Abstract:
A multi-field text string contains display characters in a first field and sort characters in a second field. For ideographic languages such as Japanese, the display characters may be Kanji symbols for the text string while the sort characters are phonetic syllabary representations of the Kanji symbols. A plurality of such multi-field text strings may then be sorted by the contents of the second field rather than the contents of the first. Despite both the multiple pronunciations or meanings associated with the same Kanji symbols in Japanese and the unsorted ordering of Kanji symbols within the Unicode character set for Japanese, a culturally correct sort order is achieved for the multi-field text strings. Additionally, the contents of the second field may be altered to artificially promote a specific item within the sort order, while displaying the sorted text strings utilizing the contents of the first field. The mechanism for promoting particular text strings within the sort order does not interfere with user viewing of the displayed text strings.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present invention is related to the subject matter of the following commonly assigned, copending U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 09/211,810 entitled “METHOD, SYSTEM, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR PROVIDING A USER INTERFACE WITH ALTERNATIVE DISPLAY LANGUAGE CHOICES” and filed Dec. 15, 1998; Ser. No. 09/211,809 entitled “METHOD, SYSTEM AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR CAPTURING LANGUAGE TRANSLATION AND SORTING INFORMATION INTO A TEXT STRING CLASS” and filed Dec. 15, 1998; Ser. No. 09/211,803 entitled “METHOD, SYSTEM AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR STORING TRANSLITERATION AND/OR PHONETIC SPELLING INFORMATION IN A TEXT STRING CLASS” and filed Dec. 15, 1998; Ser. No. 09/211,799 entitled “METHOD, SYSTEM AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR ROTATING THROUGH A SEQUENCE OF DISPLAY STATES IN A MULTI-FIELD TEXT CLASS IN A GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE” and filed Dec. 15, 1998; Ser. No. 09/211,802 entitled “METHOD, SYSTEM AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR CONTROLLING THE GRAPHICAL DISPLAY OF MULTI-FIELD TEXT STRING OBJECTS” and filed Dec. 15, 1998; Ser. No. 09/211,813 entitled “METHOD, SYSTEM AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR DISPLAYING THE CONTENTS OF ALL FIELDS IN A MULTI-FIELD TEXT STRING OBJECT” and filed Dec. 15, 1998; Ser. No. 09/211,802 entitled “METHOD, SYSTEM AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR DYNAMIC LANGUAGE SWITCHING IN A MULTI-FIELD TEXT STRING OBJECT VIA MESSAGING” and filed Dec. 15, 1998; and Ser. No. 09/211,812 entitled “METHOD, SYSTEM AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR AUTOMATIC CHARACTER TRANSLITERATION IN A TEXT STRING OBJECT” and filed Dec. 15, 1998. The content of the above-referenced applications is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present invention relates in general to sorting text strings and in particular to sorting text strings in a culturally correct order where the text string language does not provide pronunciation information and/or data processing system character codes are unsorted for the text string language. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to sorting text strings based on either pronunciation or user-defined sort orders artificially promoting selected text strings while displaying pronunciation- or sort order-independent representations of the text strings. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Multinational companies often run information system (IS) networks which span multiple locales spread around the globe. To maximize the usefulness of such networks, operations within each country tend to run in the local language of the country. Where possible, names of abstract objects in user applications are in the local language and match the local language organization, city, or human names which the abstract objects represent. In the case of system management software, often abstract objects would represent each of a global enterprise&#39;s local offices. 
     For offices located in Japan, objects would be named in Japanese. However, Japanese is a logosyllabic or ideographic language which does not have an alphabet representing simple sounds, but instead has a very large character set with symbols (“ideographs”) corresponding to concepts and objects rather than simple sounds. For instance, the Joyo Kanji List (Kanji for Daily Use) adopted for the Japanese language in 1981 includes 1945 symbols. 
     In Japanese, the same ideograph may have multiple meanings and/or pronunciations. For instance, the symbol depicted in FIG. 4A may be pronounced either “hayashi” or “rin” (or “lin”); and the characters depicted in FIG. 4B may be pronounced “suga no,” “suga ya,” “kan no,” or “kan ya.” This circumstance is based in part on the history of the Japanese language, in which the Kanji characters were adopted from the Chinese language. Thus, for example, the “rin” symbol depicted in FIG. 4A is On-Yomi, basically a simulation of the Chinese pronunciation when the character was imported to Japan, while “hayashill” is Kun-Yomi, a Japanese word assigned to the character which has the same meaning. 
     A culturally correct sort order for names represented by identical ideographs might be based on pronunciation. However, ideographs or data processing system codes (e.g., Unicode codes) representing ideographs generally provide no information as to the correct pronunciation. Sorting a plurality of abstract objects by name, therefore, may result in an incorrect sort order being displayed. 
     An additional and independent complication arises in sorting abstract objects by name from the fact that the same Kanji character set is largely shared by the Chinese, Japanese and other Asian languages. The UNICODE Han unification has reordered the Kanji characters for Chinese, unsorting them for Japanese, as well as for Vietnamese and Korean. 
     Yet another independent sorting problem is that frequently a need arises to alter the collation sequence of a list or to create a second-order list. For instance, it may be desirable to sort a list of users alphabetically within each hierarchical level of an enterprise. That is, the user list is to be sorted with the enterprise&#39;s principal officer first, followed by other officers sorted alphabetically and then by staff members sorted alphabetically. Currently names are “floated” to the top of a sorted list by inserting an extraneous character with a low sort value at the front of the string (e.g., “_Frank Moss”). However, the extraneous characters will normally be displayed in the sorted list. 
     It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a mechanism for sorting Japanese text strings in a culturally correct order. It would further be advantageous if the mechanism could be employed to sort Kanji character strings in a culturally correct order despite the sorting order employed by character sets. It would also be advantageous to sort text strings in a user-defined sort order with selected strings artificially promoted without displaying the mechanism by which the selected text strings are promoted. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide an improved method, system and computer program product for sorting text strings. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a method, system and computer program product for sorting text strings in a culturally correct order where the text string language does not provide pronunciation information and/or data processing system character codes are unsorted for the text string language. 
