Sort sequence in custom report

RootsMagic
1

In my DB, the reference field description assigned to individuals usually takes the form:
03-0002B
but may sometimes be:
03-0002B-S
or
03-0002B>1

When included in a custom report which is sequenced by reference description, it is important that records appear in the sequence:
03-0002B-S
03-0002B>1

However, they appear in the reverse sequence:
03-0002B>1
03-0002B-S

I would expect the RM sorting sequence to correspond to the ascii code for each character:
Hyphen (-) (45)
Greater than (>) (62)

Can you describe the sort sequence used by RM where it differs from the ASCii code sequence.

Andy

2

Further investigations show that Excel sort is also non-predictable, so perhaps I set my expectations of RM too high. However, unlike RM, Excel always sorts a hyphen above the greater than.

Consistency is important as I may export the report to Excel and sort it again.
If I knew the sequence used by RM, I could select symbols which follow the same sequence in Excel.

3

The RM database is not ASCII. Rather, it is UNICODE, and in particular it uses the UTF-8 encoding of UNICODE. However, I can’t explain your results. If I’m understanding the UNICODE codes correctly, the hyphen should still sort in front of the greater than sign. UTF-8 Codes

4

Thanks for correcting my false assumptions.
Andy