Order By Question

Hi,
I have a table with a field i sort on which has values like: p100-01,
p101-02, p999-05, p1000-03. On my order by shows these values like this:
p100-01
p1000-03
p101-02
p999-05
Is there a way around this or since its alpha numeric I am stuck with this?
ThanksYou can create a column that pads the strings out the way you want them
and do an ORDER BY it.
CASE WHEN foo_nbr LIKE 'p[0-9][0-9][0-9]-[0-9][0-9]'
THEN SUBSTRING (foo-nbr, 1,4) + '0' + SUBSTRING (foo-nbr,
5,7)
ELSE foo_nbr END AS sort_col|||if your pattern is always as illustrated (i.e., single
char+number+dash+number) then try
order by convert(decimal(30,5), replace(substring(value,2,9), '-', '.'))
you'll want to adjust the decimal precision and scale based on how many
numbers you'll have before and after the dash, if it's constant or at
least has a specified range.
also, this will not be a fast order, except on a small result set
Kyle wrote:
> Hi,
> I have a table with a field i sort on which has values like: p100-01,
> p101-02, p999-05, p1000-03. On my order by shows these values like this:
> p100-01
> p1000-03
> p101-02
> p999-05
> Is there a way around this or since its alpha numeric I am stuck with this
?
> Thanks
>|||... ["value" in this represents the column name] ...
Trey Walpole wrote:
> if your pattern is always as illustrated (i.e., single
> char+number+dash+number) then try
> order by convert(decimal(30,5), replace(substring(value,2,9), '-', '.'))
> you'll want to adjust the decimal precision and scale based on how many
> numbers you'll have before and after the dash, if it's constant or at
> least has a specified range.
> also, this will not be a fast order, except on a small result set
> Kyle wrote:
>|||On Fri, 9 Sep 2005 13:41:47 -0600, Kyle wrote:

>Hi,
>I have a table with a field i sort on which has values like: p100-01,
>p101-02, p999-05, p1000-03. On my order by shows these values like this:
>p100-01
>p1000-03
>p101-02
>p999-05
>Is there a way around this or since its alpha numeric I am stuck with this?
>Thanks
>
Hi Kyle,
This requirement indicates that the value is not atomic, but that the
numeric parts have different meaning. Instead of using a kludge to fix
the sorting, it's probably better to split the various parts of this
data into seperate columns, and concatenate them when selecting the
data.
Best, Hugo
--
(Remove _NO_ and _SPAM_ to get my e-mail address)|||I developed a query to do natural alphanumeric sorting. This query breaks
the alphanumeric string up into chunks of char's and number's, then orders b
y
the chunks. It only works for the first 4 chunks. I haven't had the time,
but I am sure that you could build a trigger to populate a,b,c and d columns
and sort by that.
Archer
select TOP 100 fieldid as 'sortcolumn',
LEFT(fieldid, PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) - 1) as 'a',
CASE
WHEN right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ) not
like '%[a-z,-]%'
then CAST(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1
) AS INT)
else
cast (
left (
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
case
when patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) -
PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) = 0
then patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) -
PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ))
else patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) -
PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) -1
end
)
as int)
end
as 'b',
LEFT (
right
(
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) -
patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
,
CASE
WHEN PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
right
(
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ))
- patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
) = 0
THEN
LEN( right (
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ))
- patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
)
ELSE PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
right
(
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ))
- patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
) -1
END
)
as 'c',
CASE
WHEN right (
right (
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) -
patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
, len(
right (
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) -
patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
right (
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) -
patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
) + 1 ) not like '%[a-z,-]%'
then CAST(right (
right (
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) -
patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
, len(
right (
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) -
patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
right (
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) -
patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
) + 1 ) AS INT)
else
cast (
left (
right (
right (
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) -
patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
, len(
right (
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) -
patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
right (
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) -
patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
) + 1 ),
case
when patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (
right (
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) -
patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
, len(
right (
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) -
patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
right (
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) -
patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
) + 1 )) = 0
then patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (
right (
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) -
patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
, len(
right (
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) -
patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
right (
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) -
patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
) + 1 ))
else patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (
right (
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) -
patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
, len(
right (
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) -
patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
right (
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) -
patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
)
) + 1 )) -1
end
)
as int)
end
as 'd',
right (
right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 ),
len(right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', fieldid) + 1 )) -
patindex('%[a-z, -]%', right (fieldid, len(fieldid) - PATINDEX('%[0-9]%',
fieldid) + 1 )) + 1
) as 'cTEST'
from tblsamplesTEST
order by a,b,c,d
"Kyle" wrote:

> Hi,
> I have a table with a field i sort on which has values like: p100-01,
> p101-02, p999-05, p1000-03. On my order by shows these values like this:
> p100-01
> p1000-03
> p101-02
> p999-05
> Is there a way around this or since its alpha numeric I am stuck with this
?
> Thanks
>
>|||Kyle wrote:
> I have a table with a field i sort on which has values like: p100-01,
> p101-02, p999-05, p1000-03. On my order by shows these values like this:
> p100-01
> p1000-03
> p101-02
> p999-05
> Is there a way around this or since its alpha numeric I am stuck with this?[/color
]
If only the first number has a variable length, but the second number is
always two digits:
order by len(i), i
Dieter