About Sort Order

When you sort collections, you must understand these concepts:

• Some fields that appear to be numeric (for example, Account) might actually be character-based and would use text-character sort order.
• Character-based fields use text-character sorting. For example, if you attempt an ascending sort by account number, the accounts might be sorted like this:

  (blank field)

  #222

  222

  2220

  @201

  XL-64

  xl-64

  In text-character (ascending) order, these rules exist:

  • Character strings are generally sorted from left to right. That is, the first character (furthest left) is evaluated, then the second, and so on.
  • A blank field comes before any other character. Thus, any blank fields always display first.
  • Special characters might come before numerals, between numerals and letters, or after letters. Thus, #222 comes before 222, but @201 comes after 222.
  • Numerals display in correct numeric order, regardless of size.
  • Numerals display before alphabetic characters.
  • Upper-case characters display before lower-case characters. Thus, XL-64 comes before xl-64.
• Unicode strings typically are compared using a "word sort" technique, where all punctuation marks and other non-alphanumeric characters, except for the hyphen and the apostrophe, come before any alphanumeric character. The hyphen and the apostrophe are treated differently than the other non-alphanumeric symbols, in order to ensure that words such as coop and co-op stay together within a sorted list.