ad_new_sort_by

ad_new_sort_by   key   keys

Makes a new sort_by string, sorting by "key". If the key is followed by "*", that indicates the ordering should be reversed from the default ordering for that key. Old sort keys are retained, so the sort appears to be a little more stable. That is, suppose two things are sorted into an order, and their values for a different column are the same. If that different column is used as the primary sort key to reorder, the things which have the same value for the newly-sorted column will remain in the same relative order.

Source code:

    if { $keys == "" } {
        return $key

    } elseif { [regexp "^${key}(\\*?)," "$keys," match reverse] } {
        # if this was already the first key, then reverse order
        if { $reverse == "*" } {
            regsub "\\*," "$keys," "," keys
        } else {
            regsub "," "$keys," "*," keys
        }
        regsub ",$" $keys "" keys
        return $keys
    } else {
        regsub ",$key\\*?," "$keys," "," keys
        regsub ",$" $keys "" keys
        return "$key,$keys"
    }