--- /dev/null
+
+require 5;
+package Sort::Naturally; # Time-stamp: "2004-12-29 18:30:03 AST"
+$VERSION = '1.02';
+@EXPORT = ('nsort', 'ncmp');
+require Exporter;
+@ISA = ('Exporter');
+
+use strict;
+use locale;
+use integer;
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# constants:
+BEGIN { *DEBUG = sub () {0} unless defined &DEBUG }
+
+use Config ();
+BEGIN {
+ # Make a constant such that if a whole-number string is that long
+ # or shorter, we KNOW it's treatable as an integer
+ no integer;
+ my $x = length(256 ** $Config::Config{'intsize'} / 2) - 1;
+ die "Crazy intsize: <$Config::Config{'intsize'}>" if $x < 4;
+ eval 'sub MAX_INT_SIZE () {' . $x . '}';
+ die $@ if $@;
+ print "intsize $Config::Config{'intsize'} => MAX_INT_SIZE $x\n" if DEBUG;
+}
+
+sub X_FIRST () {-1}
+sub Y_FIRST () { 1}
+
+my @ORD = ('same', 'swap', 'asis');
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# For lack of a preprocessor:
+
+my($code, $guts);
+$guts = <<'EOGUTS'; # This is the guts of both ncmp and nsort:
+
+ if($x eq $y) {
+ # trap this expensive case first, and then fall thru to tiebreaker
+ $rv = 0;
+
+ # Convoluted hack to get numerics to sort first, at string start:
+ } elsif($x =~ m/^\d/s) {
+ if($y =~ m/^\d/s) {
+ $rv = 0; # fall thru to normal comparison for the two numbers
+ } else {
+ $rv = X_FIRST;
+ DEBUG > 1 and print "Numeric-initial $x trumps letter-initial $y\n";
+ }
+ } elsif($y =~ m/^\d/s) {
+ $rv = Y_FIRST;
+ DEBUG > 1 and print "Numeric-initial $y trumps letter-initial $x\n";
+ } else {
+ $rv = 0;
+ }
+
+ unless($rv) {
+ # Normal case:
+ $rv = 0;
+ DEBUG and print "<$x> and <$y> compared...\n";
+
+ Consideration:
+ while(length $x and length $y) {
+
+ DEBUG > 2 and print " <$x> and <$y>...\n";
+
+ # First, non-numeric comparison:
+ $x2 = ($x =~ m/^(\D+)/s) ? length($1) : 0;
+ $y2 = ($y =~ m/^(\D+)/s) ? length($1) : 0;
+ # Now make x2 the min length of the two:
+ $x2 = $y2 if $x2 > $y2;
+ if($x2) {
+ DEBUG > 1 and printf " <%s> and <%s> lexically for length $x2...\n",
+ substr($x,0,$x2), substr($y,0,$x2);
+ do {
+ my $i = substr($x,0,$x2);
+ my $j = substr($y,0,$x2);
+ my $sv = $i cmp $j;
+ print "SCREAM! on <$i><$j> -- $sv != $rv \n" unless $rv == $sv;
+ last;
+ }
+
+
+ if $rv =
+ # The ''. things here force a copy that seems to work around a
+ # mysterious intermittent bug that 'use locale' provokes in
+ # many versions of Perl.
+ $cmp
+ ? $cmp->(substr($x,0,$x2) . '',
+ substr($y,0,$x2) . '',
+ )
+ :
+ scalar(( substr($x,0,$x2) . '' ) cmp
+ ( substr($y,0,$x2) . '' )
+ )
+ ;
+ # otherwise trim and keep going:
+ substr($x,0,$x2) = '';
+ substr($y,0,$x2) = '';
+ }
+
+ # Now numeric:
+ # (actually just using $x2 and $y2 as scratch)
+
+ if( $x =~ s/^(\d+)//s ) {
+ $x2 = $1;
+ if( $y =~ s/^(\d+)//s ) {
+ # We have two numbers here.
