The stop list, exception list, start list and synonym list should each be sorted in alphabetical order before the translate table is applied to your search installation. The start list and synonym lists should be sorted in alphabetical order by the Pattern column. The Translate Table editor allows you to sort by any column in alphabetical order or reverse alphabetical order in case clarifications or some type of debugging of the word lists needs to be done.

The translate table editor provides three different methods for sorting. The first method is by simply clicking the column header of the column in the particular list which you would like to take precedence. Clicking the column header once sorts the list in alphabetical order. Clicking the column header again sorts the lists in reverse alphabetical order. The other two methods are by selecting a specific column from a particular list using the Sort List dialog box and by using the Sort All menu item from the Sort menu of the translate table editor to sort all the lists at the same time in the same order.

Sorting a Single List

Use the following steps to sort a word list by a specific column.

Step 1

The first step is to either press the key sequence Ctrl+T or select the Sort menu item from the Sort menu at the top of the translate table editor:

The Sort List dialog box will appear:

Step 2

The second step will be to specify the word list that you would like to sort.

Step 3

The third step is to select the primary column or the column to take precedence for the sort being performed:

Since in Step 2 we chose the start list as the word list we would like to sort, we are given two columns to choose from. This would be the same for the synonym list. If the stop list or exception list were chosen there would only be once choice and if a suffix pass would have been chosen there would have been three choices, one for each column.

Step 4

The fourth step is to choose the order for which the words will be sorted:

Select ascending order to sort the chosen word list in alphabetical order and select descending to sort the chosen word list in reverse alphabetical order.

Press the OK button and the word list will be sorted in the order specified.

Sorting All Lists

Use the following steps to sort all the word lists by the first column of each list.

Step 1

The first step is to do one of the following: press the key sequence Ctrl+Alt+A to sort all of the lists in ascending order, press the key sequence Ctrl+Alt+D to sort all the lists in descending order or select the Sort All menu item from the Sort menu at the top of the translate table editor:

Step 2

The second step is only necessary if you have chosen the third method from Step 1. Using the short-cut keys will automatically sort the lists in the specified order. Choose either Ascending or Descending from the Sort All submenu.

All of the lists will then be sorted in the specified order with their first column as the primary column except in the case of suffix passes. Suffix passes will be sorted with the Pattern as the primary column rather than the Threshold.