sort_number_array

The function sort_number_array sorts a number array. The sorted elements are stored in a second array.

 sort_number_array ( input;output;number of elements to be sorted )

The sort_number_array function is of type BOOL.

The function has three parameters:

1. input; ARRAY of type NUMBER. This array contains the elements that must be sorted.
2. output; ARRAY of type NUMBER. This array receives the sorted elements.
3. number of elements to sort; NUMBER. This is the number of elements in the array that must be sorted starting from the first element. This can either be a number or a NUMBER variable or expression.

The function sort_number_array returns TRUE if the array was sorted successfully, and FALSE if number of elements to be sorted is negative or zero.

If the sort_number_array function fails, the output array is unmodified. The input array is not modified by the function. The output array receives the sorted values from the input array. If the output array is larger than the number of sorted elements, those elements outside the sorted range are left unmodified.

An example is provided here.

ARRAY NUMBER input [4]
ARRAY NUMBER output[4]
NUMBER i

ASSIGN input[1] := 4		 
ASSIGN input[2] := 2		 
ASSIGN input[3] := 1		 
ASSIGN input[4] := 3		 
IF sort_number_array (input; output; 4) THEN 
  FOR i FROM 1 UPTO 4 

DO
#
@(i) @(output[i])
#
OD

ELSE
#
Failed to sort the input.
#
  STOP
FI

The type BOOL of the sort_number_array function is used to implement error handling. If the sort succeeds, the return value of the function is TRUE, the IF statement becomes TRUE, and the THEN part is executed. If the return is FALSE, the ELSE part of the IF statement is executed.