Weird sorting problem. Good question.

If I sort it in asc in excel it is ok.
What is wrong. Pool Code is 02 a
and then the GRADE is the grade name.
No.1 Canada Western Amber Durum Ac

it is ORDER BY grade_pool_code,grade_name;

This is done sorted with respect to column E asc and then column A asc

but that doesn't put

No.1 Canada Western Amber Durum Ac
after
No.1 Canada Western Amber Durum Ac Strongfield

that sorts as I would expect.

What happens when you just run the query in sqlplus?  What is the ordering then?
maybe it's something in the loading process into the xls.

Nulls will sort last, if you want the nulls to sort first, substitute a low character value in place of the null. the two examples below will demonstrate.

SELECT   grade_pool_code, grade_name
 FROM   (SELECT   'No.1 Canada Western Amber Durum' grade_pool_code
                , 'Strongfield' grade_name
           FROM   DUAL
         UNION ALL
         SELECT   'No.1 Canada Western Amber Durum' grade_pool_code, '' grade_name
           FROM   DUAL)
order by grade_pool_code, grade_name;
           
SELECT   grade_pool_code, grade_name
 FROM   (SELECT   'No.1 Canada Western Amber Durum' grade_pool_code
                , 'Strongfield' grade_name
           FROM   DUAL
         UNION ALL
         SELECT   'No.1 Canada Western Amber Durum' grade_pool_code, '' grade_name
           FROM   DUAL)
order by grade_pool_code, nvl(grade_name,chr(30));

SELECT   grade_pool_code, grade_name
  FROM   (SELECT   'No.1 Canada Western Amber Durum' grade_pool_code
                 , 'Strongfield' grade_name
            FROM   DUAL
          UNION ALL
          SELECT   'No.1 Canada Western Amber Durum' grade_pool_code, '' grade_name
            FROM   DUAL)
 order by grade_pool_code, grade_name;
            
SELECT   grade_pool_code, grade_name
  FROM   (SELECT   'No.1 Canada Western Amber Durum' grade_pool_code
                 , 'Strongfield' grade_name
            FROM   DUAL
          UNION ALL
          SELECT   'No.1 Canada Western Amber Durum' grade_pool_code, '' grade_name
            FROM   DUAL)
 order by grade_pool_code, nvl(grade_name,chr(30));

                                              

1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
9:
10:
11:
12:
13:
14:
15:
16:
17:

there aren't any nulls involved in this question

I am lost so what should i do?

Look at the spreadsheet.

sdstuber - you are right, thanks for the correction, sorry for the noise.

that last spreadsheet looks correct  what would you want it to be?

I sorted that one in excel. Look at this.

if you're looking for a sorting rule that will identify an arbitrary string and put it in a special place different from the rest of the sorting rules,  you'll need to provide some way to identify that arbitrary string.

so, if you want 'No.1 Canada Western Amber Durum Ac' to have a special location independent of the alphabetical sorting of the rest of column then you'll have to search for that one string and give it a rule.  Something like this...

  SELECT   c.grade_pool_code,
           c.grain_class_name,
           c.grade_protein_pct,
           b.strght_price_amt - a.old_price_amt delta_price,
           d.strght_code,
           b.strght_price_amt,
           d.tough_code,
           d.damp_code,
           d.stone_code,
           d.tough_stone_code,
           d.damp_stone_code,
           g.sct_effctv_dtm,
           g.pool_part_code
    FROM   (  SELECT   e.grade_code_dtl_id, MAX(e.strght_price_amt) old_price_amt
                FROM   price_list_dtl e, price_list_hdr f
               WHERE   f.price_list_hdr_id = f.price_list_hdr_id --  AND      F.price_list_status_type_name = 'Approved'
--  AND      F.load_type_name in ('Initial','Adjustment')
--  and      e.price_list_hdr_id < p_price_list_hdr_id
                       AND e.price_list_hdr_id = p_price_list_hdr_id
            GROUP BY   e.grade_code_dtl_id) a,
           price_list_dtl b,
           grade_code_dtl c,
           price_list_hdr g,
           (  SELECT   grade_code_dtl_id,
                       MAX(CASE code_type_name WHEN 'STRAIGHT' THEN disc_code ELSE NULL END)
                           AS strght_code,
                       MAX(CASE code_type_name WHEN 'TOUGH' THEN disc_code ELSE NULL END) AS tough_code,
                       MAX(CASE code_type_name WHEN 'DAMP' THEN disc_code ELSE NULL END) AS damp_code,
                       MAX(CASE code_type_name WHEN 'STONE' THEN disc_code ELSE NULL END) AS stone_code,
                       MAX(CASE code_type_name WHEN 'TOUGH STONE' THEN disc_code ELSE NULL END)
                           AS tough_stone_code,
                       MAX(CASE code_type_name WHEN 'DAMP STONE' THEN disc_code ELSE NULL END)
                           AS damp_stone_code
                FROM   grade_item
            GROUP BY   grade_code_dtl_id) d
   WHERE       b.price_list_hdr_id = p_price_list_hdr_id
           AND c.grade_code_dtl_id = b.grade_code_dtl_id
           AND a.grade_code_dtl_id = c.grade_code_dtl_id
           AND d.grade_code_dtl_id = c.grade_code_dtl_id
           AND g.price_list_hdr_id = b.price_list_hdr_id
ORDER BY   grade_pool_code,
           CASE
               WHEN grade_name LIKE 'No.1 Canada Western Amber Durum Ac%'
               THEN
                   'No.1 Canada Western Amber Durum Ac'
               ELSE
                   grade_name
           END,
           CASE
               WHEN grade_name = 'No.1 Canada Western Amber Durum Ac' THEN 1
               WHEN grade_name LIKE 'No.1 Canada Western Amber Durum Ac%' THEN 0
               ELSE NULL
           END

