Word 2003's Help topic "About sorting" contains this intriguing paragraph:
"You can also sort by more than one word or field inside a single table
column. For example, if a column contains both last and first names, you can
sort by either last name or first name, just as you could if the last and
first names were in a list instead of a table."
There's an illustration that shows "Last Name, First Name" in what appears
to be a single table column. The "Troubleshoot sorting" entry dances all
around this without spelling it out (it does mention the nonbreaking
spaces); it describes sorting by more than one word in a given column but
appears to say nothing about using any but the first word as the primary
sort key until you get to the very end:
"If you've already typed the entries, you can control the sort order by
using a combination of regular spaces and nonbreaking spaces. Type a regular
space between fields you want to sort on, and press CTRL+SHIFT+SPACEBAR to
insert a nonbreaking space between fields you don't want to sort on. For
example, type Dr.<nonbreaking space>John Smith or John Smith,<nonbreaking
space>M.D. Then select the list or table, and click Sort on the Table menu.
Click Options, and then click Other under Separate fields at. In the text
box, type a space, and then click OK. In the Sort by list, click Word 2 (or
the field you want to sort by), and then complete the sort as usual."
So yes, this is documented, but you have to wade through a lot of other
stuff to get to it (and you can find it only in an article that addresses
"things that go wrong when I'm sorting," not in one that actually tells you
how to do it right in the first place--an odd approach to take IMO).
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org
Wow. As someone said yesterday, Is that documented anywhere?