Re: a sorting conundrum

Use the following sorting key:

substring(translate(., ' ', ''),
                 string-length(substring-before(.,' '))  + 1
                 )

This calculates the index of the first space, then removes the
space(s) from the string, then uses what follows the space as the
sorting key.

Seems to be more logical than any hack. Tested.


Cheers,

Dimitre


On Thu, 03 Mar 2005 15:32:16 +0000, John Fitzgibbon
<jfitzgibbon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am attempting to sort an a list of personal names. All of the names
> consist of either a first name followed by a last name or of a last name
> only (there are no middle names). Both parts of the name, when present,
> are enclosed within the one tag (span) which has a class='person'
> attribute, the same tag is used to enclose a last name only. I am
> attempting to sort by last name like so
>
> <xsl:for-each select="html/body//span[@class='person']">
> <xsl:sort select="substring-after(., ' ')"/>
> <xsl:sort select="."/>
> <xsl:sort select="substring-before(., ' ')"/>
>
> The problem is that names consisting of a last name only appear first in
> my alphabetical sequence and are sorted; these are followed by names
> with a first name and a last name and these are also sorted. I require
> one alphabetical list rather than two.
>
> Can this be done in one fell swoop, without having to write an XSL style
> sheet for the file consisting of two alphabetical sequences?
>
> Any suggestions would be most welcome.
>
> Regards
> John
>
> John Fitzgibbon
>
> Galway Public Library
> Island House
> Cathedral Square
> Galway
> Ireland
>
> p: 00 353 91 562471
> f: 00 353 91 565039
> w: http://www.galwaylibrary.ie
>
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