Re: Human-readable file sorting

[Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org>]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

> It's okay to sort file names using a comparison function that can be
> used with strings that are not file names.  But if you call it
> "file-SOMETHING", then it will look weird if someone uses it to sort
> strings that are not file names.

That's true.  But we were talking just about sorting file names, and
allowing the users to control how file name should be sorted.  And
having that customisation apply to non-file functions, too, would be
rather odd.

But if we're instead talking about allowing the user to customise how
any and all strings should be sorted, then a function with "file" in its
name would be inappropriate.

But are we?  :-)  I don't know...  perhaps we are?  Perhaps what we want
to offer the users is "every time Emacs sorts strings, then it should be
done *this* way?"  I have a feeling that there's plenty of opportunity
for breakage.  Which there is for file sorting, too, but perhaps even
more so...

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no