Spreadsheet sorting bug and deficiency

[Jsather]

I have created a decent sized spreadsheet, 300 rows with two columns of values and 20 columns of formulas. Using this spreadsheet, I've noticed a sorting bug and a general deficiency in sorting computed results.

The bug:
If you select data by finger motions and arrow clicks then touch Sort, you are presented with a list of columns within the selection by which to sort. However, if you select the data via GoTo followed by b3:v142 for example, you are presented with a list of columns outside the selection except for the last column. I can't imagine this is anything but a bug. Clearly, the optional "sort by" columns need to be within the selection.

This bug is not trivial. For larger spreadsheets, especially on the actual calculator, GoTo is by far the best method for selecting large ranges. This is even more true if the spreadsheet calculations take meaningful time. As a further complication (and yet another bug), I find that accelerating the selection process by holding a computer arrow key so it is auto repeating, sometimes crashes the virtual calculator.

The deficiency:
I have noticed that I can only sort the spreadsheet by the fixed value columns, not by computed result columns. More specifically, the spreadsheet is sorted correctly by fixed values (hexadecimal integers or strings or reals) and sorted incorrectly by computed results. Sorting is incorrect whether the formulas are replicated throughout the rows or if they just reside in row 0. The problem may not show up with smaller selections.

Though I call this a deficiency, it may well be classified as a bug. Not being able to sort by computed results would be a deficiency, but sorting incorrectly by computed results is pretty much a bug.

I should say that the spreadsheet version with row 0 formulas contains formulas making references to named columns. The version with replicated formulas was built with a program and thus contains many Cell(row,col) references verses "alpha column, numeric" row such as "A1". To see if it made a difference, I changed the formulas of the "sort by" column to make "alpha column, numeric row" references, but the sort still failed.

The attached screen shots shows a part of the spreadsheet that was sorted ascending by a column named "Hue". The sort appears to have worked for the first 14 rows then somehow lost its way.

[Tim Wessman]

Thanks for the detail. Will put it on the investigation list.