Imported Cable ID Set Has Unexpected Sort Order – LinkWare Live

LinkWare Live and Versiv use lexicographical sort order on strings (Cable ID Names). This example is not a common scenario, but it can happen if you are using long Cable ID names imported from an Excel file. After the import, you may notice that notice that the ID List sort order in LinkWare Live changed from the original Excel file. And when the project is SYNCed to Versiv, the unexpected sort order also gets transferred to Versiv.

As an example, we had a customer report an unexpected sort order in LinkWare Live and Versiv after importing an ID List that contained these IDs:

Post-import, LinkWare Live ordered …10A1.001...before …9C4.012…

Again, this is not a common scenario, but it is very frustrating if you have hundreds or more IDs in your ID List (out of expected order) and you have to hunt for the ID before you save.

How do I fix this?

Prior to import to LinkWare Live, make sure in your Excel file that any IDs with numerals which will be sorted are padded with zeros to keep the sort order correct.  For the example above, the first ID should padded with a zero 23 characters in (add a zero before the 9) so that there is number column agreement for the numerals in the IDs.

9119_BN8.AZA.AI119.35.09C4.012_BN8.AZA.CZ119.20.4C4.012

9119_BN8.AZA.AI119.35.10A1.001_BN8.AZA.CZ119.20.5A1.001

If any of the numerals go into the hundreds, pad with a leading zero so that there are 3 numeral columns – for example 001-100.

Save the Excel file, do the import again and SYNC to Versiv, and the sort order should match the Excel file from which they were imported.