Sort problem I get 1, 10, 11 ... 2 rather than 1,2 . How do I fix it

jimbo45 · 25 Sep 2020

Hi folks

has something changed with the sorting algorithms in the latest version of Windows -- I'm getting for example 1,11,12....19,2.21.... instead of 1.2.3 -- I don't want a leading zero and I'm using bog standard UK keyboard with GB version of Windows. So no different character sets etc.

This is causing problems when ripping Music tracks etc and then creating Virtual audio CD's..
e.g

Sort problem I get 1, 10, 11 ... 2 rather than 1,2 . How do I fix it-screenshot_20200925_090017.png

Any suggestions (avoiding using leading Zeros please). This is running on a VM and normally is 100% OK

It's just recently happening - and it's definitely not the Nero software for creating the Audio CD image as I've used that for years without problem.

Cheers
jimbo

Ghot · 25 Sep 2020

@jimbo45

As far as I know, Windows has been sorting like this since the XP days. To keep myself sane when trying to view numbered items, I just throw a descriptive letter or two in front of the numbers.

For music files, I might add an S in front for songs. Like s1, s2, s3, etc.

Another option for music would be to just leave off the numbers and list the pieces by composer - title.

/edit
Why it's recently changed for you, I have no idea. Might be a Windows update, or even a Nero update.

Found this, just now...

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...d-5abc8b3811d4

...and this.

Enable or Disable Numerical Sorting in File Explorer in Windows 10

Barman58 · 25 Sep 2020

I gave up in letting Windows do any sorting Years ago -

Music for example [MediaMonkey]
I use a basic sort system of folders based on Artist - Album then use third party specialist software to sort the information as I want for the actual purpose of the moment
The default sort within an album would be by Disk Number and then Track number, [CDs are ripped retaining the original Disk structure]

If however I need some other sort of search parameters the software, [basically a specialised DBMS], it's a simple matter to use the tags in the files to sort as required, even quite complicated structures.

I also use similar organisation systems for my Image library, [Adobe Lightroom], which are by default sorted by taken date, [Down to individual images taken in Burst mode up to twelve frames per second], The DBMS then allows me to search and or sort by multiple tags down to keyword level in addition to the EXIF data written by the camera.

Windows File Manager is far to basic an application to rely on for organised storage and data retrieval

jimbo45 · 25 Sep 2020

Hi there
Thanks folks

Switching to isl (icelandic) seemed to fix the problem !! Have no idea why - however it's all working again

I wonder if it's something to do with ISO / utf or whatever text sets that one can use these days

Anyway all fixed - even if I don't know why.

BTW mp3vtag excellent program for tagging in proper sequence - I then export to excel, create links to the music files and then save in MySql (or Maria DB) DB - really easy for queries, creating playlists , etc etc.

Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 · 25 Sep 2020

deleted - duplicate post - my error

gpstoloff · 25 Sep 2020

This is a traditional programming problem, going back to the earliest days of ASCII. Most programs sort based on the ASCII numeric values of the characters, rather than their conceptual values.
You can avoid being feature-dependent in any form of a "database" by starting the first 9 with a leading zero (01, 02, etc.).
Similarly, dates in YYMMDD (or YYYYMMDD) will always sort correctly.