From: bap@shrdlu.com   
      
   On 2026-01-18, 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.   
      
   Yes, that's completely normal.   
      
   -- Apply a Spanish collation   
   SELECT Place   
   FROM Locations   
   ORDER BY Place COLLATE Traditional_Spanish_ci_ai ASC;   
   GO   
      
      
   If you wanted to you could programatically change the default sort order   
   depending on an individual user's preference.  This isn't a problem if users   
   are aware of it.  It is a problem in the US because it's not an issue that   
   most Americans will encounter.  I think the solution is to require users in   
   multinational organisations to specify what collation they want and not to   
   have any default.   
      
      
   --   
   Bernard Peek   
   bap@shrdlu.com   
   Wigan   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)