How do you package a sorting subroutine for use with sort? That's
what I don't understand.
For example I have written a "naturalorder" subroutine to sort
strings like the "natural order" system extension.
The script
my @before = ( 'e 213', 'e21a', 'e 0212' );
my @after = sort naturalorder @before;
print "@after\n";
Prints out
e21a e 0212 e 213
when the subroutine naturalorder is compiled on the same page. This
is the correct "natural order".
However, when I try to package the naturalorder subroutine and access it via
use VTN::Utilities qw(naturalorder);
then my script outputs the original order:
e 213 e21a e 0212
I assume that I am losing $a and $b when my subroutine resides in the
external package VTN::Utilities, but I don't know what to do about
it. Can someone tell me how write a packaged sorting subroutine so
that it works with sort?
Regards,
Vic
