How to sort all words by alphabet in a word list?

[JoHanatCent]

Anyone fancy trying this in some language other than English?

Probably stupic though.

Hi - I'm happy.

It sorts it better than _ArraySort except for numbers. But then again the languages I'm capable of does not have any letters above ASCII 122.

#include <Array.au3>
$string = "10 chicken abC aBc cheese Chocolate chalk Abc 9 Ikhanda Kop"
$aArray = StringSplit($string," ", 3)
_ArraySort($aArray)
_ArrayDisplay($aArray, "Normal Sort")
For $i = 0 To UBound($aArray) -1
    $aArray[$i] = StringToBinary($aArray[$i])
Next
_ArraySort($aArray)
For $i = 0 To UBound($aArray) -1
    $aArray[$i] = BinaryToString($aArray[$i])
Next
_ArrayDisplay($aArray, "Binary Sort")

So maybe a ascii sorter?

[Albertxu]

There are different methods. I suggest to begin with that you look at the helpfile example for _ArrayAdd. This shows the easiest method to start with. Don't worry about using the function _ArrayAdd. Just look at how the array is declared. To offer a brief explanation:

First an array containing 10 elements is declared using the keyword Local. Then each element is given a value (in this case a name). Notice that the first element is counted as element 0. Run the script and try making some alterations to it.

Edit

Another method would be to use _FileReadToArray. This may suit your purpose more readily, however I strongly advise that you familiarize yourself with the first method I mentioned also.

So I used _FileReadToArray to load those words as Array. But How can I write those sorted words out in a result.txt file? I used FileWriteLine but did not succeed.

#include <Array.au3>
#include <file.au3>
Dim $aRecords
If Not _FileReadToArray("random.txt",$aRecords) Then
   MsgBox(4096,"Error", " Error reading log to Array     error:" & @error)
   Exit
EndIf

_arraysort($aRecords)
;_ArrayDisplay($aRecords)
FileWriteLine("result.txt",$aRecords)

[JohnOne]

You realy ought to have a little peek in the help file, coupled with a tiny bit of nouse you might have found _FileWriteFromArray()

[jchd]

[/autoit]I see that (my) nighttime has been busy here.

AutoIt natively offers StringCompare to sort strings according to your system/user locale settings when this function is used with option 0.
So if your locale settings is Swedish-Finland, it will sort string according to the [b]sv-fi[/b] Unicode locale, while if your locale is Swedish-Sweden it will use [b]sv-se[/b] collation rules.
As a consequence of being language-aware, StringCompare can give the surprising result that strings not having the same length (in Unicode characters) compare equal.  For instance, using my fr-FR locale:
[autoit]Local $s1 = 'baffled', $s2 = 'baffled'
ConsoleWrite(StringLen($s1) & ' =?= ' & StringLen($s2) & @LF)
ConsoleWrite(Stringcompare($s1, $s2, 0) & @LF)
ConsoleWrite(Stringcompare($s1, $s2, 1) & @LF)
ConsoleWrite(Stringcompare($s1, $s2, 2
returns:
7 =?= 5
0
-1
-1

This is due to the 'ffl' ligature (only one char) used in $s2 being expanded to 'ffl' (three chars) by my frenchy locale (may for english as well, didn't check).

BTW a locale doesn't only affect string collation, but also times, dates, numbers, ... representation and format, hyphenation, and much much more.

Actual nightmare begins when you need to collate strings from various languages.

@JohnOne, JoHanatCent,

What you propose doesn't hold water. Here's why: StringToBinary will first convert the Unicode string to ANSI using your current locale setting, turning any Unicode character not available in your codepage into a question mark. Then it will return that sequence of bytes for you to sort. It makes for a poor English-7bit-ASCII-only sort with very limited use. Use StringCompare with the option you need.

[czardas]

Yeah that's baffling alright. There's a couple of syntax errors BTW.

It's very useful to know about. Thanks JCHD.

Edited June 2, 2011 by czardas

[JohnOne]

But its been said that _ArraySort() does not work with strings, and I looked at array sort, and it uses Stringcompare().

I'm greatful for you explanation, but I just dont get it.

[jchd]

Ha! I was under a vague impression I was mixing things somewhere but didn't have much time to check what. In fact I need to use several modified versions of _ArraySort for specific purposes and forgot exactly what was the native function doing. Thanks for the head up, I'll edit my misguided post. Indeed, _ArraySort uses StringCompare with option 0 (case insensitive, using locale).

@czardas,

What you experience in your post #13 is that the collation (comparison function) is case insensitive. This is not to be confused with the stability of the sort function. _ArraySort() uses one or two sort algorithms: quicksort and insertion sort, the former being unstable contrary to the latter, which means that it may change the initial order of sort keys that are found equal. Since the inner compare function is case insensitive, it may order B before or after b (without that being a bug). Most implementations of the quicksort algorithm are unstable, but when the input array (or a subarray at some level) has less than 15 entries, _ArraySort switches to an insertion sort, which is stable. Readers interested in sorting algorithms and their characteristics and tradeoffs should google around.