+ DEBUG > 1 and print " <$x2> and <$1> numerically\n";
+ if(length($x2) < MAX_INT_SIZE and length($1) < MAX_INT_SIZE) {
+ # small numbers: we can compare happily
+ last if $rv = $x2 <=> $1;
+ } else {
+ # ARBITRARILY large integers!
+
+ # This saves on loss of precision that could happen
+ # with actual stringification.
+ # Also, I sense that very large numbers aren't too
+ # terribly common in sort data.
+
+ # trim leading 0's:
+ ($y2 = $1) =~ s/^0+//s;
+ $x2 =~ s/^0+//s;
+ print " Treating $x2 and $y2 as bigint\n" if DEBUG;
+
+ no locale; # we want the dumb cmp back.
+ last if $rv = (
+ # works only for non-negative whole numbers:
+ length($x2) <=> length($y2)
+ # the longer the numeral, the larger the value
+ or $x2 cmp $y2
+ # between equals, compare lexically!! amazing but true.
+ );
+ }
+ } else {
+ # X is numeric but Y isn't
+ $rv = Y_FIRST;
+ last;
+ }
+ } elsif( $y =~ s/^\d+//s ) { # we don't need to capture the substring
+ $rv = X_FIRST;
+ last;
+ }
+ # else one of them is 0-length.
+
+ # end-while
+ }
+ }
+EOGUTS
+
+sub maker {
+ my $code = $_[0];
+ $code =~ s/~COMPARATOR~/$guts/g || die "Can't find ~COMPARATOR~";
+ eval $code;
+ die $@ if $@;
+}
+
+##############################################################################
+
+maker(<<'EONSORT');
+sub nsort {
+ # get options:
+ my($cmp, $lc);
+ ($cmp,$lc) = @{shift @_} if @_ and ref($_[0]) eq 'ARRAY';
+
+ return @_ unless @_ > 1 or wantarray; # be clever
+
+ my($x, $x2, $y, $y2, $rv); # scratch vars
+
+ # We use a Schwartzian xform to memoize the lc'ing and \W-removal
+
+ map $_->[0],
+ sort {
+ if($a->[0] eq $b->[0]) { 0 } # trap this expensive case
+ else {
+
+ $x = $a->[1];
+ $y = $b->[1];
+
+~COMPARATOR~
+
+ # Tiebreakers...
+ DEBUG > 1 and print " -<${$a}[0]> cmp <${$b}[0]> is $rv ($ORD[$rv])\n";
+ $rv ||= (length($x) <=> length($y)) # shorter is always first
+ || ($cmp and $cmp->($x,$y) || $cmp->($a->[0], $b->[0]))
+ || ($x cmp $y )
+ || ($a->[0] cmp $b->[0])
+ ;
+
+ DEBUG > 1 and print " <${$a}[0]> cmp <${$b}[0]> is $rv ($ORD[$rv])\n";
+ $rv;
+ }}
+
+ map {;
+ $x = $lc ? $lc->($_) : lc($_); # x as scratch
+ $x =~ s/\W+//s;
+ [$_, $x];
+ }
+ @_
+}
+EONSORT
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+maker(<<'EONCMP');
+sub ncmp {
+ # The guts are basically the same as above...
+
+ # get options:
+ my($cmp, $lc);
+ ($cmp,$lc) = @{shift @_} if @_ and ref($_[0]) eq 'ARRAY';
+
+ if(@_ == 0) {
+ @_ = ($a, $b); # bit of a hack!
+ DEBUG > 1 and print "Hacking in <$a><$b>\n";
+ } elsif(@_ != 2) {
+ require Carp;
+ Carp::croak("Not enough options to ncmp!");
+ }
+ my($a,$b) = @_;
+ my($x, $x2, $y, $y2, $rv); # scratch vars
+
+ DEBUG > 1 and print "ncmp args <$a><$b>\n";
+ if($a eq $b) { # trap this expensive case
+ 0;
+ } else {
+ $x = ($lc ? $lc->($a) : lc($a));
+ $x =~ s/\W+//s;
+ $y = ($lc ? $lc->($b) : lc($b));
+ $y =~ s/\W+//s;
+
+~COMPARATOR~
+
+
+ # Tiebreakers...
