How can I lookup text values in a column and display a list of corresponding names from another column, sorted by values?

Question

My spreadsheet looks like this:
          Monday     Tuesday     Wednesday
Name 1     OFF          4:30 PM     4:30 PM
Name 2     5 PM     OFF          4:30 PM
Name 3     4:30 PM     5 PM     OFF
Name 4     4 PM     OFF          OFF
I would like to create a spreadsheet for each day that will display the values sorted by time, as follows (e.g. Monday):
Name     In Time
Name 4     4 PM
Name 3     4:30 PM
Name 2     5 PM
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

Here's an example, using the provided data:
I've set the alignment on Main to Automatic (except for row 1) to distinguish between numeric and quasi numeric values (aligned right) and text (aligned left). This is a visual aid to developing the table, and would likely be changed for appearance in the end version.
Columns E, F and G of Main are index columns listing the RANK of numeric/date and time values in columns A, B and C respectively. Text values cause RANK to throw an error, which is caught by IFERROR, which returns a value of 999, chosen to be well above any of the RANK values returned. A small amount ( ROW()/100000 ) is added to each result to prevent duplicate results is cases like column D, where duplicate times appear.
Formula: Main::E2: =IFERROR(RANK(B2,B,1),999)+ROW()/100000
Fill down the column, and right to column G.
These columns may be hidden.
The three daily columns use a single formula each, revised to match the index columns from which they determine the row containing each piece of data to be copied, and to match the columns from which they retrieve that data. The formulas from row 2 of these tables are listed here in the order (left to right) that they are used in the second row of tables above. Parts that are edited from one formula to another are shown in bold.
=IF(SMALL(Main :: $E,ROW()-1)>999,"",OFFSET(Main :: $A$1,MATCH(SMALL(Main::$E,ROW()-1),Main :: $E,0)-1,0))
=IF(SMALL(Main :: $E,ROW()-1)>999,"",OFFSET(Main :: $A$1,MATCH(SMALL(Main::$E,ROW()-1),Main :: $E,0)-1,1))
=IF(SMALL(Main :: $F,ROW()-1)>999,"",OFFSET(Main :: $A$1,MATCH(SMALL(Main::$F,ROW()-1),Main :: $F,0)-1,0))
=IF(SMALL(Main :: $F,ROW()-1)>999,"",OFFSET(Main :: $A$1,MATCH(SMALL(Main::$F,ROW()-1),Main :: $F,0)-1,2))
=IF(SMALL(Main :: $G,ROW()-1)>999,"",OFFSET(Main :: $A$1,MATCH(SMALL(Main::$G,ROW()-1),Main :: $G,0)-1,0))
=IF(SMALL(Main :: $G,ROW()-1)>999,"",OFFSET(Main :: $A$1,MATCH(SMALL(Main::$G,ROW()-1),Main :: $G,0)-1,3))
Each of the formulas is filled down its column.
Each of the functions used is described in the iWork Formulas and Functions User Guide, a useful resource to have on hand when you are writing (or attempting to 'decode') Numbers formulas, The guide (and the Numbers '09 User Guide) may be downloaded from the Help menu in Numbers '09.
Regards,
Barry