Why is JOIN assembling items out of order?

I have two columns, "Ovrst" and "Gov" with the same formula for different input column ranges. Both are multi-select columns. I'm joining values from their respective columns & cells into a single cell. Even though the JOIN function lists the cells in numerical order (top to bottom - 18-27), the resulting JOIN value has them out-of-order (18,19,23,21,20). Why?

Same formula but in a stacked form for easier reading. You can see all the IF statements are alike and the rows are taken in order.



Answers

  • Paul Newcome
    Paul Newcome ✭✭✭✭✭✭

    Have you tried removing the JOIN function? If you are "adding" the cells together anyway, you do not need the JOIN function.


    There is also something with multi-select dropdowns where (usually) they output each piece in alphabetical order, but it doesn't seem to be the case this time unless they are treating caps vs non-caps differently.

    thinkspi.com

  • Just tried it. No change in effect.

  • Paul Newcome
    Paul Newcome ✭✭✭✭✭✭

    Ok. It usually outputs in alphabetical order, but it seems like it is treating the first two as a group and then the last three as a separate group. You may need to reach out to support to figure that piece out, but there is going to be no way to "un-alphabetize" the selections made in a multi-select column.

    thinkspi.com

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