     It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method, system and computer program product for sorting text strings based on either pronunciation or user-defined sort orders artificially promoting selected text strings while displaying representations of the text strings which are independent of pronunciation or artificial sort order mechanisms. 
     The foregoing objects are achieved as is now described. A multi-field text string contains display characters in a first field and sort characters in a second field. For ideographic languages such as Japanese, the display characters may be Kanji symbols for the text string while the sort characters are phonetic syllabary representations of the Kanji symbols. A plurality of such multi-field text strings may then be sorted by the contents of the second field rather than the contents of the first. Despite both the multiple pronunciations or meanings associated with the same Kanji symbols in Japanese and the unsorted ordering of Kanji symbols within the character set for Japanese, a culturally correct sort order is achieved for the multi-field text strings. Additionally, the contents of the second field may be altered to artificially promote a specific item within the sort order, while displaying the sorted text strings utilizing the contents of the first field. The mechanism for promoting particular text strings within the sort order does not interfere with user viewing of the displayed text strings. 
     The above as well as additional objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed written description. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 depicts a diagram of a data processing system in which a preferred embodiment of the present invention may be implemented; 
     FIG. 2 is a diagram of a multi-field text string class employed in sorting text strings in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 depicts a high level flowchart for a process also of employing a multi-field text string class to sort text strings in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIGS. 4A-4B are ideographs having identical pronunciations. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     With reference now to the figures, and in particular with reference to FIG. 1, a block diagram of a data processing system in which a preferred embodiment of the present invention may be implemented is depicted. Data processing system  100  may be, for example, one of the Aptiva® available from International Business Machines Corporation of Armonk, New York. Data processing system  100  includes a processor  102 , which in the exemplary embodiment is connected to a level two (L2) cache  104 , which is connected in turn to a system bus  106 . In the exemplary embodiment, data processing system  100  includes graphics adapter  118  connected to system bus  106 , receiving user interface information for display  120 . 
     Also connected to system bus  106  is system memory  108  and input/output (I/O) bus bridge  110 . I/O bus bridge  110  couples I/O bus  112  to system bus  106 , relaying and/or transforming data transactions from one bus to the other. Peripheral devices such as nonvolatile storage  114 , which may be a hard disk drive, and keyboard/pointing device  116 , which may include a conventional mouse, a trackball, or the like, are connected to I/O bus  112 . 
     The exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is provided solely for the purposes of explaining the invention and those skilled in the art will recognize that numerous variations are possible, both in form and function. For instance, data processing system  100  might also include a compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) or digital video disk (DVD) drive, a sound card and audio speakers, and numerous other optional components. All such variations are believed to be within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Data processing system  100  and the Java implementation examples below are provided solely as examples for the purposes of explanation and are not intended to imply architectural limitations. Those skilled in the art will recognize the numerous programming languages which may be utilized, all of which are believed to be embraced within the spirit and scope of the invention. 
     Referring to FIG. 2, a diagram of a multi-field text string class employed in sorting text strings in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is depicted. A fundamental problem in multinational computing environments which need to display data in multiple human languages is that a spoken word generally encapsulates information in multiple aspects or attributes, such as through the word&#39;s meaning, from context, and/or from inflection. When reduced to a visual or electronic representation for manipulation or display in a data processing system, the word may lose some attributes and much of the associated meaning. Most importantly for data processing systems, a visual representation of a word may give no clues as to the correct translation or pronunciation of the word or the proper placement of a word within a specified sort order. International String (“IString”) class  202  may be employed to address this problem. 
     IString class  202  is preferably a Java class similar to the Java String class, which behaves like the String class by including similar methods. Most of the original behavior of the String class should be preserved, with additional functionality added and utilized only as needed. IString class  202  is a datatype which captures some of the meaning of spoken words which is normally lost when the word is reduced to a visual representation. IString class  202  is preferably utilized for all object names and system messages within a system. 
     The IString class  202  structure includes three different strings for each name, message, data, or text object: a baseString  204 , a sortString  206 , and an altString  208 . BaseString  204  is the string within IString class  202  employed by default in the user interface display and may contain any text, usually the original text entered by the user in the local language where the IString object is created. SortString  206  may also be any text and is employed to allow correct sorting of non-phonetic languages and languages which are difficult to sort based only on the binary value of baseString  204 . AltString  208  may be any text but should conventionally be filled with a latin character set representation of the pronunciation of the data contained in baseString  204 . Thus, IString class  202  includes the original text (baseString  204 ), a sort key (sortString  206 ), and a pronunciation key (altString  208 ) for object names, system messages, and other data. 
     When implemented in Java, a constructor for an IString class  202  object may be composed of the following fields: 
     /** The base text String */ 
     protected String baseString; 
     /** The related text String for proper collation */ 
     protected String sortString; 
     /** The related alternate text String (pronunciation key) */ 
     protected String altString; 
     /** The source locale, as an ISO-3166 code; used for collation */ 
     protected String sourceLocale; 
     /** The source language, as an ISO-639 code */ 
     protected String sourceLanguage; 
     /** The source variant defined for EBCIDIC and case mapping */ 
     protected String sourceVariant; 
     /** The target locale, as an ISO-3166 code */ 
     protected String targetLocale; 
     /** The target language, as an ISO-639 code */ 
     protected String targetLanguage; 
     /** The target variant defined for EBCIDIC and case mapping */ 
     protected String targetvariant; 
     Complete listings of the upper-case, two letter ISO Country Codes defined by ISO-3166 and the lower-case, two letter ISO Language Codes defined by ISO-639 are readily available from a variety of sources on the Internet 
     Table I illustrates how data within the IString data type  202  looks when represented as a table: 
     
