[Ragulf Pickaxe]
> 
> >First, how to sort? I used an old database trick.  The sort key is a
> >unique combination of month, day, and year like this -
> >
> >key = day + 50 * month + (2000 + year)
> >
> 
> Tom, how would this key differentiate between 5th may 2003 
> (05-05-2003) and 
> 8th of may 2000 (08-05-2000) ? I would get 5 + 250 + 2000 + 
> 03 = 2258 = 8 + 
> 250 + 2000 + 00.
> 
> I would imagine something like: key= day + 50 * month + 1000 * year
> would do it (did you mean 2000 * year?).
> 

Right, I forgot to add the multiplier for the year.  I added the 2000 to
get a 4-digit year but of course you need a multiplier, one large enough
to prevent ambiguities.

Of course sorting dates is always tricky, but either a variation on this
or splitting into fields and sorting on all of them in series will do
the job.

Cheers,

Tom P

 XSL-List info and archive:  http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list