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The
list below
describes
the steps
the Cat
uses
in
compar-
ing
two
fields to determine
which
one
is
larger.
Larger
means
"further
towards
the
end" in
a
list of
ascending
order
and
smaller
means
"further
towards
the
beginning"
in
a
list
of
ascending order.
l.
Break
the
fields
into
subfields
if
necessary, and
compare
the subfields
from left
to right.
2.
Numeric
subfields
are
smallerthan
alphabetic subfields.
3.
If
both
subfields are alphabetic, and
the longer
one
begins
with
exactly the
same
characters contained
in
the
shorter one, the shorter one
is
smaller.
4.
In numeric subfields,
commas
are
ignored.
5.
If
the
first
subfield is numeric
and begins
with
a
minus
sign
(-),
that
subfield
will
sort smaller than
zero. A minus
sign
that
occurs
before
a
numeric subfield other
than the
first
subfield
is interpreted
as
an
alphabetic
subfield.
For
example,
*atlc-123"
is
interpreted
as
two
subfields,
an
alphabetic subfield
of "abc-"
and
a
numeric subfield
"
123"
However,
*12-34"
is
interpreted
as three subfields,
a
numeric subfield
"12",
and
alphabetic subfield
"-",
and
a
numeric subfield
"34".
6. The
part
of
a
numeric subfield
starting
with
the
first
character after
the
sign
up to
but not
including
the
decimal
point
is compared
as a
whole
number.
If
only
one
of
the
fields
has numerals before the decimal
point,
that
field
sorts
larger
unless
all
the
numerals
are zeros,
in which
case
the
subfields
are
so
far
considered equal
and the
compari-
son
proceeds.
7.
The part
of
the
subfield
following
the
decimal point
up
to the end
of
the
subfield
or
up
to
but not
including
the.next
decimal point is
calledthefractional
part.
There may
be
several
fractional
parts
if,
for
example,
the
subfield being
sorted is a section header
of
the
form
L0L2.
Fractional
parts
are
compared
alphabetically
from left
to
right.
If
the
two
parts are
of
different
lengths
and
match up
to the
length of
the shorter part, and any
of
the
remaining
digits
in
the
longer part
are
not 0,
then the
longer part
is
considered
larger.
If
the
remaining digits
are
0,
the
two
parts
are
considered equal
and
the comparison continues.
If
one
subfield
has
more
fractional
parts
than the
other and
if
the
two
subfields match
up
to the length
of
the shorter
subfield, the
comparison proceeds
as
follows:
If
the
remaining
fractional
parts in
the
longer
subfield contain at
least one nonzero
numeral, that
field
is
larger;
otherwise
the
two
subfields
are
equal.
8.
If
all
corresponding
parts
of
the subfield
are
equal
in
value
but not
in
length,
and
all
preceding
and
remaining
subfields
in
the
field
are equal, the
field with
the longest
numeric subfield
is larger.
If
more than one
pair of
corresponding
numeric
subfields
differ
in
length, the
left-
most
such
pair
encountered determines
which field
is
larger.
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