From: petertrei@gmail.com   
      
   On 1/18/2026 4:44 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:   
   > On 18 Jan 2026 10:02:33 GMT, Bernard Peek wrote:   
   >   
   >> Modern database software lets you select the collating sequence for   
   >> a table based on each languages' rules. That becomes the default   
   >> sort order for reports. But you can change that programmatically.   
   >> Reports should always use a collating sequence that puts the data   
   >> where the reader expects it to be. The physical format of the data   
   >> on disk should not make any difference.   
   >   
   > It should be possible to choose the collating sequence for the   
   > retrieved results as part of the query, rather than relying on a fixed   
   > one assigned when the records are stored.   
      
   Its easy to forget that there's a resource issue here. Ordering once,   
   and then storing in that order may be inflexible, but it greatly   
   reduced the resources needed to make a retrieval.   
      
   Ordering at the time of query is now possible due to the immense power,   
   speed, and storage of modern computers.   
      
   I'm sure you're book collection makes it easy to find the works of a   
   given author, but that was the presort.   
      
   If suddenly you needed to find all the books with 'space' in the title,   
   resorting the entire collection would give you pause.   
      
   pt   
      
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