US 6,389,386 B1 · Method, system and computer program product for sorting text strings

Abstract

A multi-field text string contains display characters in a first field and sort characters in a second field. For ideographic languages such as Japanese, the display characters may be Kanji symbols for the text string while the sort characters are phonetic syllabary representations of the Kanji symbols. A plurality of such multi-field text strings may then be sorted by the contents of the second field rather than the contents of the first. Despite both the multiple pronunciations or meanings associated with the same Kanji symbols in Japanese and the unsorted ordering of Kanji symbols within the Unicode character set for Japanese, a culturally correct sort order is achieved for the multi-field text strings. Additionally, the contents of the second field may be altered to artificially promote a specific item within the sort order, while displaying the sorted text strings utilizing the contents of the first field. The mechanism for promoting particular text strings within the sort order does not interfere with user viewing of the displayed text strings.

Claims24

Dependent claims

A method of sorting text strings, comprising:

for each of a plurality of text strings, storing a first set of characters representing a corresponding text string in a first field within a multi-field data packet and a second set of characters representing the corresponding text string in a second field within the multi-field data packet, wherein each multi-field data packet for a text string includes a plurality of fields each containing a different representation of the text string;
sorting the plurality of text strings utilizing characters within the second field for each text string;
and
displaying the plurality of text strings in a sorted order utilizing the characters within the first field for each text string.

1 more element

A computer program product within a computer usable medium for sorting text strings, comprising:

instructions, for each of a plurality of text strings, for storing a first set of characters representing a corresponding text string in a first field within a multi-field data packet and a second set of characters representing the corresponding text string in a second field within the multi-field data packet, wherein each multi-field data packet for a text string includes a plurality of fields each containing a different representation of the text string;
instructions for sorting the plurality of text strings utilizing characters within the second field for each text string;
and
instructions for displaying the plurality of text strings in a sorted order utilizing the characters within the first field for each text string.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method, system and computer program product for sorting text strings

Life of this patent

Method, system and computer program product for sorting text strings

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims24