numbers filtering the blank cells

I use Excel at work and Numbers at home. Sadly there are a handful of features where Numbers is behind. Sorting and filtering is one such area. In excel I can filter (without sorting) by clicking on any column header. I did a quick check and found I could not filter on blank cells (rows) without also sorting. I'm still using iWork 09 so this is something that may be enhanced in a newer version. I'm reluctant to upgrade after I read about an iPhoto upgrade deleting libraries. I tend to sit out several upgrade cycles after any such scare.

I don't know of any spreadsheet that allows filtering across columns. One thing you might want to do is organize your data with the limitations of spreadsheets and databases in mind. Data in spreadsheets and databases is selected by row. This is true for SQL databases including mysql as well. For this reason, spreadsheets like Excel, OpenOffice and Numbers tend to offer the ability to select rows based on certain criteria but not columns.

There is a function that allows you to "pivot" your data so what used to be in columns is now in rows. This would allow you to automatically reorganize your data to be compatible with common spreadsheet and database limitations. Of course you should back everything up to a new file in case you lose something while trying to rearrange things.

For instance:
FOr a softball team columns could be like this:

Code:

name, rbi, innings played, position, games played, batting average

not this:

Code:

name
rbi
innings played
position
games played
batting average

You could filter for blanks or for 0 games played, etc. If, however you were to list everything in columns, you couldn't use any sort or filter techniques to grab a player's name, rbi, innings played, etc based on batting average. So try to organize your data in to "records" or rows and you will find that OOO, Numbers and Excel can filter it for you.