       
         
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE I 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Field 
                 Type 
                 Data 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                 baseString 
                 Java String 
                 The user&#39;s text 
               
               
                 sortString 
                 Java String 
                 Language/locale dependent 
               
               
                 altString 
                 Java String 
                 Language/locale dependent 
               
               
                 sourceLocale 
                 Java String 
                 ISO-3166 code, example “US” 
               
               
                 sourceLanguage 
                 Java String 
                 ISO-639 code, example “en” 
               
               
                 sourceVariant 
                 Java String 
                 Variant code 
               
               
                 targetLocale 
                 Java String 
                 ISO-3166 code, example “JP” 
               
               
                 targetLanguage 
                 Java String 
                 ISO-639 code, example “ja” 
               
               
                 targetVariant 
                 Java String 
                 Variant code 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     A Java constructor for a new, empty IString class object  202  where the contents are independent of language or locale may be: 
     /*************************************************** 
     * 
     * &lt;P&gt; &lt;/P&gt; 
     * 
     * &lt;dt&gt; &lt;b&gt; Description: &lt;/b&gt; &lt;dd&gt; 
     * &lt;p&gt;Allocate a new IString containing no characters in the default 
     * locale. &lt;/p&gt; 
     * 
     *************************************************** 
     public IString( ) { 
     this.baseString=new String( ); 
     this.sortString=new String( ); 
     this.altString=new String( ); 
     init( ); 
     } 
     To allow objects of the IString class  202  datatype to be stored in an Object Database (ODB), however, and to permit manipulation of IString data by Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) applications, an Interface Definition Language (IDL) class should be defined: 
     
