Sorting text databases with perl's sort function

[Quilmes]

Hi,

I have a flat file text database with fields separated by pipes.

I have to be able to sort any text field in descending or ascending order. I have tried to use the perl sort function in combination with building up a hash as I have seen in other posts.

I can get it to work if I make the hash in the format:
(val_to_sort_by => row)
i.e. the hash key is the value of the field I am sorting by and the hash value is the entire row.

However this does not suit my purpose because there are case in which the field I am sorting by has duplicate values on various rows. In this case, using the field value as the hash key is not possible because the value is not unique.

I would like to use the perl sorting function as it is neat and quick, but I am thinking I will have to write brute force sorting function myself. Can anyone advise on how to sort such files?

Thanks in advance

Joe Niland
mailto:joe.niland@meniscus.com.au [sig][/sig]

 

[MikeLacey]

You could arrange it so that the hash is always built using unique data as the key value -- but that the field you want to sort by is the *first* field in the data..

Then, instead of calling

sort keys (%hasha)

call

sort values (%hasha)

[sig]<p>Mike<br><a href=mailto:michael.j.lacey@ntlworld.com>michael.j.lacey@ntlworld.com</a><br><a href=

http://www.cargill.com/>

Cargill's Corporate Web Site</a><br>Making mistakes, so you don't have to. &lt;grin&gt;[/sig]