When you connect a database, FlexMail displays the records in the order they are stored in the database file. When you use an index, the records will be displayed in the order of the index used by that file. You can display the records in a different order by sorting on one or more fields of the database. You can sort the records in the Datasheet, even if a filter is already applied.

You have the following options to sort your data:

• You can perform simple sorts, which means you can sort records in ascending or descending order (not both) by selecting one or more fields on the Datasheet with the mouse.

• You can perform complex sorts by specifying a sort order in the Advanced Filter/Sort window. This means you can sort records in ascending order by some fields and in descending order by others (see Advanced Filters and Sorts).

• You can sort your data in a pre-defined order by selecting a Query you have defined. For more information about Queries, see Working with queries.

• Sorts you apply can be removed at any time to display tyour records in the original order they are sorted in the database. For more information see Removing a sort.

Considerations when sorting records:

• Regardless of where you specify the sort order, FlexMail saves the sort order when you save the project, and reapplies it automatically when you reopen the project.

• The order in which numbers, text, and special characters are sorted depends on the database and your regional settings in Windows Control Panel

• To sort dates and times from earlier to later, use ascending order. Use descending order to sort from later to earlier.

• Numbers and dates stored in text fields are sorted as strings of characters, not numeric values. Therefore, to sort them in numeric order, all text strings must be the same length with shorter numbers padded with leading zeros. For example, the result of an ascending sort of the text strings "1", "2", "11", and "22" will be "1", "11", "2", "22". You must pad the single-digit numbers with a leading zero for the strings to be sorted properly: "01", "02", "11", "22".

• When you sort a field in ascending order, any records in which that field is blank are listed first.

• You cannot sort on columns originating from other datasources than a linked database and on fields whose data type is Memo, Hyperlink, or OLE Object.