Can I flip the order of text with a Windows program?

[Metspitzer]

I started a list in chronological order with older first. I would
like to switch to newest first. Most of it is a single line. Can
this be done with Windows?

 

[Wolf K]

I started a list in chronological order with older first. I would
like to switch to newest first. Most of it is a single line. Can
this be done with Windows?

List of what? Using what program?

Wolf K.

 

[Ken Blake]

I started a list in chronological order with older first. I would
like to switch to newest first. Most of it is a single line. Can
this be done with Windows?

Windows isn't the issue. The issue is with what program you are using.
Please tell us what it is.

 

[Nil]

I started a list in chronological order with older first. I would
like to switch to newest first. Most of it is a single line. Can
this be done with Windows?

Since you aren't specific, I'll assume it's a plain text file list with
each record on a separate line, and that the content of the lines is
not really relevant to the operation, you just want to sort in reverse
order.

One way I can think to do it would be to insert a column of sequential
numbers at the beginning of each line, then use a good text editor that
can sort lines alphanumerically. Notepad++ can add the numbers and sort
it.

Similarly, you could copy 'n paste the list into Excel, add a number
column, reverse sort by that number, then export it back to a text
file. Here's advice on how to add the numbered column:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071228091122AAfWIzT

Probably a fancy batch file could be written, or one of Windows's
scripting components can do it, but it might be simpler to do it with a
3rd party program.

 

[Metspitzer]

Windows isn't the issue. The issue is with what program you are using.
Please tell us what it is.

It is a text file. I wanted to use Wordpad or Notepad or something
else included in Windows.

 

[Metspitzer]

Since you aren't specific, I'll assume it's a plain text file list with
each record on a separate line, and that the content of the lines is
not really relevant to the operation, you just want to sort in reverse
order.

One way I can think to do it would be to insert a column of sequential
numbers at the beginning of each line, then use a good text editor that
can sort lines alphanumerically. Notepad++ can add the numbers and sort
it.

Similarly, you could copy 'n paste the list into Excel, add a number
column, reverse sort by that number, then export it back to a text
file. Here's advice on how to add the numbered column:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071228091122AAfWIzT

Probably a fancy batch file could be written, or one of Windows's
scripting components can do it, but it might be simpler to do it with a
3rd party program.

I don't have Excel, but I Google Docs has a spread sheet program. I
may give that a try.

Thanks

 

[ray]

I don't have Excel, but I Google Docs has a spread sheet program. I may
give that a try.

Thanks

You could also install LibreOffice.org for free - spreadsheet included.

Are the dates included in the information or do you simply know what
order they are in?

 

[Ken Blake]

It is a text file. I wanted to use Wordpad or Notepad or something
else included in Windows.

No, Neither Wordpad, Notepad, nor anything else included with Windows
can do this. But as others have suggested, there are lots of other
programs that can.

 

[Nil]

You could also install LibreOffice.org for free - spreadsheet
included.

I just tried the sequential number trick I referenced above in
LibreOffice Calc. It worked!

Are the dates included in the information or do you simply know
what order they are in?

That might be even better, if the dates were formatted in such a way
that they could be cleanly translated by the spreadsheet to
recognizable dates.


I haven't really stress-tested them enough yet, but LibreOffice's word
processor and spreadsheet components really seem pretty good! Too bad
their database program is so awful.

 

[richard]

I started a list in chronological order with older first. I would
like to switch to newest first. Most of it is a single line. Can
this be done with Windows?

Use the spread sheet in "open office" (free).
Copy the text to a column and sort.
But sorts in spread sheets usually do so in alphabetical order.

So if you had something that was not exactly alphabetical to begin with,
then sorting via spreadsheet will not do what you want.

Liberty Basic could easily rewrite that order any way you wanted it.
If you know BASIC, LB is just as easy.

www.libertybasic.com

 

[Metspitzer]

You could also install LibreOffice.org for free - spreadsheet included.

Are the dates included in the information or do you simply know what
order they are in?

It does have dates but sometimes I used the month day year and
sometimes only month and year.

They are listed in chronological order.

 

[Metspitzer]

Use the spread sheet in "open office" (free).
Copy the text to a column and sort.
But sorts in spread sheets usually do so in alphabetical order.

