StringSort Class Reference

This is a convenience class that provides generic sorting class for ActiveScript-compatible languages. It is a non-trivial task to sort data in scripting, especially in VBScript where there is no equivalent for the JScript sort function. It is designed as a list of strings. Each string in the list is a key based on which the sort is done. Each key can have an optional integer value that can be used, for example, to retrieve a record in an array.

To create a StringSort object, use CreateObject("MetadataLib.StringSort") or the {A07730B7-4100-457E-91E2-31BFF24E1EC4} CLSID. Although the object is published by the metadata library, it is completely independent of the metadata and can be used in any script, including those run outside of PlanetPress Suite.

Methods
Integer	Add (const String Key, Integer Value)
	Adds a new item in the sort list.
	Clear ()
	Clears the sort list.
Integer	Count ()
	Returns the number of elements in the list.
	Delete (Integer Index)
	Removes an item from the sort list.
Integer	Find (const String Key)
	Finds an item in the list and returns its index.
String	Key (Integer Index)
	Returns the key at the specified index.
	Sort ()
	Sorts the list.
	SortByValue ()
	Sorts the list based on the value instead of the key.
Integer	Value (Integer Index)
	Returns the value at the specified index.

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Method Documentation

Integer Add	(	const String	Key,
		Integer	Value
	)

Adds a new string key in the list, with an optional associated integer Value.

Parameters:

	Key	String on which the sort will be performed.
	Value	Optional integer associated with the string. This value is not used and will not be changed by the sort class. If the string goes to another position in the list after the sort, this value will move as well to the new index of the string.

Returns:

0-based index of the newly added string. It is therefore always equal to Count-1.

Clear

(

)

Empties the list, removing all the strings.

integer Count

(

)

Returns the number of strings in the list.

Returns:

Number of strings in the list. If the list does not contain any string, the return value is 0.

Delete

(

Integer

Index

)

Removes a single string from the list.

Parameters:

Index

0-based index of the string to remove.

Exceptions:

EOleException

Index is lower than 0 or higher than Count-1.

Integer Find

(

const String

Key

)

Finds a string and returns its position in the list.

Parameters:

Key

String to find.

Returns:

0-based index of the string. If the string is not found, the method returns -1.

String Key

(

Integer

Index

)

Returns the key at the specified index.

Parameters:

Index

0-based index of the string to retrieve.

Returns:

Value of the key at the specified index.

Exceptions:

EOleException

Index is lower than 0 or higher than Count-1.

Sort

(

)

Sorts the items in the list according to their key. The sort performed is a simple alphabetical string sort: 30 comes after 200. The strings are expected to be formatted correctly to return the desired order (ex: "030", "200" will be sorted with 30 first and then 200).

SortByValue

(

)

Sorts the items in the list according to their value instead of the key.

Integer Value

(

Integer

Index

)

Retrieves the value of the optional integer at the specified index.

Parameters:

Index

0-based index of the value to retrieve.

Returns:

The integer value at the specified index.

Exceptions:

EOleException

Index is lower than 0 or higher than Count-1.

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