Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Hmmm. The normal convention is to ignore words such as de, van, etc, when sorting names. Eric van Lustbader would be sorted under L, not V, for example.
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Harry -
The sorting conventions are heavily language-centric; if you look in the on-line manual, there's a link to a excellent article about how names are written in various languages.
What I'm used to in English matches my original example AND matches the "library" sorting conventions that I'm familiar with. AFAIK the Chicago Manual of Style is a common reference for this type of question.
In that case, words like "de" and "van" are sorted as part of the last name. I'd be the first to admit that this does NOT match every-day usage in many cases; we expect to find Ludwig van Beethoven under "B", not "v". It's definitely a mixed bag; "John le Carre" is commonly referred to as "le Carre", and "Walter de la Mare" is commonly "de la Mare", but there are MANY other examples where the Engish common usage is without the particle. I'm just glad that
I don't have to write the final algorithm.
But the plugin authored by DaltonT allows me to have my cake and eat it too
Dan