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https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/HADOOP-3378?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:all-tabpanel
 ]

Jingkei Ly updated HADOOP-3378:
-------------------------------

    Description: 
I've found that incorrect sort orders are returned in some cases if the 
WritableComparable.compareTo() method doesn't return  -1, 0 or 1. 

I believe this is a bug as the compareTo() interface states that the returned 
int be only a -ve or +ve number, and will potentially catch a lot of people out 
who decide to write a WritableComparator (well it caught me out anyway!). 

I'll attach an example application to demonstrate -- I simply modified the sort 
example to specify a non-default comparator to sort LongWritable , i.e.:

public int compare(WritableComparable a, WritableComparable b)  {
  LongWritable longA =(LongWritable) a;
  LongWritable longB =(LongWritable) b;

  return (int) (longA.get() - longB.get());  // wrong sort order
  // return (int) Math.signum(longA.get() - longB.get());  // correct sort order
}


When I run the application through Hadoop on my input data it returns the 
incorrect sort order.

  was:
I've found that incorrect sort orders are returned in some cases if the 
WritableComparable.compareTo() method doesn't return  -1, 0 or 1. 

I believe this is a bug as the compareTo() interface states that the returned 
int be only a -ve or +ve number, and will potentially catch a lot of people out 
who decide to write a WritableComparator (well it caught me out anyway!). 

I'll attach an example application to demonstrate -- I simply modified the sort 
example to specify a non-default comparator to sort LongWritable , i.e.:

<pre>
public int compare(WritableComparable a, WritableComparable b)  {
        LongWritable longA =(LongWritable) a;
        LongWritable longB =(LongWritable) b;
        
        return (int) (longA.get() - longB.get());  // wrong sort order
        // return (int) Math.signum(longA.get() - longB.get());  // correct 
sort order
}
</pre>

When I run the application through Hadoop on my input data it returns the 
incorrect sort order.


> Incorrect sort order if WritableComparable.compareTo() does not return -1, 0 
> or 1
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>                 Key: HADOOP-3378
>                 URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/HADOOP-3378
>             Project: Hadoop Core
>          Issue Type: Bug
>          Components: io
>    Affects Versions: 0.16.3
>            Reporter: Jingkei Ly
>            Priority: Minor
>         Attachments: hadoop-bug.csv, Sort.java
>
>
> I've found that incorrect sort orders are returned in some cases if the 
> WritableComparable.compareTo() method doesn't return  -1, 0 or 1. 
> I believe this is a bug as the compareTo() interface states that the returned 
> int be only a -ve or +ve number, and will potentially catch a lot of people 
> out who decide to write a WritableComparator (well it caught me out anyway!). 
> I'll attach an example application to demonstrate -- I simply modified the 
> sort example to specify a non-default comparator to sort LongWritable , i.e.:
> public int compare(WritableComparable a, WritableComparable b)        {
>   LongWritable longA =(LongWritable) a;
>   LongWritable longB =(LongWritable) b;
>   return (int) (longA.get() - longB.get());  // wrong sort order
>   // return (int) Math.signum(longA.get() - longB.get());  // correct sort 
> order
> }
> When I run the application through Hadoop on my input data it returns the 
> incorrect sort order.

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