+ DEBUG > 1 and print " -<$a> cmp <$b> is $rv ($ORD[$rv])\n";
+ $rv ||= (length($x) <=> length($y)) # shorter is always first
+ || ($cmp and $cmp->($x,$y) || $cmp->($a,$b))
+ || ($x cmp $y)
+ || ($a cmp $b)
+ ;
+
+ DEBUG > 1 and print " <$a> cmp <$b> is $rv\n";
+ $rv;
+ }
+}
+EONCMP
+
+# clean up:
+undef $guts;
+undef &maker;
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+1;
+
+############### END OF MAIN SOURCE ###########################################
+__END__
+
+=head1 NAME
+
+Sort::Naturally -- sort lexically, but sort numeral parts numerically
+
+=head1 SYNOPSIS
+
+ @them = nsort(qw(
+ foo12a foo12z foo13a foo 14 9x foo12 fooa foolio Foolio Foo12a
+ ));
+ print join(' ', @them), "\n";
+
+Prints:
+
+ 9x 14 foo fooa foolio Foolio foo12 foo12a Foo12a foo12z foo13a
+
+(Or "foo12a" + "Foo12a" and "foolio" + "Foolio" and might be
+switched, depending on your locale.)
+
+=head1 DESCRIPTION
+
+This module exports two functions, C<nsort> and C<ncmp>; they are used
+in implementing my idea of a "natural sorting" algorithm. Under natural
+sorting, numeric substrings are compared numerically, and other
+word-characters are compared lexically.
+
+This is the way I define natural sorting:
+
+=over
+
+=item *
+
+Non-numeric word-character substrings are sorted lexically,
+case-insensitively: "Foo" comes between "fish" and "fowl".
+
+=item *
+
+Numeric substrings are sorted numerically:
+"100" comes after "20", not before.
+
+=item *
+
+\W substrings (neither words-characters nor digits) are I<ignored>.
+
+=item *
+
+Our use of \w, \d, \D, and \W is locale-sensitive: Sort::Naturally
+uses a C<use locale> statement.
+
+=item *
+
+When comparing two strings, where a numeric substring in one
+place is I<not> up against a numeric substring in another,
+the non-numeric always comes first. This is fudged by
+reading pretending that the lack of a number substring has
+the value -1, like so:
+
+ foo => "foo", -1
+ foobar => "foo", -1, "bar"
+ foo13 => "foo", 13,
+ foo13xyz => "foo", 13, "xyz"
+
+That's so that "foo" will come before "foo13", which will come
+before "foobar".
+
+=item *
+
+The start of a string is exceptional: leading non-\W (non-word,
+non-digit)
+components are are ignored, and numbers come I<before> letters.
+
+=item *
+
+I define "numeric substring" just as sequences matching m/\d+/ --
+scientific notation, commas, decimals, etc., are not seen. If
+your data has thousands separators in numbers
+("20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" or "20.000 lieues sous les mers"),
+consider stripping them before feeding them to C<nsort> or
+C<ncmp>.
+
+=back
+
+=head2 The nsort function
+
+This function takes a list of strings, and returns a copy of the list,
+sorted.
+
+This is what most people will want to use:
+
+ @stuff = nsort(...list...);
+
+When nsort needs to compare non-numeric substrings, it
+uses Perl's C<lc> function in scope of a <use locale>.
+And when nsort needs to lowercase things, it uses Perl's
+C<lc> function in scope of a <use locale>. If you want nsort
+to use other functions instead, you can specify them in
+an arrayref as the first argument to nsort:
+
+ @stuff = nsort( [
+ \&string_comparator, # optional
+ \&lowercaser_function # optional
+ ],
+ ...list...
