Collating

Automation

In many collation algorithms, the comparison is based not on the numerical codes of the characters, but with reference to the collating sequence – a sequence in which the characters are assumed to come for the purpose of collation – as well as other ordering rules appropriate to the given application. This can serve to apply the correct conventions used for alphabetical ordering in the language in question, dealing properly with differently cased letters, modified letters, digraphs, particular abbreviations, and so on, as mentioned above under Alphabetical order, and in detail in the Alphabetical order article. Such algorithms are potentially quite complex, possibly requiring several passes through the text.