MySQL sort function definition?

[leslie]

Is it possible to define your own sort function for a query to MySQL?

For example, in PERL you can do something like:

sort { $a <=> $b } @list
or
sort { my_sort_func () } @list

Is there some equivalent way to do this or are we limited by the "ORDER BY" query option?

Thanks in advance.

[Anon]

I don't understand why you would need your own sort function, as MySQL can sort by any field and it can sort either in ascending order or descending order...

[leslie]

I have a site where I allow people to post messages along with a name. Some people enter a common name like "Bob" while others write something like "--Martha" or "=^greg=" or whatever.

Now that my db is full of entries like this, I'd like to allow people to view messages alphabetically by author. Since the names often have extra characters like "--" or "_=", the alphabetical order doesn't make much sense.

So, I'd like to define my own sort function that would ignore the junk characters and sort by of the first character of the name that's in the actual alphabet.

There are other ways to fix this problem, but I was just curious if it is possible to do it with my own sort function.

Thanks again.

[Anon]

If it was me (and my way is probably not the fastest/most efficient), I would create a second name field. Then in your PHP script, I would create a second version of the name with all the non-alphanumeric characters taken out. Then, sort like normal by that field. Does that make sense?

[leslie]

Yes, that's a good way. (and probably what I'll end up doing!)

But, I'm still wondering if it is possible to do what I was suggesting originally.

Thanks.