From: Dean Snyder (dean.snyder@jhu.edu)
Date: Fri May 14 2004 - 07:32:34 CDT
Mark E. Shoulson wrote at 10:03 PM on Thursday, May 13, 2004:
>jameskass@att.net wrote:
>
>>Dean A. Snyder asks,
>>
>>>Why make something we do all the time more difficult and non-standard,
>>>when what we do now works very well?
>>
>>Please, one thing to remember about default collation is that
>>it's default. It's only there when no other instructions exist.
>>
>>
> From my understanding of the situation, it is generally best to expect
>that the default collation will provide a sort that is just barely
>tolerable. It's only there as a fallback, to prevent utter catastrophe;
>if you want sorting actually to work properly, you need a tailored one.
>Since the requirements for sorting are so varied, no default will
>satisfy everyone, so the default just has to do its best to avoid
>completely screwing up--barely.
>
>That right?
It means custom software or templates will have to be written if you want
different behavior than the default.
Try getting Google to implement your collation algorithms. Try getting
different operating systems to agree on implementing the same collation
algorithms. The same goes for all the database engines. These are the
sorts of things you're up against if you want to avoid implementing your
collation stuff separately on every piece of proprietary, private software.
Respectfully,
Dean A. Snyder
Assistant Research Scholar
Manager, Digital Hammurabi Project
Computer Science Department
Whiting School of Engineering
218C New Engineering Building
3400 North Charles Street
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland, USA 21218
office: 410 516-6850
cell: 717 817-4897
www.jhu.edu/digitalhammurabi
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