Hi David,
The spec says that "if data-type is text, the sort
keys should be sorted lexicographically". How you are
describing (or, interpreting) it is correct..
i have observed that both MSXML and Xalan interpret
this clause in a certain way, when integer(s)
characters exists in strings. When the strings have
*all alphabets* (either small case or upper-case), how
you have described lexicographic sorting is being
implemented by both MSXML and Xalan .. But when
*integer characters* come in the strings, the
behaviour of processors becomes different..
i have observed that A4138 will come after a4136 , if
case-order is upper-first.. But if the strings were
lets say A and a, then A would come before a if
case-order is upper-first..
it therefore makes me believe that processors(atleast
MSXML and Xalan) treat "all alphabetic" strings
differently than string which have alphabets and
numbers mixed..
Please correct me if i am wrong..
Regards,
Mukul
--- David Carlisle <davidc(_at_)nag(_dot_)co(_dot_)uk> wrote:
The 3rd row's integer part is different than
2nd(which makes *WA*4138 after *wA*4136
I can't see any reason why the later characters
should have any
influence on the sorting if the first characters are
different.
lexicographic ordering extends an ordering on an
alphabet to an ordering
on strings by ordering strings based on the initial
segment: to compare
two strings, you take the first position in the
string where the
characters differ and then compare that character.
In this case the first character differs, and W
comes before w
so the strings should order that way.
Saying that the later characters make a difference
is like saying
zb comes before ac in a dictionary because b comes
before c
isn't it? In a dictionary order, you'd say z comes
after a so zb comes
after ac. Surely it is the same here?
It would be possible to define a collation order
that does what is
shown, but I don't think it is sanctioned by XSLT 1,
namely to say that
w and W are considered equal a first pass and so if
possible you sort
in a case-insensitive way, then only if the entire
strings are
considered equal you sort the equivalent strings
using uppercase-first.
David
________________________________________________________________________
This e-mail has been scanned for all viruses by Star
Internet. The
service is powered by MessageLabs. For more
information on a proactive
anti-virus service working around the clock, around
the globe, visit:
http://www.star.net.uk
________________________________________________________________________
XSL-List info and archive:
http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
XSL-List info and archive: http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list