So if you had something that was not exactly alphabetical to begin with,
then sorting via spreadsheet will not do what you want.

Liberty Basic could easily rewrite that order any way you wanted it.
If you know BASIC, LB is just as easy.

www.libertybasic.com

Thanks everyone

 

[Wolf K]

It is a text file. I wanted to use Wordpad or Notepad or something
else included in Windows.

Get Editpad or Metapad. They are better than Notepad or Wordpad, and
free, too.

Wolf K.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Use the spread sheet in "open office" (free).
Copy the text to a column and sort.
But sorts in spread sheets usually do so in alphabetical order.

Or numerical or by date. Maybe other sort types too, but those are the
three I have used. On a daily basis, BTW.

So if you had something that was not exactly alphabetical to begin with,
then sorting via spreadsheet will not do what you want.

Many people in this thread have offered a suggestion that *will* do
what he wants in a spreadsheet program

 

[Wolf K]

On 07/04/2012 6:07 PM, Metspitzer wrote:
[...]

It does have dates but sometimes I used the month day year and
sometimes only month and year.

They are listed in chronological order.

When using a spreadsheet, you have to be careful to specify the cell
format as "date", specify the date format you will use, and never, ever
depart from it. Otherwise, the items won't sort correctly by date.

You can "sort by paragraph" in a word-processor, ie, you end each item
with "Enter", which makes it a paragraph. Place the date at the
beginning, and use leading zeroes, otherwise November 8, 2011 (11-8-12)
will sort before August 4, 2010 (8-4-10). But 11-08-12 will sort
correctly after 02-02-10.

However, if you want to ensure the items are sorted correctly by year,
you'll have to use year-month-day (yyyy-mm-dd).

HTH,
Wolf K.

 

[Evan Platt]

Use the spread sheet in "open office" (free).
Copy the text to a column and sort.
But sorts in spread sheets usually do so in alphabetical order.

So if you had something that was not exactly alphabetical to begin with,
then sorting via spreadsheet will not do what you want.

So then why bother replying with useless blabber, as always?

 

[Metspitzer]

On 07/04/2012 6:07 PM, Metspitzer wrote:
[...]

It does have dates but sometimes I used the month day year and
sometimes only month and year.

They are listed in chronological order.

When using a spreadsheet, you have to be careful to specify the cell
format as "date", specify the date format you will use, and never, ever
depart from it. Otherwise, the items won't sort correctly by date.

You can "sort by paragraph" in a word-processor, ie, you end each item
with "Enter", which makes it a paragraph. Place the date at the
beginning, and use leading zeroes, otherwise November 8, 2011 (11-8-12)
will sort before August 4, 2010 (8-4-10). But 11-08-12 will sort
correctly after 02-02-10.

However, if you want to ensure the items are sorted correctly by year,
you'll have to use year-month-day (yyyy-mm-dd).

HTH,
Wolf K.

Thanks

 

[richard]

Or numerical or by date. Maybe other sort types too, but those are the
three I have used. On a daily basis, BTW.


Many people in this thread have offered a suggestion that *will* do
what he wants in a spreadsheet program

Chronological is not the same as alphabetical.
Spreadsheets sort by alpha or numeric.

Let's say you have the months of the year as your list and you want to
reverse order that list.

e.g:
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr

Now you want the list to show:
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan

A spreadsheet would show:
Apr
Feb
Jan
Mar

or
Mar
Jan
Feb
Apr

Liberty Basic's string manipulation routines can show that list any way you
want it.

 

[Char Jackson]

Chronological is not the same as alphabetical.
Spreadsheets sort by alpha or numeric.

Let's say you have the months of the year as your list and you want to
reverse order that list.

e.g:
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr

Now you want the list to show:
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan

A spreadsheet would show:
Apr
Feb
Jan
Mar

or
Mar
Jan
Feb
Apr

Liberty Basic's string manipulation routines can show that list any way you
want it.

Your problem is that you're limiting your sorting to alphabetic. If
you tell your spreadsheet program to treat those values as dates
you'll be able to sort them chronologically.

 

[Steve Hayes]

I started a list in chronological order with older first. I would
like to switch to newest first. Most of it is a single line. Can
this be done with Windows?

Most decent word processors can do that, but I don't think Windows on its own
can. You might be able to write a batch file to do it.