Sorting of Index terms

[AshleyHolmes]

I am experiencing a problem with how Arbortext alphabetizes index terms
when it comes to terms with numbers.



Currently, our vitamin terms are being sorted like so:



Vitamin B1

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B6



However, we need it to sort the terms like this:



Vitamin B1

Vitamin B6

Vitamin B12



We are using Arbortext publishing engine and the index output is
generated onscreen (i.e. it is not in a separate file).



Does anyone have any experience writing acl that will change this
sorting of terms? Or would it be java?



Any information is appreciated, thanks!



Ashley

[steve.thompson4]

Use the 'sortas' functionality. See help 5131 and 5841.

It would require the addition of an attribute to the element containing the data, but will give you exactly the sort you want. I would suggest your example include @sortas with the values B001, B012, and B006. Using the same name for the attribute allows you to be certain what the attribute's purpose is.

It does mean entering a bit of "extra" data when authoring, but you do get the sort you need. The value in @sortas never appears in the formatted output (unless you want it to for some reason), but controls the order quite nicely.

If you have difficulty figuring it out from the Help, let me know. We have implemented its use, but I don't have the time right this minute to get a copy of that as an example.

HTH,
Steve Thompson
+1(316)977-0515

[AshleyHolmes]

Thanks for the great idea Steve!

I made a few DTD changes so that there is an attribute on <primary> called "sortas". This change included a drop down list of values.Do I have to define the function "sortas" somewhere so the index knows how to use it?

Does the FOSI have to be modified in any way?

Ashley

[steve.thompson4]

That's what those help references give you. How to use the @sortas in the index coding in the FOSI. Makes the built-in index functionality do its sorting based on the value in the attribute.

Having a drop-down list is a really good idea. The authors/editors won't have to remember how to modify the actual value to get the needed 'sortas' value.

Steve Thompson
+1(316)977-0515

[AshleyHolmes]

Sorry -I should have mentioned that when I open Help, there is no way to search by the #'s you have provided to me.

I have looked up a bunch of information regarding sorting using sortas and the Help seems to provide a lot of information on howthe editors shouldcode it in the XML, but nothing about how the FOSI pullsthe attribute to useduring sorting.

Perhaps we are running different versions or Arbortext Editor (I am using AE 5.3 M050).

Ashley

[ebenton]

Open up Arbortext Editor and show the command line on the bottom of the window. Then type "help [number]" on the command line.

[naglists]

Hi Ashley,
Within Editor, type "help 5131" on the command line and press Enter. This
will drive you to the topics Steve was referring you to. It gets me to the
right place in 5.3 m110. I would also suggest help 1301 and especially 7958
(Final index markup) which is linked to from 1301.

Among other things, you will have to save the value of @sortas to a text
variable and insert the variable into the entry as it is saved into the
index.app (or whatever the variable name is that holds your index until it
is completed). But there is a LOT of info in the helps above. If you post
your existing FOSI code, someone might be able / willing to suggest specific
edits.