James,
Try:

Select name, sire1, GradeOrder = CASE grade WHEN 'A+' THEN '1' WHEN 'A' THEN '2' WHEN 'B+' THEN '3' ELSE '?' END from master where grade <> " " order by name

HTH

>Hello All,
>
>I'm trying to use a case when in this select to order classifications. The grades available, in order of importance are A+,A,B+,B,C+,C.
>
>I want to create a select that will translate these so a report can be ordered by importance.
>
>This returns an error message:
>
>
>Select name, sire1, case when grade = "A+" then "1", grade = "A" then "2", grade = "B+" then "3" end as gradeorder from master where grade <> " " order by name
>
>Any help would be appreciated.
>
>Jim Harvey
>jharvey@netrax.net