sql select - order by but partial part of the field

i want to use the order by catid... but i need to use i开发者_如何学Ct on the 2 letter of the catid field this is not working for me: order by mid(catid, 2,3)

what can be the answer?

Take a look at your use of mid.

Mid ("Tech on the Net", 1, 4)   would return "Tech"
Mid ("Alphabet", 5, 2)  would return "ab"
Mid ("Alphabet", 5)     would return "abet"

Your second parameter needs to be a 2 at the very least. Not sure what your catid looks like.