       
         
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                 struct IString{ 
                   
               
               
                 string baseString; 
                 //base test String 
               
               
                 string sortString; 
                 //related text String for collation 
               
               
                 string altString; 
                 //related alternate text String (pronunciation) 
               
               
                 string sourceLocale; 
                 //source locale as an ISO-3166 code 
               
               
                 string sourceLanguage; 
                 //source language as an ISO-639 code 
               
               
                 string sourceVariant; 
                 //source variant code 
               
               
                 string targetLocale; 
                 //target locale as an ISO-3166 code 
               
               
                 string targetLanguage; 
                 //target language as an ISO-639 code 
               
               
                 string targetVariant; 
                 //target variant code 
               
               
                 } 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     The contents of baseString  204 , sortString  206 , and altString  208  are preferably but not necessarily Unicode text entered by data entry methods  210  within IString class  202 . Data entry methods  210 , and thus the contents of baseString  204 , sortString  206 , and altString  208 , may depend at least in part on language and locale parameters defined by sourceLocale field  212 , sourceLanguage field  214 , targetLocale field  216 , and targetLanguage  218 . 
     Because data entry methods  210  are dependent on the locale and/or langauge employed by the underlying host system, creation of a new IString object  202  preferably results in the locale and language properties of the host system in which the IString object  202  is created being placed in sourceLocale field  212  and sourceLanguage field  214 . A constructor for allocating a new, empty IString for a specified locale and language determined from the host system in which the IString class object  202  is being created may be: 
     /*************************************************** 
     * 
     * &lt;P&gt; &lt;/P&gt; 
     * 
     * &lt;dt&gt; &lt;b&gt; Description: &lt;/b&gt; &lt;dd&gt; 
     * &lt;p&gt;Allocate a new IString containing no characters in the 
     * specified locale. &lt;/p&gt; 
     * 
     *************************************************** 
     public IString(Locale loc) { 
     this.baseString=new String( ); 
     this.sortString=new String( ); 
     this.altString=new String( ); 
     this.sourceLocale=ioc.getLocale( ); 
     this.sourceLanguage=loc.getLanguage( ); 
     init( ); 
     } 
     Input of data into an IString class  202  object is preferably locale- or language-dependent. The source-Language and targetLanguage properties  214  and  218  control how data is input into an IString class object  202  by data input methods  210 . The sourceLanguage property  214  may be set to the language property of the host system on which the IString class object is created. The targetLanguage property  218  may also be set to that language, or may alternatively be set to a common, “universal”, language such as English. Data input methods  210  compare sourceLanguage and targetLanguage properties  214  and  218  to determine what is entered into baseString  204 , sortString  206 , and altString  208  in an IString class object  202 . 
     Character strings are entered into the baseString  204 , sortString  206 , and altString  208  fields by data input methods  220  for IString class  202 , which may selectively utilize data from either the user&#39;s direct entry or specification, from transliteration engine  220 , or from the Input Method Editor (IME)  224 . Where the targetLanguage property  218  is set to English as a default, data entry methods  210  determine the contents of baseString  204 , sortString  206 , and altString  208  fields based upon the character set employed by the language in which data is entered by the user (sourceLanguage property  214 ). 
     For languages which employ the latin character set, the user input is placed by data entry methods  220  into all three fields (baseString  204 , sortString  206 , and altString  208 ) of the IString class  202  by data entry methods  210 . A suitable constructor may be: 
     /*************************************************** 
     * 
     * &lt;P&gt; &lt;/P&gt; 
     * 
     * &lt;dt&gt; &lt;b&gt; Description: &lt;/b&gt; &lt;dd&gt; 
     * &lt;p&gt;Allocate a new IString which contains the same sequence of 
     * characters as the string argument in the specified locale. &lt;/p&gt; 
     * 
     *************************************************** 
     public IString(String str, Locale loc) { 
     this.baseString new String(str); 
     this.sortString=new String(str); 
     this.altString=new String(str); 
     this.sourceLocale=loc.getLocale( ); 
     this.sourceLanguage=loc.getLanguage( ); 
     init( ); 
     } 
     For most locales and languages, the entered string will be input into all three fields of the IString object  202 . If targetLanguage property  218  were not set to English, data entry methods  224  would input the user-entered text into all three fields whenever the languages identified in source-Language and targetLanguage properties  214  and  218  employ a common character set (e.g., both employ latin characters, as in the case of Spanish and Afrikaans). 
     Table II illustrates how data is entered into IString class  202  fields where the host language and locale utilize the latin character set. 
     