+ );
+
+If you want to specify a string comparator but no lowercaser,
+then the options list is C<[\&comparator, '']> or
+C<[\&comparator]>. If you want to specify no string comparator
+but a lowercaser, then the options list is
+C<['', \&lowercaser]>.
+
+Any comparator you specify is called as
+C<$comparator-E<gt>($left, $right)>,
+and, like a normal Perl C<cmp> replacement, must return
+-1, 0, or 1 depending on whether the left argument is stringwise
+less than, equal to, or greater than the right argument.
+
+Any lowercaser function you specify is called as
+C<$lowercased = $lowercaser-E<gt>($original)>. The routine
+must not modify its C<$_[0]>.
+
+=head2 The ncmp function
+
+Often, when sorting non-string values like this:
+
+ @objects_sorted = sort { $a->tag cmp $b->tag } @objects;
+
+...or even in a Schwartzian transform, like this:
+
+ @strings =
+ map $_->[0]
+ sort { $a->[1] cmp $b->[1] }
+ map { [$_, make_a_sort_key_from($_) ]
+ @_
+ ;
+
+...you wight want something that replaces not C<sort>, but C<cmp>.
+That's what Sort::Naturally's C<ncmp> function is for. Call it with
+the syntax C<ncmp($left,$right)> instead of C<$left cmp $right>,
+but otherwise it's a fine replacement:
+
+ @objects_sorted = sort { ncmp($a->tag,$b->tag) } @objects;
+
+ @strings =
+ map $_->[0]
+ sort { ncmp($a->[1], $b->[1]) }
+ map { [$_, make_a_sort_key_from($_) ]
+ @_
+ ;
+
+Just as with C<nsort> can take different a string-comparator
+and/or lowercaser, you can do the same with C<ncmp>, by passing
+an arrayref as the first argument:
+
+ ncmp( [
+ \&string_comparator, # optional
+ \&lowercaser_function # optional
+ ],
+ $left, $right
+ )
+
+You might get string comparators from L<Sort::ArbBiLex|Sort::ArbBiLex>.
+
+=head1 NOTES
+
+=over
+
+=item *
+
+This module is not a substitute for
+L<Sort::Versions|Sort::Versions>! If
+you just need proper version sorting, use I<that!>
+
+=item *
+
+If you need something that works I<sort of> like this module's
+functions, but not quite the same, consider scouting thru this
+module's source code, and adapting what you see. Besides
+the functions that actually compile in this module, after the POD,
+there's several alternate attempts of mine at natural sorting
+routines, which are not compiled as part of the module, but which you
+might find useful. They should all be I<working> implementations of
+slightly different algorithms
+(all of them based on Martin Pool's C<nsort>) which I eventually
+discarded in favor of my algorithm. If you are having to
+naturally-sort I<very large> data sets, and sorting is getting
+ridiculously slow, you might consider trying one of those
+discarded functions -- I have a feeling they might be faster on
+large data sets. Benchmark them on your data and see. (Unless
+you I<need> the speed, don't bother. Hint: substitute C<sort>
+for C<nsort> in your code, and unless your program speeds up
+drastically, it's not the sorting that's slowing things down.
+But if it I<is> C<nsort> that's slowing things down, consider
+just:
+
+ if(@set >= SOME_VERY_BIG_NUMBER) {
+ no locale; # vroom vroom
+ @sorted = sort(@set); # feh, good enough
+ } elsif(@set >= SOME_BIG_NUMBER) {
+ use locale;
+ @sorted = sort(@set); # feh, good enough
+ } else {
+ # but keep it pretty for normal cases
+ @sorted = nsort(@set);
+ }
+
+=item *
+
+If you do adapt the routines in this module, email me; I'd
+just be interested in hearing about it.
+
+=item *
+
+Thanks to the EFNet #perl people for encouraging this module,
+especially magister and a-mused.
