[Solved] Unexpected sort: $1000, $1082425, $11600, $127, $250

[Penguin_In_Circles]

Why Linux is NOT on avg. user's desktops:
This is one on (many) reasons.
Thankfully, hundreds of other large details have been resolved over the decades,
but THIS when I was talking w/ a business owner...
off a LinuxMint USB Ventoy mutilboot ISO on his laptop...
is bluntly (embarrassing) that I was suggesting a Linux migration.
.
Calc is (BrainDead) Ascend sorting cash: (in a CSV! )
$1000
$1082425
$11600
$1173
$12380
$127
$250
.
Anybody see (anything) wrong?
And anyone know how LONG
& how many GateKeepers it takes to get to a (Decision Maker's) desk,
to only get hit w/ 50 seat(for a demo city rollout) migration killing BS like (this)?
& if any dimbulb is going to say "You only have to jump through these half-dozen hoops, THEN..." ...I'd have to wonder how many jobs they've been "career adjusted" from....

[Villeroy]

Exactly the same sort order as with Excel when you import numbers as text. The sort order is alphabetical.

[floris v]

First, all people posting here are users like you, the developers rarely visit here. I understand that you are irritated, but you could try to express yourself somewhat more diplomatically. It will definitely help you get more answers.
The sorting is alphabetical because the data are considered as text. This is definitely a bit odd about Calc, but once you get rid of the $ signs and format the cells as Currency with US dollar, the sorting works just fine in LibreOffice. Development of OpenOffice has come to all but a standstill, you might give LibreOffice a shot.

[Hagar Delest]

Why Linux is NOT on avg. user's desktops:
This is one on (many) reasons.
Thankfully, hundreds of other large details have been resolved over the decades,
but THIS when I was talking w/ a business owner...
off a LinuxMint USB Ventoy mutilboot ISO on his laptop...
is bluntly (embarrassing) that I was suggesting a Linux migration.
.
Calc is (BrainDead) Ascend sorting cash: (in a CSV! )
$1000
$1082425
$11600
$1173
$12380
$127
$250
.
Anybody see (anything) wrong?
And anyone know how LONG
& how many GateKeepers it takes to get to a (Decision Maker's) desk,
to only get hit w/ 50 seat(for a demo city rollout) migration killing BS like (this)?
& if any dimbulb is going to say "You only have to jump through these half-dozen hoops, THEN..." ...I'd have to wonder how many jobs they've been "career adjusted" from....

Quoting to keep the record of this misplaced ranting.

[keme]

Why Linux is NOT on avg. user's desktops:
This is one on (many) reasons.

You post a particularity of LO Calc as a reason for Linux non-prevalence. While LO is indeed preinstalled by default on most Linux distributions, it is not an inherent Linux component. You can use other office suites on Linux (e.g. WPS Office which behaves similar to MS Office) and remove LibreOffice from the system if you like. This is, in my view, easier than doing the switch away from MS Office on Windows.

I believe that the primary reason for the prevalence of Windows and MacOS over Linux (and also the prevalence of MS Office over OpenOffice/LibreOffice) is to do with cashflow.

& if any dimbulb is going to say "You only have to jump through these half-dozen hoops, THEN..." ...I'd have to wonder how many jobs they've been "career adjusted" from....

The one "hoop" you need to jump through is in the data import step when you need to tick "detect special numbers". Call me a dimbulb!

For what it is worth, I have had it with Microsoft's "intelligent" import which hides the options for adjusting the interpretation of data. More than once I have had to install other software (usually LO/AOO) for users who need to import class schedules, price lists, bank statements etc, because MS Excel insists on converting random subject codes, item numbers, accont names etc. into dates or fractions. Do that on a large list (tens of thousands of rows) and you will appreciate the added control that Calc provides. Or perhaps you won't.

My point is, Excel is good (yes, really good) at some tasks. Calc is good at other tasks. (On my systems I usually have both MS Office and Libre Office - and often Apache OpenOffice - installed side by side.) Granted, the areas where Excel really shines are often where it "second guesses" what you need, which is correct 95% of the time. In the one-out-of-twenty case where it is wrong, it is often very difficult to defeat that second guessing. Sometimes it even goes undetected for a while.

Learning to use your tool, which is then more of an issue with Calc, is an initial bias in favor of Microsoft Office. This may be a good reason why MS Office is the chosen product. I still think there is more to it (marketing efforts on many levels, cf. the aforementioned "cash flow").

I may of course be wrong

[Penguin_In_Circles]

I was awaiting to see how many would claim alphabetical.
Click on the column & set all the cells to numeric.
In this case it was set to Currency, THEN Numeric & repeated.
The hint of $ alone should be good enough.
Solution:
Data/Sort/Options/Enable Natural Sort
The (sheer) fact that THAT is disabled by default....
& not listed w/ the column selector
(instead of the option submenu)
& there is no (something's wrong) help feature...
As much as I dislike Clippy, it helps w/ *** developer mistakes like this.
sidenote:
NOT showing the 3rd digit , commas (despite that being flagged)
Go ahead:
let any non-tech adult (esp CEO) sit down & try to figure out why a **** spreadsheet refuses to sort #s,
even when Calc is TOLD they are currency or numbers.
THEN try telling them,
yep, you should migrate all your employee machines, in mult. States, to Linux. "Trust me bro"

[keme]

Click on the column & set all the cells to numeric.

"Set to numeric" only makes cells assume numeric input if given. It does not change the nature of content already present in the cell.

By default, all cells will be set to numeric already, so your suggested operation will do exactly nothing. This "accept numbers" setting makes no difference when the input is not strictly numeric. With currency symbols or other "alien" characters present in your data source, you will need to enable the "Detect special numbers" feature for Calc to treat the input as numeric.

It is not a developer error. It is not a bug. It is a deliberate choice. Microsoft made a deliberate choice which is different. Hence, Microsoft Office behaves differently from Apache OpenOffice and LibreOffice in some cases.

Microsoft Office gives a nearly "zero learning threshold" experience for most users. OpenOffice/LibreOffice learning threshold is slightly above zero. In my experience, the major threshold will be users not wanting to learn, and exclaiming "I want my Microsoft". In time they will learn, and most will appreciate the learning experience. Leadership reesponsibility is to make allowances for the learning.

The hint of $ alone should be good enough.

You may think so. However, the dollar sign is also used for other things besides currencies, so other users may think differently.

If you need dollar amounts, tick the Detect special numbers box when opening your CSV file. I believe you only need to do this once.

Also - assuming your stance in this - there is sense in presetting this option at deployment. Other helpers will know more about possible solutions in that area, or you may find it together with further guidelines for deployment here.

yep, you should migrate all your employee machines, in mult. States, to Linux. "Trust me bro"

That would impose some learning threshold on most users. The "special numbers" case may be a part of that, or not, as mentioned above.

A full platform transition is a demanding operation. I'd recommend Linux deployment only if you have a fairly computer proficient user base, or you have sufficient resources (time, space, workstations, manpower) for properly training the users to overcome platform differences. Otherwise, stay with the market leaders. Most users are pretrained with MS Windows and/or Apple MacOS.

I feel more confident about recommending deployment of the alternative Office suite (OpenOffice/LibreOffice), regardless of which OS platform you have as the system foundation, but from your previous writing I gather that this step is the one you are having gripes about.

Do not take transitions lightly! Sometimes the expensive item is cheaper in the long run