sort-numeric-fields sorts incorrectly

sort-numeric-fields sorts incorrectly

[Eric Hanchrow]

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In GNU Emacs 21.4.1 (i486-pc-linux-gnu, X toolkit, Xaw3d scroll bars)
 of 2006-05-17 on rothera, modified by Debian
configured using `configure '--build=i486-linux-gnu' '--host=i486-linux-gnu' '--prefix=/usr' '--sharedstatedir=/var/lib' '--libexecdir=/usr/lib' '--localstatedir=/var/lib' '--infodir=/usr/share/info' '--mandir=/usr/share/man' '--with-pop=yes' '--with-x=yes' '--with-x-toolkit=athena' 'CFLAGS=-DDEBIAN -g -O2' 'build_alias=i486-linux-gnu' 'host_alias=i486-linux-gnu''
Important settings:
  value of $LC_ALL: nil
  value of $LC_COLLATE: nil
  value of $LC_CTYPE: nil
  value of $LC_MESSAGES: nil
  value of $LC_MONETARY: nil
  value of $LC_NUMERIC: nil
  value of $LC_TIME: nil
  value of $LANG: en_US.UTF-8
  locale-coding-system: utf-8
  default-enable-multibyte-characters: t

Please describe exactly what actions triggered the bug
and the precise symptoms of the bug:

* Start emacs with --no-site-file -Q
* Erase the *scratch* buffer's contents with C-x h C-w
* Type the following four lines into the *scratch* buffer:
101111
0201111
0401111
301111
* Type M-x sort-numeric-fields RET.  Note that the buffer now contains
0201111
101111
0401111
301111

This is a bug, because 0201111 is greater than 101111, and yet appears before it.

Note that this bug also appears in CVS Emacs.

Recent input:
ESC x ESC p RET C-n 0 C-n C-n C-a 0 ESC h C-n ESC x 
ESC p RET C-e 1 C-n 1 C-n 1 C-n 1 ESC h C-n ESC x ESC 
p RET C-e 1 C-n 1 C-n 1 C-n 1 ESC h C-n ESC x ESC p 
RET C-e 1 1 C-n 1 1 C-n 1 1 C-n 1 1 ESC h C-n ESC x 
ESC p RET C-@ C-e ESC w ESC : ESC ( + SPC 1 SPC C-y 
RET C-x u ESC x r e p o r t - e m TAB RET

Recent messages:
load-library: Cannot open load file: multi-occur
Loading sort...done
Transient Mark mode enabled
Undo!
Mark set
sort-skip-fields: Line has too few fields: 
Mark set
201112
Undo!
Loading emacsbug...done

Re: sort-numeric-fields sorts incorrectly

[Glenn Morris]

Eric Hanchrow wrote:

> 101111
> 0201111
> 0401111
> 301111
> * Type M-x sort-numeric-fields RET.  Note that the buffer now contains
> 0201111
> 101111
> 0401111
> 301111
>
> This is a bug, because 0201111 is greater than 101111, and yet
> appears before it.

As the doc-string for sort-numeric-fields explains, values with
leading zeros are interpreted as octal. The output is correct under
this assumption. Get rid of the leading zeros before sorting if this
is not what you want.