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From: gnu@hoptoad.uucp (John Gilmore)
Newsgroups: comp.std.internat
Subject: Re: International Collating Sequence
Message-ID: <3131@hoptoad.uucp>
Date: Mon, 5-Oct-87 07:12:46 EDT
Article-I.D.: hoptoad.3131
Posted: Mon Oct  5 07:12:46 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 8-Oct-87 01:41:38 EDT
References: <2706@sol.ARPA> <29640@sun.uucp> <363@zuring.cwi.nl>
Organization: Nebula Consultants in San Francisco
Lines: 31

aeb@cwi.nl (Andries Brouwer) wrote:
> Thus, one has to define some "international collating sequence"
> in such a situation. Does G\*:odel come before or after Godsil?

One possible solution to this problem is to define multiple code values
with the same graphic image, but different sorts.  In other words, if
there are seventeen languages that use a' and it sorts in four different
positions, give it four codes, and depend on the typist to enter the
right code.  (Actually, you're depending on the keyboard translation table
most of the time, which should be right for your country.)

This would even make names from different languages sort properly; e.g.
in the right place for their native language.  Speakers of other languages
would get confused about where to look, though.  It also implies an
exhaustive research effort and puts constraints on new languages.

Personally I wouldn't mind changing over to a new international
alphabet where American "w" sorted after "z".  Of course, the change
would be gradual; international publications such as newspapers would
do it first, and it would eventually spread to the rest of the society
as everything became more international, and as people got used to it.
Like the changeover of Romanized Chinese systems a few years ago
(Peking->Beijing).  The most important aspect about such a change, for
me, is that I'd only want to do it once.

PS:  Many publications already have indices containing characters with
no well-defined sorting order, e.g. symbols and numbers.  Take any
computer science textbook as example; where does "/*EOF" sort?  Where
do you find "3Com" in the phone book?  (Mountain View, I know :-)
-- 
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