       
         
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                 TABLE II 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Field 
                 Type 
                 Data 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
                 baseString 
                 Java String 
                 Hetherington 
               
               
                   
                 sortString 
                 Java String 
                 Hetherington 
               
               
                   
                 altString 
                 Java String 
                 Hetherington 
               
               
                   
                 sourceLocale 
                 Java String 
                 US 
               
               
                   
                 sourceLanguage 
                 Java String 
                 en 
               
               
                   
                 targetLocale 
                 Java String 
                 US 
               
               
                   
                 targetLanguage 
                 Java String 
                 en 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     If desired, the fields may be individually edited and the object artificially promoted for sorting purposes by inserting a string having a lower sort value (e.g., “AAA_Hetherington”) into sortString  206 . 
     For languages which do not employ the latin character set, but which utilize a character set which may be sound mapped to the latin character set, the user input is entered by data entry methods  210  into baseString  204  and sortString  206 , but a transliterated, phonetic representation of the input is placed in altString  208 . An internal method within the transliteration engine  220  is employed to sound-map the passed string to a phonetic, latin character representation for altString  208  to transliterate entered characters into other characters understandable to people who are not familiar with the character set of the original language. 
     To generate the contents of altString  208 , transliteration engine  220  selects an appropriate Java resource file  222  containing a mapping table to create the alternate text to be placed in altString  208 . The selection of the particular resource file which is employed based on the combination of source and target languages. Java resource files  222  are named for the combination of languages for which the mapping is being performed. In the example shown in FIG. 2, ru—en_class is for mapping Russian (Cyrillic characters) to English (Latin characters). The structure of resource file  222  is a table with associated entries for foreign language characters and corresponding latin characters. 
     A suitable constructor for an IString object in which altString  208  is transliterated from the passed string may be: 
     /*************************************************** 
     * 
     * &lt;P&gt; &lt;/P&gt; 
     * 
     * &lt;dt&gt; &lt;b&gt; Description: &lt;/b&gt; &lt;dd&gt; 
     * &lt;p&gt;Allocate a new IString. The baseString and sortString are the 
     * passed string, the altString is transliterated into the target 
     * language. &lt;/p&gt; 
     * 
     *************************************************** 
     public IString(String str) { 
     this.baseString=new String(str); 
     this.sortString=new String(str); 
     if(isSameLanguage( ) 
      this.altString=new String(str); 
      else 
      this.altString=transmogrify(str, 
     this.sourceLanguage, 
     this.targetLanguage); 
     } 
     The “transmogrify” method is the internal method within transliteration engine  220  which was described above. The character set into which the entered characters are transliterated is determined from the targetLanguage property  218 , which in the exemplary embodiment is assumed to be set to English. Given an appropriate resource file  222 , however, characters may be transliterated between any two languages for which characters in one language sound-map to one or more characters in the other. 
     Table III illustrates how data is entered into IString class  202  by data entry methods  210  where the language utilizes a non-latin character set which maps to the latin character set, such as Russian Cyrillic. 
     
       
         
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                 TABLE III 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Field 
                 Type 
                 Data 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
                 baseString 
                 Java String 
                   
               
               
                   
                 sortString 
                 Java String 
                   
               
               
                   
                 altString 
                 Java String 
                 David Kumhyr 
               
               
                   
                 sourceLocale 
                 Java String 
                 RU 
               
               
                   
                 sourceLanguage 
                 Java String 
                 ru 
               
               
                   
                 targetLocale 
                 Java String 
                 US 
               
               
                   
                 targetLanguage 
                 Java String 
                 en 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     In the example shown, the text entered by the user is inserted into both baseString  204  and sortString  206 , but the text entered into altString  208  is selected by transliteration engine  220  utilizing a resource table of Russian Cyrillic to English character sound mappings. The phonetic representation of the baseString  204  is thus entered into altString  208  as a pronunciation key for users unfamiliar with the Cyrillic character set. 
     For languages which do not employ the latin character set or a character set which may be sound-mapped to the latin character set, data entry methods  210  input data into the baseString  204 , sortString  206 , and altString  208  fields which is derived from the input method editor (IME)  224 . IME  224  may be either a customized input method editor or the input method editor which is integrated into Asian versions of the Windows NT operating system available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond Washington. If the Windows NT input method editor is employed, the appropriate data must be extracted from the Windows NT input method editor internal data storage. 
     Table IV illustrates how data is entered into IString class  202  by data entry methods  210  for logosyllabic languages, such as Japanese, which employ neither the latin character set nor a character set which may be sound-mapped to the latin character set. 
     
