scope:

This Standard defines the alphanumeric lexical sequence for the English and French languages. It is intended for general-purpose sorting of all alphanumeric strings using the character repertoire of CSA Standard CAN/CSA-Z243.4 in Canada, wherever human intervention is involved or sorted results are presented to users.

Sorting is based on the rules of word ordering rather than on telephone directory sorting. As telephone directory sorting depends heavily on the application and would utilize word ordering as a lower common denominator of sorting, telephone directory sorting could also use the present Standard as a base. While recommending that different fields be sorted in separate phases (eg, first names, then second names considered when first names are exactly equal in a name list), the present Standard reserves character NO-BREAK SPACe (NBSP) to introduce sequencing breaks in a string for quick sorts in a single step.

The sort tables are defined for the complete repertoire of graphic characters defined in CAN/CSA-Z243.4. Only three of the five graphic sets defined in CAN/CSA-Z243.4 are necessary to complete the full repertoire of these graphic characters. These are

(a) Primary Graphic Set;*

(b) General Purpose Supplementary Graphic Set; and

(c) Latin Alphabet No. 1 Supplementary Graphic Set.

*This is the normal primary graphic set, which is the same as US-ASCII (ANSi X3.4).

Because different bit combinations are used in some cases in CAN/CSA-Z243.4 to represent the same graphic characters, the present Standard makes no reference to these bit combinations, but refers instead in all tables to the character names of CAN/CSA-Z243.4. This could permit extension of the scope to other standard character sets or coding schemes adopted by other international organizations or specific equipment manufacturers.

This standard alphanumeric lexical sequence is the sequence that computerized, general-purpose, alphanumeric sort programs should produce in Canada. It is also the order that indexed files in computers or ordered lists in databases should follow in Canada when alphanumeric data is involved. All computerized comparisons where the results are expected to be consistent with this Standard should be made in accordance with the order prescribed by this Standard (to do so, the keys whose formation is described in the compliance method of Clause 5.2 are the recommended keys that could be used).