Re^4: sort utility key specification

[BrowserUk]

They do, until you throw in some negative numbers. They munge the sign into the last character.

Ah yes. That's a pain to deal with.

I'll look into how much work is involved -- there is also the issue of implied decimal points -- relative to the number of times it might get used.

One question. What type character would you use for bcd?

'b' is currently free, though I can see it might be useful for something else. 'd' is used and 'c' isn't particularly mnemonic.

[roboticus]

BrowserUk:

I've not found the implied decimal points to be a problem, as all the files I work with have them at the same position, so the normal string sort with a touch of magic to handle the sign would be adequate.

I don't really have a preference or a "gut feel" as what character would be easier to remember for this field type. I'd probably have to refer to the help text.

(I *was* going to suggest EBCDIC sorting in my original response, but you mentioned "real requirements", and I think I've cared about EBCDIC less than 10 times, so I doubt I would ever use it.)

Update: I thought I'd mention that every time I've dealt with implied decimals in my code, I tend to just treat them as integers anyway. I generally only format them with a period if I'm generating a report. If I'm just creating a summary file in a similar format, I just write them back, and the other application never knows that I just used integers internally.

...roboticus

When your only tool is a hammer, all problems look like your thumb.

[davies]

I remember meeting the issue when punching Cards for Cobol. C is certainly mnemonic to me - perhaps explaining it is all that's needed? Or perhaps everyone wants to forget those days.

Regards,

John Davies

[BrowserUk]

I remember meeting the issue when punching Cards for Cobol. C is certainly mnemonic to me

That sold it for me. 'c' it is ;)