+
+=back
+
+=head1 COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER
+
+Copyright 2001, Sean M. Burke C<sburke@cpan.org>, all rights
+reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it
+and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
+
+This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+without any warranty; without even the implied warranty of
+merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
+
+=head1 AUTHOR
+
+Sean M. Burke C<sburke@cpan.org>
+
+=cut
+
+############ END OF DOCS ############
+
+############################################################################
+############################################################################
+
+############ BEGIN OLD STUFF ############
+
+# We can't have "use integer;", or else (5 <=> 5.1) comes out "0" !
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+sub nsort {
+ my($cmp, $lc);
+ return @_ if @_ < 2; # Just to be CLEVER.
+
+ my($x, $i); # scratch vars
+
+ # And now, the GREAT BIG Schwartzian transform:
+
+ map
+ $_->[0],
+
+ sort {
+ # Uses $i as the index variable, $x as the result.
+ $x = 0;
+ $i = 1;
+ DEBUG and print "\nComparing ", map("{$_}", @$a),
+ ' : ', map("{$_}", @$b), , "...\n";
+
+ while($i < @$a and $i < @$b) {
+ DEBUG and print " comparing $i: {$a->[$i]} cmp {$b->[$i]} => ",
+ $a->[$i] cmp $b->[$i], "\n";
+ last if ($x = ($a->[$i] cmp $b->[$i])); # lexicographic
+ ++$i;
+
+ DEBUG and print " comparing $i: {$a->[$i]} <=> {$b->[$i]} => ",
+ $a->[$i] <=> $b->[$i], "\n";
+ last if ($x = ($a->[$i] <=> $b->[$i])); # numeric
+ ++$i;
+ }
+
+ DEBUG and print "{$a->[0]} : {$b->[0]} is ",
+ $x || (@$a <=> @$b) || 0
+ ,"\n"
+ ;
+ $x || (@$a <=> @$b) || ($a->[0] cmp $b->[0]);
+ # unless we found a result for $x in the while loop,
+ # use length as a tiebreaker, otherwise use cmp
+ # on the original string as a fallback tiebreaker.
+ }
+
+ map {
+ my @bit = ($x = defined($_) ? $_ : '');
+
+ if($x =~ m/^[+-]?(?=\d|\.\d)\d*(?:\.\d*)?(?:[Ee](?:[+-]?\d+))?\z/s) {
+ # It's entirely purely numeric, so treat it specially:
+ push @bit, '', $x;
+ } else {
+ # Consume the string.
+ while(length $x) {
+ push @bit, ($x =~ s/^(\D+)//s) ? lc($1) : '';
+ push @bit, ($x =~ s/^(\d+)//s) ? $1 : 0;
+ }
+ }
+ DEBUG and print "$bit[0] => ", map("{$_} ", @bit), "\n";
+
+ # End result: [original bit , (text, number), (text, number), ...]
+ # Minimally: [0-length original bit,]
+ # Examples:
+ # ['10' => '' , 10, ]
+ # ['fo900' => 'fo' , 900, ]
+ # ['foo10' => 'foo', 10, ]
+ # ['foo9.pl' => 'foo', 9, , '.pl', 0 ]
+ # ['foo32.pl' => 'foo', 32, , '.pl', 0 ]
+ # ['foo325.pl' => 'foo', 325, , '.pl', 0 ]
+ # Yes, always an ODD number of elements.
+
+ \@bit;
+ }
+ @_;
+}
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Same as before, except without the pure-number trap.
+
+sub nsorts {
+ return @_ if @_ < 2; # Just to be CLEVER.
+
+ my($x, $i); # scratch vars
+
+ # And now, the GREAT BIG Schwartzian transform:
+
+ map
+ $_->[0],
+
+ sort {
+ # Uses $i as the index variable, $x as the result.
