Re: sorting numbers

Subject: Re: sorting numbers
From: Chris Morton <salt -dot- morton -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2013 10:42:31 -0700

It's an *ASCII sort*. You might try some of these links (*How does a
computer sort numbers*) in arriving at a better descriptive:

https://www.google.com/search?q=*how+does+a+computer+sort+numbers*
&rlz=1C1GGLS_enUS361&oq=computer+sort+numbers&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0j69i62l3.9395j0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8<https://www.google.com/search?q=how+does+a+computer+sort+numbers&rlz=1C1GGLS_enUS361&oq=computer+sort+numbers&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0j69i62l3.9395j0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8>

> Chris

On Thu, Jul 11, 2013 at 10:37 AM, Lynne Wright
<Lynne -dot- Wright -at- tiburoninc -dot- com>wrote:

> That's insanely confusing.
>
> Sorting alphabetically means that you're sorting words (by letter).
> Sorting numerically means that you're sorting numerical digits (in
> ascending or descending order).
>
> The example in parenthesis doesn't help; it is neither sorted in numerical
> order, nor by what letters those numbers would start with if they were
> spelled out.
>
> It actually looks like they're saying that all numbers that start with 1
> will be listed, in ascending order; then all numbers that start with 2 will
> be listed, then all numbers that start with 3, etc.
>
> They're still all being sorted numerically though.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+lynne -dot- wright=tiburoninc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com[mailto:
> techwr-l-bounces+lynne -dot- wright=tiburoninc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
> Behalf Of Laurie Little
> Sent: Thursday, July 11, 2013 1:19 PM
> To: techwr-l -at- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: sorting numbers
>
> Greetings, all
>
> A client's documentation says "Numbers will sort alphabetically rather than
> in numeric order (i.e. 1, 11, 2, 209, 33...)". Is this type of sort truly
> considered "alphabetical" or something else? When I read that my first
> thought was it sorted according to how the number was spelled (and indeed
> that was supported by the only online source I could find). That doesn't
> make sense in the real world, of course, and most likely people more normal
> than I would ignore the label and just look at the example to understand
> how
> numbers are sorted. But being abnormal/anal/a tech writer I *need* to
> figure
> out the proper label. Any opinions/suggestions/sources?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Laurie
>
>
>
>
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> New! Doc-to-Help 2013 features the industry's first HTML5 editor for
> authoring.
>
> Learn more: http://bit.ly/ZeOZeQ
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as Lynne -dot- Wright -at- tiburoninc -dot- com -dot-
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
> http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and
> info.
>
> Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online
> magazine at http://techwhirl.com
>
> Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public
> email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
>
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> New! Doc-to-Help 2013 features the industry's first HTML5 editor for
> authoring.
>
> Learn more: http://bit.ly/ZeOZeQ
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as salt -dot- morton -at- gmail -dot- com -dot-
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
> http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and
> info.
>
> Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online
> magazine at http://techwhirl.com
>
> Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public
> email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
>


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
New! Doc-to-Help 2013 features the industry's first HTML5 editor for authoring.

Learn more: http://bit.ly/ZeOZeQ

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com


Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and info.

Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com

Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives


Previous by Author: Re: spec writing - is simple ever wrong ?
Next by Author: Re: Comma question
Previous by Thread: Rules for creating large documents in Word
Next by Thread: Re: sorting numbers


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads