I have a CALC sheet and frequently have to sort.
4 columns, MANY* rows.
How can I assure that Col B and Col C are BOTH sorted and that neither can be sorted without the other?
As always,
Thank you,
⌡im [THE BookMan]
This is a typical spreadsheet application as we know it since the 80ies. Range operations apply to selections. If you select a column, the selected column will be sorted.
I guess, you try to use the quick-sort buttons [A-Z] or [Z-A] on the main toolbar.
If you select the entire range to be sorted, this range will be sorted by the active cell’s column.
If you select a single cell, the current region of non-empty cells are sorted by the active cell’s column.
Thank you … this is how I do it now.
Had a scare the other day when I sorted colA and hadn’t selected colB.
Was able to “UNDO” a couple of times and recover the connection … PHEW !
from a theoretical point of view, need 2 extra columns to store a checksum reference of pairs B+C, then the actual formula to calculate it, and some red formatting to alert when a mismatch occurs. 
more pragmatically, just hide B and C and show a kind of concat in E.
After defined a data range.
https://help.libreoffice.org/24.2/en-US/text/scalc/01/12010000.html?System=WIN&DbPAR=CALC&HID=modules/scalc/ui/definedatabaserangedialog/dialog-action_area1#bm_id3147335
with it selected, set up the sort options, Menu/Data/Sort.
Next time, going to a cell in that range, Menu/Data/Sort remembers the sorting options.
Perfect … I knew you guys had already figured it out, I just couldn’t understand from the documentation.
Thanks !