Importance

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Abstract

A Database Management System having a Collation Engine with improved methods for sorting information with National Language Support (NLS) is described. The Collation Engine includes an improved method for comparing text strings with a culturally predictable result. In an exemplary embodiment, the Collation Engine includes a Collation Table storing primary, secondary, and tertiary weightings. The weightings are employed, in a method of the present invention, for accounting for locale-dependent factors or rules other than those taken into account by conventional primary and secondary weightings. Additional rules include, for instance, local-specific sorting rules specifying that the case of a character be taken into consideration, or that the expansion of an expanding character (e.g., '' which expands to 'AE') be taken into consideration. A preferred method for examining weightings is described, so that the system may uncover differences between characters which would otherwise be ignored by conventional systems. In this manner, comparison operations of text strings (e.g., during sorting) may be performed in a manner appropriate for a given locale (e.g., German DIN sorting rules).

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First Claim