[Solved] Sort not available in Data menu

[frankkl]

Hello, I am new to this forum and I have never asked a question about Open Office but I have been using it for years and I find it much more user friendly than Excel. I have run into a problem on a very important data sheet I use frequently. The problem seems to involve each data box is outlined with bolder outline and has a little square in one of the corners which when I point to the square it indicates when that data box was last edited. I never had these boldened boxes on any of my other Calc spreadsheets and I do not know how to remove them. Can someone please help guide me as to how to remedy this? I have the latest version 4.1.15 of Apache OpenOffice on a windows 11 OS Dell laptop and home desktop.
Thanks for any guidance that may fix this.
Frank

[keme]

I cannot quite wrap my head around the central part of your problem description:

...
The problem seems to involve each data box is outlined with bolder outline and has a little square in one of the corners which when I point to the square it indicates when that data box was last edited.
...

Also, while the problem may involve what you see, the cause may lie elsewhere.

Two typical situations where users in my workplace have problems with sorting:

• The cells in sort range are protected, and sheet protection has been activated.
• There are merged cell ranges in the sort range.

Both situations should give a message, so I suspect that your situation is something else. Help us to help you!

• Describe your workflow
  Do you use a menu/toolbar sort function, or some other means of sorting?
• Attach a copy of your spreadsheet file if possible.
  A screenshot of what you are seeing may also be useful.

[robleyd]

Is Edit | Changes | Record turned on? If so, try turning it off.

[frankkl]

You da man!!!! That's exactly what it needed. Thank you so much!!!

[robleyd]

You are welcome. Although I must admit, I am confused about the relationship if any between your subject and the actual question.

[MrProgrammer]

I am confused about the relationship if any between your subject and the actual question.

I believe frankkl noticed that Sort was not a choice on that spreadsheet's Data menu, and has now learned that this is because change recording had been activated. It also disables many other Calc features:
• Edit → Sheet → Move/Copy
• Format → Merge Cells
• Data → Subtotals, Multiple Operations, Consolidate, Group, PivotTable
Though Group and Pivot Table appear to be available, when those submenus are opened none of the items in them are available.

Without Edit → Changes → Record

202410121111.jpg (54.32 KiB) Viewed 996 times

With Edit → Changes → Record

202410121112.jpg (51.07 KiB) Viewed 996 times