Re: sort output per alpha-numeric?

On Wed, Dec 1, 2021 at 3:50 PM David G. Johnston <david(dot)g(dot)johnston(at)gmail(dot)com>
wrote:

> On Wed, Dec 1, 2021 at 3:38 PM Sbob <sbob(at)quadratum-braccas(dot)com> wrote:
>
>> I get a list like this:
>>
>> print_size
>> ------------
>> 11x14
>>
>> If this isn't sufficient (e.g., if the second dimension causes the issue)
> you may need to break the two-part string into two separate fields, convert
> them to integers, and then sort on the pair.
>
>
Just for some perspective - the normalized version of this model would
store the width and height measurements separately and your print_size text
would be a presentation issue. Though the use of a lookup table may ease
the usage of this somewhat.

Another possibility, one that I tend to avoid, would be to use an "enum"
type here - which has the property that the elements of the enum have an
order that is independent of the display value.

In short though, print_size as you've defined it is a composite value which
should be broken down into its components during the process of
normalization.

David J.