I think Mark's point is specifically to do with the length function which can only return a numeric value. The suggestion is that the sort command should be smart enough to know that and automatically use a numeric sort (unless overridden) since it's not possible for text data to be produced. I assume the enhancement request applies to any function that is only capable of returning a numeric value used in a sort statement, kinda like your ADD example. Pete
On Tue, Dec 13, 2011 at 9:26 AM, Bob Sneidar <b...@twft.com> wrote: > I went to bed thinking about this. Think about what would have to happen > for Livecode to conclude this needed to be a numeric sort: It would have to > evaluate every line in the sort, and if it found just one line that was not > a number, it would have to then use a text sort. What if the list was > 10,000 lines long? Seems like a lot of overhead. What if the items were > dates? What if they were mixed? > > So what the devs did it seems to me is said, "Everything is a text sort > unless explicitly stated otherwise." That makes a lot more sense to me, > because it's behavior is predictable. I cringe at commands and functions > that change the way they behave based upon the nature of the data they are > working with. > > You will say, "But doesn't the add command do just that?" To which I would > reply, "Yes, but it's a command that can ONLY work with numbers." > > Bob > > > On Dec 12, 2011, at 6:08 PM, Mark Wieder wrote: > > > Bob- > > > > Monday, December 12, 2011, 3:56:31 PM, you wrote: > > > >> It is doing just that, only it's doing a text sort of the numbers: > >> 1 > >> 10 > >> 100 > >> 11 > >> 12 > >> etc. > > > > Yes, and that's just wrong. I can think of no problem for which that > > is the solution. > > > > -- > > -Mark Wieder > > mwie...@ahsoftware.net > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > use-livecode mailing list > > use-livecode@lists.runrev.com > > Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your > subscription preferences: > > http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode > > > _______________________________________________ > use-livecode mailing list > use-livecode@lists.runrev.com > Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your > subscription preferences: > http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode > > -- Pete Molly's Revenge <http://www.mollysrevenge.com> _______________________________________________ use-livecode mailing list use-livecode@lists.runrev.com Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode
