Creative sorting method needed

[Quartekoen]

Okay, this may get a little confusing, so I'll try to be as descriptive as possible.

The company I work for is changing our warehouse's storage method. Instead of simply labeling every available slot with the Item number of the item it holds, we are instead giving every slot a unique number (based on its location in the warehouse). Basically, we are slotting our warehouses.

Along with the textual number, we are also giving each slot a barcode. This code holds only the number of the slot. It's exactly the same as the textual slot number, except it's in bar code form. This is simply so the bar code can be scanned instead of typed in or written.

We are using a barcode-creating program to make these codes, and it's simple enough to pull in all the slot numbers from filemaker. But the problem arises when it's time to print off the labels for each slot. Here's how I want them to look, with 2 columns:

Label_1 Label_4

Label_2 Label_5

Label_3 Label_6

However, when printed, the first label will be on the top left, and the next will be to the right of it. Because of the size of the labels, the 3rd label will be below the first one, and the 4th label will be below the 2nd, like this:

Label_1 Label_2

Label_3 Label_4

Label_5 Label_6 ...

(No, there's no way to change the print layout in this software). Given this sort of printing method, I figured that I could get them to print the way I want with some sorting before I import them into the label maker, but this is proving to be a challenge.

Here is some sample data from the slots that I am trying to sort. The slot numbers are:

2-A   4-A   6-A   8-A       This is sample data.

2-B   4-B   6-B   8-B       It does not reflect any

2-C   4-C   6-C   8-C       sort of structure in 

2-D   4-D   6-D   8-D       the database.

Here is how I want the slots to be printed:

_____________

| 2-D   4-D |

| 2-C   4-C |   This is how I want the labels

| 2-B   4-B |    printed on a page, as if this 

| 2-A   4-A |    could be printed out directly.  

|           |  

| 6-D   8-D | 

| 6-C   8-C |    Yes, the letters are supposed

| 6-B   8-B |    to be in descending order.

| 6-A   8-A |

 -----------

Given the order that the label maker software prints, that means that the slots have to be sorted in a fashion like this:

2-D (1st row, left)

4-D (1st row, right)

2-C (2nd row, left)

4-C (2nd row, right)

2-B (etc...)

4-B

2-A

4-A

6-D

8-D

6-C

8-C

6-B

8-B

6-A

8-A

Does anyone have any theories of how to perform a sort that gives out these results? Let me know if you have any questions about my explanation. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks.

Edited November 11, 2008 by Guest

[comment]

this may get a little confusing

It is rather confusing. It would be best, at least for the example, to assign a serial number to each slot and work with that. Then, if you need some kind of an alpha-numeric code, it should be easy enough to generate it from the serial.

Anyway, see the attached for an idea.

SortOddEven.fp7.zip