Sorting issue

frvs · Post by **frvs** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 11:38 am

Hello,

I have this mysterious sorting issue in my Cited Works list. The sort order is set to Author, Title. But a Newspaper entry with no author, the title of which starts with S, stubbornly lands between author entries in the A range, thus:

Aristotle. The Complete Works. Edited by Jonathan Barnes. 2 vols. Bollingen Series 71, 72. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995.
â€œSperm Made From Human Bone Marrow.â€

Post by **Jon** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 6:20 pm

I can see where there would be problems here, but not the one you are reporting -- for me St. Augustine sorts with the "S"s. Does the problem happen with a fresh database? If not, try rebuilding yours.

Jon
Sonny Software

frvs · Post by **frvs** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 1:20 am

Jon wrote:I can see where there would be problems here, but not the one you are reporting -- for me St. Augustine sorts with the "S"s. Does the problem happen with a fresh database? If not, try rebuilding yours.

Jon
Sonny Software

Jon,

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, the problem persists with a fresh database, and yes, I have rebuilt mine repeatedly.

Unfortunately, the point is not where St. Augustine sorts. I want it to sort in A, and it is doing just that. The problem is the â€œSpermâ€¦â€

Post by **Jon** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 7:33 am

The only clues I can offer is that if you ask for an author sort and there is no author, Bookends defaults to the editors, and if no editors to the title. So if there are editors (even if they aren't output in the bib format) the ref will sort by their names if there are no authors.

You can send me a small, zipped database that shows the problem if you like.

Jon
Sonny Software

frvs · Post by **frvs** » Tue May 01, 2007 6:49 am

Jon wrote:The only clues I can offer is that if you ask for an author sort and there is no author, Bookends defaults to the editors, and if no editors to the title. So if there are editors (even if they aren't output in the bib format) the ref will sort by their names if there are no authors.

That is the sensible course for sorting, of course. But none of my three authorless references actually has an editor, so apparently this is not the reason why they are landing at odd places in the list.

Jon wrote:You can send me a small, zipped database that shows the problem if you like.

I have sone so. Thanks, Jon.

EPILOGUE: Jon, with blazing speed as usual, helped me find the culprit in my lists of words to ignore. Many thanks, Jon.