       
         
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                 TABLE IV 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Field 
                 Type 
                 Data 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
                 baseString 
                 Java String 
                 &lt;Kanji&gt; 
               
               
                   
                 sortString 
                 Java String 
                   
               
               
                   
                 altString 
                 Java String 
                 hayashi 
               
               
                   
                 sourceLocale 
                 Java String 
                 JP 
               
               
                   
                 sourceLanguage 
                 Java String 
                 ja 
               
               
                   
                 targetLocale 
                 Java String 
                 US 
               
               
                   
                 targetLanguage 
                 Java String 
                 en 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     Logosyllabic languages do not have alphabets, but instead have very large character sets with symbols (“ideographs”) corresponding to concepts and objects rather than simple sounds. For instance, the Joyo Kanji List (Kanji for Daily Use) adopted for the Japanese language in 1981 includes 1945 symbols. Normal computer keyboards cannot contain enough separate keys to have one for each symbol in the language, so input is accomplished phonetically utilizing keystroke combinations to select characters from one of two phonetic syllabaries, hiragana or katakana, and dictionary lookup for Kanji symbol creation. The process is implemented in the Windows NT input method editor identified above. 
     For logosyllabic or ideograhic languages, therefore, the data entered into altString  208  is the latin characters typed by the user to compose the desired ideograph. The data entered into sortString  206  are the syllabary characters phonetically spelling the desired ideograph, providing an intermediate representation of the ideograph. The data entered into baseString  204  is the final ideograph selected by the user. As with transliteration of non-latin characters as described above, non-latin characters may be entered into altString  208  if the targetLanguage property is set to a language other than English and IME  224  supports composition of the ideographs by phonetic spelling in a language other than English. For instance, an IString object  202  might contain Japanese Kanji in baseString  204 , hiragana in sortString  206 , and Cyrillic characters in altString  208  if IME  224  permits composition of Japanese Kanji characters by phonetic spelling in Russian. 
     A suitable constructor for receiving baseString  204 , sortString  206  and altString  208  from IME  224  via data entry methods  210  for entry into an IString object  202  may be: 
     /*************************************************** 
     * 
     * &lt;P&gt; &lt;/P&gt; 
     * 
     * &lt;dt&gt; &lt;b&gt; Description: &lt;/b&gt; &lt;dd&gt; 
     * &lt;p&gt; Allocate a new IString. The baseString, sortString and 
     * altString are entered from the IME utilizing the default language and 
     * locale. &lt;/p&gt; 
     * 
     *************************************************** 
     public IString(String base, 
     String sort, 
     String alt, 
     Locale src, 
     Locale tgt) { 
     this.baseString=base; 
     this.sortString=sort; 
     this.altString=alt; 
     this.sourceLocale=src.getLocale( ); 
     this.sourceLanguage=src.getLanguage( ); 
     this.targetLocale=tgt.getLocale( ); 
     this.targetLanguage=tgt.getLanguage( ); 
     init( ); 
     } 
     The contents of baseString  204 , sortString  206  and altString  208  are entered into the respective fields from data derived from IME  224 , while the contents of sourceLocale  212  and sourceLanguage  214  are entered from the default locale and language properties specified by the host system in which data is being entered into IString object  202 . The contents of targetLocale  216  and targetLanguage  218  will typically be a locale/language code for a language utilizing the latin character set such as “en_US” (English—United States). 
     Regardless of the language in which text is entered into an IString class object  202 , the data automatically entered into each of the baseString  204 , altString  206 , and sortString  208  by data entry methods  210  may be overridden or altered using other methods. The fields of an IString object  202  may preferably be individually and independently edited, allowing artificial promotion within sortString field  206  as described above, replacement of an erroneously selected ideograph in baseString field  204 , or correction of a phonetic spelling within altString field  208 . 