[GEOSoft]

Everyone seems to have forgoten about the sort code written by Siao

expandcollapse popup

;===============================================================================
; Function Name:    _ArraySortClib() v4
; Description:         Sort 1D/2D array using qsort() from C runtime library
; Syntax:
; Parameter(s):      $Array - the array to be sorted, ByRef
;                    $iMode - sort mode, can be one of the following:
;                        0 = numerical, using double precision float compare
;                        1 = string sort, case insensitive (default)
;                        2 = string sort, case sensitive
;                        3 = word sort, case insensitive - compatible with AutoIt's native compare
;                    $fDescend - sort direction. True = descending, False = ascending (default)
;                    $iStart - index of starting element (default 0 = $array[0])
;                    $iEnd - index of ending element (default 0 = Ubound($array)-1)
;                    $iColumn - index of column to sort by (default 0 = first column)
;                    $iStrMax - max string length of each array element to compare (default 4095 chars)
; Requirement(s):    msvcrt.dll (shipped with Windows since Win98 at least), 32-bit version of AutoIt
; Return Value(s):    Success = Returns 1
;                    Failure = Returns 0 and sets error:
;                        @error 1 = invalid array
;                        @error 2 = invalid param
;                        @error 3 = dll error
;                        @error 64 = 64-bit AutoIt unsupported
; Author(s):   Siao
; Modification(s):
;===============================================================================

