MQSeries.net :: View topic - What is the best way to deal with a sorted list.

simon.starkie · Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 2:34 pm Post subject:

I have a list called ProblemList.
The list is expected to contain about two hundred members.
The list is derived from an external data source
(in this case a web service, but it could just as easily be a database table)
Each member in the list contains three elements: problemName, problemId, dateOfRecord.
There is a requirement that the ProblemList be sorted.
The sort can be on any one or more of the three elements ( problemName, problemId, dateOfRecord).

What is the best, most efficient way of implementing the sort requirement?

The sorted ProblemList elements could be made available as leaves on a tree (i.e. LocalEnvironment).

One possibility would be to place the elements on the tree in the correct order using some sort of indexed offset based on a hash of the element or elements that the ProblemList needs to be sorted on. That is, the tree itself would be built and managed in "sort order" sequence. If that is even possible. This could be brittle.

Another possibility would be to place the elements on the tree in FIFO order and then somehow retrieve them in the correct sorted sequence. This would allow the most flexibility for supporting different sort criteria. I'm wondering if there is something analogous to a database sorted index but for automatically building a sorted index on WMB trees.

A third possibility would be a bubble sort.
Java provides the java.util.Arrays.sort but that may be tricky with a tree.

There may be other possibilities that are better

Thanks.