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Sorting - another version of Statistics

One of those "well known" Mac-ism's that is not really all that well known is how to re-sort a table. As a Mac user, you will see a table of information in many different applications and the Dive List in Dive Log Manager and DiveLogDT is a classic example. It's a common occurrence to want to view this same table sorted differently. Each user will have a preference to how they want to view the list of information at any given point in time.

What you may not realize is that you can click on the column header of a table and have the list sorted by that column's values.
Sort your scuba logbook using the column headers
In the screenshot above, here is the Dive List and the red arrow points to the 6 different column headers - Dive#, Date, Time, Site, Length, MaxDepth. Here, the Dives List has been sorted by Dive#. And the little partial triangle on the right hand side of the column is pointing up, which means that the list is sorted in ascending order. Gosh, how traditional! But if you like to see your most recent dives at the top of the list, then click the column header again, and now they will be listed in descending order and the triangle will point down.

So that's very interesting. But look at what can happen when you sort using the other column headers. Sorting by Date/Time is probably not that interesting. If you've been diligent with your logging, it will show you your dives in the same order as sorting by the Dive#'s. But if you haven't, this may be a good way to find out that you need to renumber your dives! (Right or Control click on the first "wrong" dive and select "Renumber forward" from the menu)

But look what you can see if you sort by DiveSite - How many dives did I do at Dunia Baru anyway?
Sort scuba dives by Dive Site by clicking the column header

Or sorting by Length - how many dives have I done that were over 1 hour?
Find your longest and shortest dive by Sorting by dive length

And how many times did I dive over 25 meters? Or between 60 and 70 feet?
Sort your dives by Depth to find out how many dives fall into different depth ranges

So sorting by different methods can give me some Statistics about my scuba diving history!

When you exit the application, it will remember how you last sorted your Dive List and put it back that way when Dive Log Manager or DiveLogDT is re-launched later. OR, if you sort and then click on any of the Download or Import or Export panels, the Dive List will still be in the same order you left it on the Dives panel - it's the same Dive List after all. If you're a tradiionalist, you might want to go back to sorting by Dive# before moving on.

But now that you're an advanced Mac user, you'll be all set.