Func _ArraySortClib(ByRef $Array, $iMode = 1, $fDescend = False, $iStart = 0, $iEnd = 0, $iColumn = 0, $iStrMax = 4095)
  If @AutoItX64 Then Return SetError(64, 0, 0)
  Local $iArrayDims = UBound($Array, 0)
  If @error Or $iArrayDims > 2 Then Return SetError(1, 0, 0)
  Local $iArraySize = UBound($Array, 1), $iColumnMax = UBound($Array, 2)
  If $iArraySize < 2 Then Return SetError(1, 0, 0)
  If $iEnd < 1 Or $iEnd > $iArraySize - 1 Then $iEnd = $iArraySize - 1
  If ($iEnd - $iStart < 2) Then Return SetError(2, 0, 0)
  If $iArrayDims = 2 And ($iColumnMax - $iColumn < 0) Then Return SetError(2, 0, 0)
  If $iStrMax < 1 Then Return SetError(2, 0, 0)
  Local $i, $j, $iCount = $iEnd - $iStart + 1, $fNumeric, $aRet, $sZero = ChrW(0), $sStrCmp, $sBufType = 'byte[', $hDll = DllOpen('msvcrt.dll'), $tSource, $tIndex, $tFloatCmp, $tCmpWrap = DllStructCreate('byte[64]'), $tEnumProc = DllStructCreate('byte[64]')
  If $hDll = -1 Then Return SetError(3, 0, 0)
  ;; initialize compare proc
  Switch $iMode
    Case 0
      $fNumeric = True
      $tFloatCmp = DllStructCreate('byte[36]')
      DllStructSetData($tFloatCmp, 1, '0x8B4C24048B542408DD01DC1ADFE0F6C440750D80E441740433C048C333C040C333C0C3')
      DllStructSetData($tCmpWrap, 1, '0xBA' & Hex(Binary(DllStructGetPtr($tFloatCmp)), 8) & '8B4424088B4C2404FF30FF31FFD283C408C3')
      DllStructSetData($tEnumProc, 1, '0x8B7424048B7C24088B4C240C8B442410893789470483C60883C708404975F1C21000')
    Case 1,2
      $sStrCmp = "_strcmpi" ;case insensitive
      If $iMode = 2 Then $sStrCmp = "strcmp" ;case sensitive
      $aRet = DllCall('kernel32.dll','ptr','GetModuleHandle', 'str','msvcrt.dll')
      $aRet = DllCall('kernel32.dll','ptr','GetProcAddress', 'ptr',$aRet[0], 'str',$sStrCmp)
      If $aRet[0] = 0 Then Return SetError(3, 0, 0*DllClose($hDll))
      DllStructSetData($tCmpWrap, 1, '0xBA' & Hex(Binary($aRet[0]), 8) & '8B4424088B4C2404FF30FF31FFD283C408C3')
      DllStructSetData($tEnumProc, 1, '0x8B7424048B7C24088B4C240C8B542410893789570483C7088A064684C075F9424975EDC21000')
    Case 3
      $sBufType = 'wchar['
      $aRet = DllCall('kernel32.dll','ptr','GetModuleHandle', 'str','kernel32.dll')
      $aRet = DllCall('kernel32.dll','ptr','GetProcAddress', 'ptr',$aRet[0], 'str','CompareStringW')
      If $aRet[0] = 0 Then Return SetError(3, 0, 0*DllClose($hDll))
      DllStructSetData($tCmpWrap, 1, '0xBA' & Hex(Binary($aRet[0]), 8) & '8B4424088B4C24046AFFFF306AFFFF3168010000006800040000FFD283E802C3')
      DllStructSetData($tEnumProc, 1, '0x8B7424048B7C24088B4C240C8B542410893789570483C7080FB70683C60285C075F6424975EAC21000')
    Case Else
      Return SetError(2, 0, 0)
  EndSwitch
  ;; write data to memory
  If $fNumeric Then
    $tSource = DllStructCreate('double[' & $iCount & ']')
    If $iArrayDims = 1 Then
      For $i = 1 To $iCount
        DllStructSetData($tSource, 1, $Array[$iStart + $i - 1], $i)
      Next
    Else
      For $i = 1 To $iCount
        DllStructSetData($tSource, 1, $Array[$iStart + $i - 1][$iColumn], $i)
      Next
    EndIf
  Else
    Local $sMem = ""
    If $iArrayDims = 1 Then
      For $i = $iStart To $iEnd
        $sMem &= StringLeft($Array[$i],$iStrMax) & $sZero
      Next
    Else
      For $i = $iStart To $iEnd
        $sMem &= StringLeft($Array[$i][$iColumn],$iStrMax) & $sZero
      Next
    EndIf
    $tSource = DllStructCreate($sBufType & StringLen($sMem) + 1 & ']')
    DllStructSetData($tSource, 1, $sMem)
    $sMem = ""
  EndIf
  ;; index data
  $tIndex = DllStructCreate('int[' & $iCount * 2 & ']')
  DllCall('user32.dll','uint','CallWindowProc', 'ptr',DllStructGetPtr($tEnumProc), 'ptr',DllStructGetPtr($tSource), 'ptr',DllStructGetPtr($tIndex), 'int',$iCount, 'int',$iStart)
  ;; sort
  DllCall($hDll,'none:cdecl','qsort', 'ptr',DllStructGetPtr($tIndex), 'int',$iCount, 'int',8, 'ptr',DllStructGetPtr($tCmpWrap))
  DllClose($hDll)
  ;; rearrange the array by sorted index
  Local $aTmp = $Array, $iRef
  If $iArrayDims = 1 Then ; 1D
    If $fDescend Then
      For $i = 0 To $iCount - 1
        $iRef = DllStructGetData($tIndex, 1, $i * 2 + 2)
        $Array[$iEnd - $i] = $aTmp[$iRef]
      Next
    Else ; ascending
      For $i = $iStart To $iEnd
        $iRef = DllStructGetData($tIndex, 1, ($i - $iStart) * 2 + 2)
        $Array[$i] = $aTmp[$iRef]
      Next
    EndIf
  Else ; 2D
    If $fDescend Then
      For $i = 0 To $iCount - 1
        $iRef = DllStructGetData($tIndex, 1, $i * 2 + 2)
        For $j = 0 To $iColumnMax - 1
          $Array[$iEnd - $i][$j] = $aTmp[$iRef][$j]
        Next
      Next
    Else ; ascending
      For $i = $iStart To $iEnd
        $iRef = DllStructGetData($tIndex, 1, ($i - $iStart) * 2 + 2)
        For $j = 0 To $iColumnMax - 1
          $Array[$i][$j] = $aTmp[$iRef][$j]
        Next
      Next
    EndIf
  EndIf
  Return 1
EndFunc   ;<==> _ArraySortClib()

[czardas]

I'm sure there are many alternatives. Perhaps I'll look into learning about different sorting algorithms at some point. It's interesting to know that _ArraySort uses two algorithms.

[jchd]

Very nice.

Something I wasn't aware of is that the native StringCompare uses a word sort!

The direct consequence can be misleading to unsuspecting users:

#include <Array.au3>

Local $a[224][2]
For $i = 0 To 223
    $a[$i][0] = Chr($i + 0x20)
Next

_ArraySort($a)

For $i = 0 To 223
    $a[$i][1] = Chr($i + 0x20)
Next
_ArrayDisplay($a)

Depending on your application and typical string contents, it may be a good or terrible thing.

[czardas]

There's only one alternative. Convert everything to YYYY/MM/DD (or something similar) and then sort.

[jchd]

@czardas

The issue (or non-issue depending of your point of view) is that the holly ASCII order is not conserved by this collation, as the example code just above shows.

[czardas]

I figured that. I generally try to be thorough when testing algorithms and don't worry about things like that so much now as I used to.

[Malkey]

To get the sorting order result you want, with the example you can specify your own sorting order.