+ $x = 0;
+ $i = 1;
+ DEBUG and print "\nComparing ", map("{$_}", @$a),
+ ' : ', map("{$_}", @$b), , "...\n";
+
+ while($i < @$a and $i < @$b) {
+ DEBUG and print " comparing $i: {$a->[$i]} cmp {$b->[$i]} => ",
+ $a->[$i] cmp $b->[$i], "\n";
+ last if ($x = ($a->[$i] cmp $b->[$i])); # lexicographic
+ ++$i;
+
+ DEBUG and print " comparing $i: {$a->[$i]} <=> {$b->[$i]} => ",
+ $a->[$i] <=> $b->[$i], "\n";
+ last if ($x = ($a->[$i] <=> $b->[$i])); # numeric
+ ++$i;
+ }
+
+ DEBUG and print "{$a->[0]} : {$b->[0]} is ",
+ $x || (@$a <=> @$b) || 0
+ ,"\n"
+ ;
+ $x || (@$a <=> @$b) || ($a->[0] cmp $b->[0]);
+ # unless we found a result for $x in the while loop,
+ # use length as a tiebreaker, otherwise use cmp
+ # on the original string as a fallback tiebreaker.
+ }
+
+ map {
+ my @bit = ($x = defined($_) ? $_ : '');
+
+ while(length $x) {
+ push @bit, ($x =~ s/^(\D+)//s) ? lc($1) : '';
+ push @bit, ($x =~ s/^(\d+)//s) ? $1 : 0;
+ }
+ DEBUG and print "$bit[0] => ", map("{$_} ", @bit), "\n";
+
+ # End result: [original bit , (text, number), (text, number), ...]
+ # Minimally: [0-length original bit,]
+ # Examples:
+ # ['10' => '' , 10, ]
+ # ['fo900' => 'fo' , 900, ]
+ # ['foo10' => 'foo', 10, ]
+ # ['foo9.pl' => 'foo', 9, , '.pl', 0 ]
+ # ['foo32.pl' => 'foo', 32, , '.pl', 0 ]
+ # ['foo325.pl' => 'foo', 325, , '.pl', 0 ]
+ # Yes, always an ODD number of elements.
+
+ \@bit;
+ }
+ @_;
+}
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Same as before, except for the sort-key-making
+
+sub nsort0 {
+ return @_ if @_ < 2; # Just to be CLEVER.
+
+ my($x, $i); # scratch vars
+
+ # And now, the GREAT BIG Schwartzian transform:
+
+ map
+ $_->[0],
+
+ sort {
+ # Uses $i as the index variable, $x as the result.
+ $x = 0;
+ $i = 1;
+ DEBUG and print "\nComparing ", map("{$_}", @$a),
+ ' : ', map("{$_}", @$b), , "...\n";
+
+ while($i < @$a and $i < @$b) {
+ DEBUG and print " comparing $i: {$a->[$i]} cmp {$b->[$i]} => ",
+ $a->[$i] cmp $b->[$i], "\n";
+ last if ($x = ($a->[$i] cmp $b->[$i])); # lexicographic
+ ++$i;
+
+ DEBUG and print " comparing $i: {$a->[$i]} <=> {$b->[$i]} => ",
+ $a->[$i] <=> $b->[$i], "\n";
+ last if ($x = ($a->[$i] <=> $b->[$i])); # numeric
+ ++$i;
+ }
+
+ DEBUG and print "{$a->[0]} : {$b->[0]} is ",
+ $x || (@$a <=> @$b) || 0
+ ,"\n"
+ ;
+ $x || (@$a <=> @$b) || ($a->[0] cmp $b->[0]);
+ # unless we found a result for $x in the while loop,
+ # use length as a tiebreaker, otherwise use cmp
+ # on the original string as a fallback tiebreaker.
+ }
+
+ map {
+ my @bit = ($x = defined($_) ? $_ : '');
+
+ if($x =~ m/^[+-]?(?=\d|\.\d)\d*(?:\.\d*)?(?:[Ee](?:[+-]?\d+))?\z/s) {
+ # It's entirely purely numeric, so treat it specially:
+ push @bit, '', $x;
+ } else {
+ # Consume the string.