                                              

1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
9:
10:
11:
12:
13:
14:
15:
16:
17:
18:
19:
20:
21:
22:
23:
24:
25:
26:
27:
28:
29:
30:
31:
32:
33:
34:
35:
36:
37:
38:
39:
40:
41:
42:
43:
44:
45:
46:
47:
48:
49:
50:
51:
52:
53:

ok,  how is that data getting into the spreadsheet?

what happens when you run the query in sqlplus like I asked before?

let me run it tomorrow.

I wrote the last query based on what you had originally posted, not on what you have in the spreadsheets.

So, run your query in sqlplus, not mine.

I did I still get the same output.

can you send your sqlplus output?

spool the query and output to a file and post that

Here is attached dataset.

can you send your sqlplus output?

spool the query and output to a file and post that

sqlplus youruser/yourpassword@yourdba

SQL> spool ee_test.txt
SQL> SELECT   c.grade_pool_code,   .....   {{{ run your sql here }}}

{{{{output will apear here }}}}

SQL> exit

then post ee_test.txt


         

I don't have sqlplus on my machine.
;-(

It could be an error on the order by
it maybe grain_class_name

that's what I was trying to determine earlier and with spooling.

I wanted to see if the columns you were returning in your query were the same as what was in the report and if those were what were being used to sort by also

mathieu_cupryk,

Trying to get the experts here to understand the full scope of your setup can be problematic at times.  I think this is one of those times.

I find that creating as simplified test case as possible works best.  I suggest you post a small test case that includes: table definition, sample data and expected results.

For example:

Given the following script I need code 2 to come after code 1 because <insert reason here>.

create table test_table (grade_pool_code number,grade_name varchar2(50));
 
insert into test_table values(1,'some value');
insert into test_table values(2,'some other value');
commit;
 
expected results:
-----------------
some value
some other value
                                              

1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
9:
10:

it was the wrong field thanks. My head is going to explode.

glad I could help you walk through it!  

I suggest getting sqlplus installed on your machine.  It'll help with future questions.

U know company is too cheap and I don't have admin prev. so this is tough.

you should be able to download and install the SQL*Plus instant client from otn.

No Cost.  (http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/oci/instantclient/collateral/Instant_Client_WP.pdf)

and you shouldn't need to be an admin to install it.

>>and you shouldn't need to be an admin to install it.

All (I figure there's 1 or 2 that don't but I'm saying all anyway) Oracle installs need to update the registry.  Some shops even restrict writes to the 'C' drive.  Oracle writes there as well.

the instant client shouldn't need to do that.

Sorry.  I missed the instant client piece.  I didn't know SQL*Plus was part of the instant client.

it's one flavor of the instant client

http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/sql_plus/index.html

or better yet here, you can see all the different variations of the instant client


http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/tech/oci/instantclient/htdocs/winsoft.html

Cool.  That's why I love this site.  I tend to learn as much if not more I teach.

I was all excited until I saw it wasn't sqlplusw...  They discontinued the windows version in 11g and I'm not happy about it.

glad I could help you too!  two-for-one  :)