     While the above-described methods assumed that the source and target languages were taken from host system defaults, data may alternatively be entered into baseString  204 , sortString  206  and altString  208  for specified source and target languages utilizing the constructor: 
     /**************************************************** 
     * 
     * &lt;P&gt; &lt;/P&gt; 
     * 
     * &lt;dt&gt; &lt;b&gt; Description: &lt;/b&gt; &lt;dd&gt; 
     * &lt;p&gt;Allocate a new IString. The baseString, sortString and 
     * altString are entered from the IME for specified target and source 
     * language and locale. &lt;/p&gt; 
     * 
     *************************************************** 
     public IString(String base, 
     String sort, 
     String alt, 
     String srcLanguage, 
     String srcLocale, 
     String tgtLanguage, 
     String tgtLocale) { 
     this.baseString=base; 
     this.sortString=sort; 
     this.altString=alt; 
     this.sourceLocale=srcLocale; 
     this.sourceLanguage=srcLanguage; 
     this.targetLocale=tgtLocale; 
     this.targetLanguage=tgtLanguage; 
     init( ); 
     } 
     In this constructor, the source and target language and locale which are employed to select the characters entered into baseString  204 , sortString  206  and altString  208  may be specified. This latter constructor may be employed to create an IString object  202  in other than the host system default language, or in host systems where data for the IString object  202  is received from another system and a local instance is created. 
     It should be noted that transliteration engine  220  and messaging methods  226  need not necessarily be implemented within an IString class  202  as depicted in FIG. 2, and that IME method  224  need not be implemented separately. Transliteration engine  220  and messaging methods  226  may instead be implemented within separate subclasses which are appropriately constructed and/or invoked by IString class  202  as necessary, while IME  224  may be implemented as a method within IString class  202 . 
     Transliteration engine  220  and IME  224  and are only required by data entry methods  210  to gather input data for IString class  202  objects under certain locale and language property settings. Otherwise, data may be programmatically input into baseString  204 , sortString  206 , and altString  208  by invoking the proper constructor. The methods which may be invoked by programs at runtime to programmatically get and set fields within IString  202  include: 
     /*************************************************** 
     * 
     * &lt;P&gt; &lt;/P&gt; 
     * 
     * &lt;dt&gt; &lt;b&gt; Description: &lt;/b&gt; &lt;dd&gt; 
     * &lt;p&gt; Get the IString baseString. &lt;/p&gt; 
     * 
     * @returns str String containing the base string 
     * 
     *************************************************** 
     public String getBaseString( ) { 
     return this.baseString; 
     } 
     This method returns the contents for baseString  204  for an IString object  202 . Similar methods return the contents of sortString  206  and altString  208 : 
     /*************************************************** 
     * 
     * &lt;P&gt; &lt;/P&gt; 
     * 
     * &lt;dt&gt; &lt;b&gt; Description: &lt;/b&gt; &lt;dd&gt; 
     * &lt;p&gt; Get the IString sortString. &lt;/p&gt; 
     * 
     * @returns str String containing the sort string 
     * 
     *************************************************** 
     public String getSortString( ) { 
     return this.sortString; 
     } 
     /*************************************************** 
     * 
     * &lt;P&gt; &lt;/P&gt; 
     * 
     * &lt;dt&gt; &lt;b&gt; Description: &lt;/b&gt; &lt;dd&gt; 
     * &lt;p&gt; Get the IString altString. &lt;/p&gt; 
     * 
     * @returns str String containing the alt string 
     * 
     **************************************************** 
     public String getAltString( ) { 
     return this.altString; 
     } 
     The methods also include setting baseString  204 : 
     /*************************************************** 
     * 
     * &lt;P&gt; &lt;/P&gt; 
     * 
     * &lt;dt&gt; &lt;b&gt; Description: &lt;/b&gt; &lt;dd&gt; 
     * &lt;p&gt; Set the IString baseString. &lt;lp&gt; 
     * 
     * @param str String containing the base string 
     * 
     *************************************************** 
     public void setBaseString(String sBase) { 
     this.baseString=sBase; 
     } 
     as well as sortString  206  and altString  208 : 
     /*************************************************** 
     * 
     * &lt;P&gt; &lt;/P&gt; 
     * 
     * &lt;dt&gt; &lt;b&gt; Description: &lt;/b&gt; &lt;dd&gt; 
     * &lt;p&gt; Set the IString sortString. &lt;/p&gt; 
     * 
     * @param str String containing the sort string 
     * 
     *************************************************** 
     public void setSortString(String sSrt) { 
     this.sortString=sSrt; 
     } 
     /*************************************************** 
     * 
