"Never" is mighty strong talk!  I don't think we've ever said never.  Nor
have we said that this specification is static.  What we're trying to do is
find that line between easy to do and functionally rich enough to want to
do.  Folks seem to think that sort is necessary in the first draft.  (I
don't.)  So, what is the minimum functionality that is acceptable.  I think
that assuming case-insensitive sort is a good first choice.  We can add all
the ugly parameters we want later, after this takes off.

Ralph

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mike Taylor [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 09, 2002 10:14 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: sort parameter
>
>
> > Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 12:21:38 +0100
> > From: Robert Sanderson <[log in to unmask]>
> >
> > > OK, I hereby cite case-insensitivity as a requirement.  It's
> > > crucial for sorting union catalogues where the original
> > > collections used different case conventions.  If I look for
> > > Kernighan books in a ucat, I want "Software Tools" sorted next to
> > > "SOFTWARE TOOLS".
> >
> > But is there a requirement for the /distinction/ or can we just say
> > 'Sort should be treated as case insensitive' ?
>
> Are you seriously suggesting that we, who are trying to craft an IR
> protocol that is not a mere toy, should mandate that sorting may NEVER
> respect case?  There are plenty of reasons why that won't do.
>
> For example, consider getting a directory listing on Unix.  Many
> people (me included) use filenames beginning with capitals for
> "special" files because we know they'll be sorted separately:
> "COPYING" and "Makefile" and "README" won't be listed interleaved with
> "delete.c" and "parse.y".
>
> So what if I want to be able to use SRW to get a case-sensitively
> sorted directory listing?  Or a list of sendmail.cf directives?  Or of
> authors where I want "deLorean" to be treated differently from
> "Deloitte" and "Dern"?
>
>  _/|_
> _______________________________________________________________
> /o ) \/  Mike Taylor   <[log in to unmask]>
> www.miketaylor.org.uk
> )_v__/\  "The most important single aspect of software development
>          is to be clear about what you are trying to build" --
>          Bjarne Stroustrup.
>