Sorting of composite numerical columns with formatting

ownedbycats · 06-26-2021, 12:47 PM

I have a composite column that usually shows a number. However, for a subset of books it shows a value like '60/70.'

If I set the column to sort by number, it fails to sort entirely. I have to do it by text, but this results in weird sorting (e.g. 10, then 100, then 11). Is this intended?

chaley · 06-26-2021, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I have a composite column that usually shows a number. However, for a subset of books it shows a value like '60/70.'

If I set the column to sort by number, it fails to sort entirely. I have to do it by text, but this results in weird sorting (e.g. 10, then 100, then 11). Is this intended?

The failure happens because the column doesn't contain a number.

Setting the sort to "text" will result in the behavior you see. It sorts by character left to right. The tweak "Recognize numbers inside text when sorting (ID: numeric_collation)" might change that, but it will change it for all text sorts.

ownedbycats · 06-26-2021, 04:18 PM

Enabling numeric collation worked, thank you!

It said "note that doing so will cause problems with text that starts with numbers." What problems would that be?

chaley · 06-26-2021, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

It said "note that doing so will cause problems with text that starts with numbers." What problems would that be?

I don't know. Kovid did that work and I haven't ever tried to understand it.

ownedbycats · 06-26-2021, 04:45 PM

I checked a few columns (title, author, and a custom tag-like) that had entries beginning with numbers and didn't see anything wrong.

06-26-2021, 12:47 PM	#1
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 11,359 Karma: 79528341 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	Sorting of composite numerical columns with formatting I have a composite column that usually shows a number. However, for a subset of books it shows a value like '60/70.' If I set the column to sort by number, it fails to sort entirely. I have to do it by text, but this results in weird sorting (e.g. 10, then 100, then 11). Is this intended?

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06-26-2021, 04:18 PM	#3
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 11,359 Karma: 79528341 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	Enabling numeric collation worked, thank you! It said "note that doing so will cause problems with text that starts with numbers." What problems would that be?

06-26-2021, 04:45 PM	#5
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 11,359 Karma: 79528341 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	I checked a few columns (title, author, and a custom tag-like) that had entries beginning with numbers and didn't see anything wrong.