+ while(length $x) {
+ push @bit, ($x =~ s/^(\D+)//s) ? lc($1) : '';
+ # Secret sauce:
+ if($x =~ s/^(\d+)//s) {
+ if(substr($1,0,1) eq '0' and $1 != 0) {
+ push @bit, $1 / (10 ** length($1));
+ } else {
+ push @bit, $1;
+ }
+ } else {
+ push @bit, 0;
+ }
+ }
+ }
+ DEBUG and print "$bit[0] => ", map("{$_} ", @bit), "\n";
+
+ \@bit;
+ }
+ @_;
+}
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Like nsort0, but WITHOUT pure number handling, and WITH special treatment
+# of pulling off extensions and version numbers.
+
+sub nsortf {
+ return @_ if @_ < 2; # Just to be CLEVER.
+
+ my($x, $i); # scratch vars
+
+ # And now, the GREAT BIG Schwartzian transform:
+
+ map
+ $_->[0],
+
+ sort {
+ # Uses $i as the index variable, $x as the result.
+ $x = 0;
+ $i = 3;
+ DEBUG and print "\nComparing ", map("{$_}", @$a),
+ ' : ', map("{$_}", @$b), , "...\n";
+
+ while($i < @$a and $i < @$b) {
+ DEBUG and print " comparing $i: {$a->[$i]} cmp {$b->[$i]} => ",
+ $a->[$i] cmp $b->[$i], "\n";
+ last if ($x = ($a->[$i] cmp $b->[$i])); # lexicographic
+ ++$i;
+
+ DEBUG and print " comparing $i: {$a->[$i]} <=> {$b->[$i]} => ",
+ $a->[$i] <=> $b->[$i], "\n";
+ last if ($x = ($a->[$i] <=> $b->[$i])); # numeric
+ ++$i;
+ }
+
+ DEBUG and print "{$a->[0]} : {$b->[0]} is ",
+ $x || (@$a <=> @$b) || 0
+ ,"\n"
+ ;
+ $x || (@$a <=> @$b ) || ($a->[1] cmp $b->[1])
+ || ($a->[2] <=> $b->[2]) || ($a->[0] cmp $b->[0]);
+ # unless we found a result for $x in the while loop,
+ # use length as a tiebreaker, otherwise use the
+ # lc'd extension, otherwise the verison, otherwise use
+ # the original string as a fallback tiebreaker.
+ }
+
+ map {
+ my @bit = ( ($x = defined($_) ? $_ : ''), '',0 );
+
+ {
+ # Consume the string.
+
+ # First, pull off any VAX-style version
+ $bit[2] = $1 if $x =~ s/;(\d+)$//;
+
+ # Then pull off any apparent extension
+ if( $x !~ m/^\.+$/s and # don't mangle ".", "..", or "..."
+ $x =~ s/(\.[^\.\;]*)$//sg
+ # We could try to avoid catching all-digit extensions,
+ # but I think that's getting /too/ clever.
+ ) {
+ $i = $1;
+ if($x =~ m<[^\\\://]$>s) {
+ # We didn't take the whole basename.
+ $bit[1] = lc $i;
+ DEBUG and print "Consuming extension \"$1\"\n";
+ } else {
+ # We DID take the whole basename. Fix it.
+ $x = $1; # Repair it.
+ }
+ }
+
+ push @bit, '', -1 if $x =~ m/^\./s;
+ # A hack to make .-initial filenames sort first, regardless of locale.
+ # And -1 is always a sort-firster, since in the code below, there's
+ # no allowance for filenames containing negative numbers: -1.dat
+ # will be read as string '-' followed by number 1.
+
+ while(length $x) {
+ push @bit, ($x =~ s/^(\D+)//s) ? lc($1) : '';
+ # Secret sauce:
+ if($x =~ s/^(\d+)//s) {
+ if(substr($1,0,1) eq '0' and $1 != 0) {
+ push @bit, $1 / (10 ** length($1));
+ } else {
+ push @bit, $1;
+ }
+ } else {
+ push @bit, 0;
+ }
+ }
+ }
+
+ DEBUG and print "$bit[0] => ", map("{$_} ", @bit), "\n";
+
+ \@bit;
+ }
+ @_;
+}
+
+# yowza yowza yowza.
+