Leading zeros are ignored when sorting text columns

[rbirkby]

A text column is being sorted as follows:

1
2
3
00004
4
5
6
7
8
9

See http://jsfiddle.net/rbirkby/HQ7mg/4/

I would expect the 00004 value to be ordered first.
This is not what I would expect, nor is it how JavaScript will sort.

[Mottie]

The default text sorter is the natural sort, which behaves like a numerical sort, but is slightly slower than a straight numerical sort. Instead set the textSorter to the basic text sort (demo):

$(function() {
    $("table").tablesorter({
        textSorter: {
            0: $.tablesorter.sortText
        }
    });
});

[thezoggy]

funny i was just creating an example to show this: http://jsfiddle.net/4mVfu/1131/

[Mottie]

Hehe, thanks :P

The $.tablesorter.sortText function is exactly the same as you have (ref):

// basic alphabetical sort
ts.sortText = function(a, b) {
    return a > b ? 1 : (a < b ? -1 : 0);
};

[rbirkby]

Thanks for explaining this. I spent a while reading the docs but couldn't find what I was looking for and even now I know what to look for I can't find documentation on sortNatural and sortText.

Thanks again

[Mottie]

I guess it's not that obvious... look at the last code block under the textSorter option.

[Mottie]

@rbirkby By the way, in the latest update, I've added a search feature to the main page. Just click on the icon in the upper left corner.

So now that I think this issue has been fully resolved, I'm going to close it.