The AMPR Map Collection Manager
User’s Guide
Sorting the Collection
Note: Sorting for the collection operates almost
exactly the same as sorting in the main AMPR program. If you are already familiar
with how to control sorting for the results windows of the AMPR, then you don’t
need to read this description. Just check the notes at the bottom of this page,
which contain some details that are specific to sorting for the collection.
When the List view is displayed in the collection viewer
window, the records are ordered according to the current sort criteria. You can
change the sort order in one of two ways:
- Double-click
on the field name that is at the top of a column in the List display. The selected column will become the
primary sort key. (If any other columns were previously being used as sort
keys, they will become secondary keys.)
Initially a column-header that you double-click on will cause the
selected field to be the primary sort key in ascending order. If you
double-click on the column-header for the field that is already the
primary sort key, the direction of sorting for that field (ascending vs.
descending) will be reversed.
- Select
Sort Order from the Options menu. (This choice is only
available with the List view; it is not available with the Item Details
view.) The following dialog box will be displayed:

The dialog shows the current sort keys at the right and the
potential sort keys at the left. Move fields from one list to the other by
selecting them from the lists and then clicking on the appropriate buttons
located between the two lists. Change the sort key order, or the choice of
ascending (ASC) or descending (DESC), by selecting one or more items in the
right-hand list and using buttons at the right.
Notes on sorting:
- Sorting
is numeric for number fields (i.e. 100, 123, 1000 are sorted numerically,
whereas these values sorted as texts would be 100, 1000, 123). Sorting is
chronological by date fields. The program tries as best it can to interpret
values in number fields as numbers and values in date fields as dates.
- The
“ID #” field, though defined as a short-text field, is examined to see if
all its values are numeric. If so, sorting for “ID #” is done numerically.
- The
changes you make to the sort order will be saved with your
collection. The next time you open
the collection, even if you exited the AMPR program and re-started it, the
last-used sort order will be remembered.
Back to: Using the Collection
Back to: AMPR Map Collection Manager - Home Page