Sort sequences

Help !!
In a listbox with sorted = True, the string '~sw.tmp' is less than the string 'sw.tmp'. However, when comparing the 2 with CompareStr function, suddenly '~sw.tmp' is greater than 'sw.tmp'. That causes a lot of grief as I loop down 2 sorted listboxes, constantly comparing current entries.

Any ideas ? Help much appreciated.
Matt

Found out that much:

It's a "feature" a la Microsoft. A tilde (~) is actually ASC126 and therefore > than an A which is ASC65. Yet in Windows Explorer ~sw.tmp appears before asw.tmp. I guess the Listbox sort=property follows this, whereas CompareStr does not.

Anybody could point me to the rules how Windows Explorer "sorts". Is this published anywhere on the web ? I have to mimick this behaviour in order to get the job done.

TIA,
Matt

Tx Scott. Meanwhile stumbled across a Delphi function called ANSIFileName. It compares 2 file-names and returns <0, >0 =0, like CompareStr() works. Seems to work, as it returns ~sw.tmp < sw.tmp = true, but I can't test with foreign locales. If you've come across anything, could you post it here ?

Many thanks,
Matt

The sort ordering in Windows Explorer is not ASCII based, it's tied more to the UNICode rules for the locale you have set in Windows. There is probably a web page about locales and sort order on the MSDN sites.

For instance, a Dutch user would expect the names:

  Amsterdam  ─ntwerp  CopenhΣgen

to be sorted like this:


ááAmsterdam


áá─ntwerp


ááCopenhΣgen

not like this (the ASCII order):


ááAmsterdam


ááCopenhΣgen


áá─ntwerp

Actually, foreign locales are supported in Delphi!!!

I use the ShortDateFormat variable settings all of the time in Delphi, especially when I deal with databases with different standard Date formats.

Well, that leads to the SysLocale system variable, which can be set in any scope in a Delphi program. Check out the description in the VCL Reference, and the accompanying Languages function (which tells you which Windows Locales are supported), and the Locale variable (for database queries using the BDE).