sortkey

Generates values that can be used to order results based on collation behavior, which allows you to work with character collation behaviors beyond the default set of Latin character-based dictionary sort orders and case- or accent-sensitivity.

Syntax

sortkey(char_expression | uchar_expression)[, {collation_name | 
	collation_ID}])

Parameters

char_expression – is a character-type column name, variable, or constant expression of char, varchar, nchar, or nvarchar type.
uchar_expression – is a character-type column name, variable, or constant expression of unichar or univarchar type.
collation_name – is a quoted string or a character variable that specifies the collation to use.
collation_ID – is an integer constant or a variable that specifies the collation to use.

Examples

Example 1 – Shows sorting by European language dictionary order:

select * from cust_table where cust_name like "TI%" order by 
    (sortkey(cust_name, "dict")

Example 2 – Shows sorting by simplified Chinese phonetic order:

select *from cust_table where cust name like "TI%" order by 
    (sortkey(cust-name, "gbpinyin")

Example 3 – Shows sorting by European language dictionary order using the in-line option:
```
select *from cust_table where cust_name like "TI%" order by cust_french_sort
```

Example 4 – Shows sorting by Simplified Chinese phonetic order using preexisting keys:

select * from cust_table where cust_name like "TI%" order by
    cust_chinese_sort.

Standards

ANSI SQL – Compliance level: Transact-SQL extension.

Permissions

Any user can execute sortkey.