Sorting on multiple columns

hugson · 2015-07-14 05:55

Is there any way to sort files on more than one column at the same time?

I have around 1000 files to process, stored in multiple folders. In order to achieve this, I need to be able to sort by path and filename.

den4b · 2015-07-14 08:41

There is no multi-column sorting available.

However, sorting by path and filename is exactly same as sorting just by Path column, which uses the full path to the file. It is not shown by default so you need to enable it first.

hugson · 2015-07-14 10:40

Thank you for your fast and excellent response. Your solution works fine.

I've done a bit of experimenting, by supplying to Renamer (which, BTW, is an excellent product) 20 filenames consisting of 2 sets of 10 files called 1.jpg thru 10.jpg. It seems to me that sorting by one column then by another achieves what I wanted anyway. Suppose I sort my 20 filenames first by size, then by name. The result seems to be that each pair of filenames is sorted (correctly) by size within name. Sorting first by size in descending sequence reverses the order within filename. Do you agree that this is how it works?

I use a similar trick on an Android spreadsheet where I need to sort on 4 columns.

den4b · 2015-07-14 11:20

It does seem to work that way, but it is an unintended consequence of a specific sorting algorithm.

Basically, it is not guaranteed that this sorting behavior is stable and that it would behave the same in the future. For example, if the used sorting algorithm will change in the future, this behavior could disappear.

den4b Forum

#1 2015-07-14 05:55

Sorting on multiple columns

#2 2015-07-14 08:41

Re: Sorting on multiple columns

#3 2015-07-14 10:40

Re: Sorting on multiple columns

#4 2015-07-14 11:20

Re: Sorting on multiple columns

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