[thelist] sorting question

Joel Canfield Joel at spinhead.com
Wed Feb 20 01:13:00 CST 2002


Thanks rude, matt, and paul. This is the kickstart I needed to figger it
out.

joel

>>...  a similar method could certainly be used for MS SQL
>Server.  Just
>>look for a function which will truncate the decimal place off  of a
>>number.
>
>that'd be the floor() mathematical function
>
>sadly, it is a poor choice in this instance, as them aren't
>numbers to start with, joel said them are "accounting
>thingies" and therefore probably strings
>
>paul's suggestion hinges on the convert() function turning
>strings into numbers, which is awkward and might perform
>poorly, but i have no reason to think it won't actually work
>
>another method works only with strings --
>
>split the thingie string using charindex to find the decimal point
>
>left side is
>
>    substring( accno, 1, charindex('.',accno)-1 )
>
>and that's your major sort field
>
>right side is
>
>   substring( accno, charindex('.',accno)+1
>          , len(accno)-charindex('.',accno) )
>
>pad the right side with, oh, let's say five zeroes to the
>left, then take the rightmost five-char substring
>
>   right( '00000' + substring(accno,charindex('.',accno)+1
>                                     , len(accno)-charindex('.',accno))
>             , 5)
>
>and that's your minor sort field
>
>caution:  untested  -- you might have to adjust +1 or -1   ;o)
>
>
>> sorry i can't be of more help with MS SQL Server. Not my strongpoint.
>
>me neither, but i have a release 6 textbook that stands me in
>good stead
>
>also, there's BOL (books online), available as a free (~38meg)
>download, but it's upstairs on the kids' computer and they're asleep...
>
>rudy
>
>
>--
>For unsubscribe and other options, including
>the Tip Harvester and archive of thelist go to:
>http://lists.evolt.org Workers of the Web, >evolt !
>



More information about the thelist mailing list