.
NOTE: These steps assume each entry in the list has a unique value from which to determine the rank. If, for example, you have a long list of grades to rank, and some grades are duplicated, you must look at the list after performing step 9 and replace the unique rank value with the appropriate value. For instance, if both Maggie and Max had the same score of 94.8, they would both have the same rank, so you would need to change Maggie's rank to 2 and adjust the rest of the list.

Works 4.0, 4.0a, 4.5, 4.5a

When you perform sorts, Works 4.0, 4.0a, 4.5, or 4.5a allows a sort of only highlighted information. To sort all information in Works 4.0, 4.0a, 4.5, or 4.5a, highlight all the information to be sorted, and then click Sort on the Tools menu. Click to select Sort All The Information in the Sort dialog box, and then click OK.

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/24/2003
Keywords:kbinfo KB126666