     * &lt;P&gt; &lt;/P&gt; 
     * 
     * &lt;dt&gt; &lt;b&gt; Description: &lt;/b&gt; &lt;dd&gt; 
     * &lt;p&gt; Set the IString altString. &lt;/p&gt; 
     * 
     * @param str String containing the alt string 
     * 
     *************************************************** 
     public void setAltString(String sAlt) { 
     this.altString=sAlt; 
     } 
     In addition to getting and setting baseString  204 , sortString  206 , and altString  208  for an IString object  202 , programs may need to get or set the display locale or language of an IString object  202 . Accordingly, other methods are provided to permit a program to get and/or set the locale or language properties of IString data: 
     /*************************************************** 
     * 
     * &lt;P&gt; &lt;/P&gt; 
     * 
     * &lt;dt&gt; &lt;b&gt; Description: &lt;/b&gt; &lt;dd&gt; 
     * &lt;p&gt; Get the locale of the IString data. &lt;/p&gt; 
     * 
     * @returns loc Locale containing the locale of the data 
     * 
     *************************************************** 
     public Locale getLocale( ) { 
     Locale loc=new Locale(this.sourceLanguage, this.sourceLocale); 
     return loc; 
     } 
     /*************************************************** 
     * &lt;P&gt; &lt;/P&gt; 
     * &lt;dt&gt; &lt;b&gt; Description: &lt;/b&gt; &lt;dd&gt; 
     * &lt;p&gt; Set the locale of the IString data. &lt;/p&gt; 
     * 
     * @param loc Locale of the data 
     * 
     *************************************************** 
     * public void setLocale(Locale loc) { 
     this.sourceLocale=loc.getLocale( ); 
     this.sourceLanguage=loc.getLanguage( ); 
     } 
     /*************************************************** 
     * 
     * P&gt; &lt;/P 
     * 
     * &lt;dt&gt; &lt;b&gt; Description: &lt;/b&gt; &lt;dd&gt; 
     * &lt;p&gt; Get the display language of the IString data. &lt;lp&gt; 
     * 
     * @returns Display language of the data 
     * 
     *************************************************** 
     public String getDisplayLanguage( ) { 
     Locale loc=new Locale(this.sourceLanguage, this.sourceLocale); 
     return loc.getDisplayLanguage( ); 
     } 
     /*************************************************** 
     * 
     * &lt;P&gt; &lt;/P&gt; 
     * 
     * &lt;dt&gt; &lt;b&gt; Description: &lt;/b&gt; &lt;dd&gt; 
     * &lt;p&gt; Get the display locale of the IString data. &lt;/p&gt; 
     * 
     * @returns Display locale of the data 
     *************************************************** 
     public String getDisplayLocale( ) { 
      if(this.sourceLanguage==null&amp;&amp;this.sourceLocale==null) 
     return null; 
      else { 
     Locale loc=new Localelthis.sourceLanguage, this.sourceLocale); 
     return loc.getDisplayLocale( ); 
     } 
     } 
     While these methods are available, IString class  202  preferably exhibits a “black box” behavior such that the programmer/user need not know anything about the methods implemented for IString class  202 . IString class  202  simply appears as a data type which encapsulates extra information about baseString  204  and also includes some methods for transforming characters from one character set to another. For special cases where the sortString field  206  or altString field  208  are to be exposed to the user in addition to or in lieu of baseString  204 , either for editing or for display only, a separate set of controls may be provided. 
     In the present invention, IString class  202  is employed to effectively transfer human language data across systems employing incongruous languages. The contents of baseString  204  provide a native representation of the text in the default language of the system originating the IString object  202 . However, for each system participating in the exchange of data with other systems running in different human languages, the targetLocale property  216  and targetLanguage  218  property of an IString object  202  are preferably set to a common value (e.g., targetLocale=“US”, targetLanguage=“en”). The contents of altString  208  will thus contain a common, cross-language representation of the text string. In systems where the default language of a system receiving an object differs from the language of the contents of baseString  204 , IString class object  202  may automatically switch to presenting the contents of altString  208  as the text string to be displayed or processed. 
     Referring to FIG. 3, a high level flowchart for a process of employing a multi-field text string class to sort text strings in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. FIG. 3 is intended to be read in conjunction with FIG.  2 . Normally text strings are sorted alphanumerically by the text contained within each respective string. With the three-field text class  202  of the present invention, objects may be artificially promoted by inserting extra, low-sort-value characters before the text in the sortString field  206  (e.g., “AAA_Frank Moss”) without those additional characters appearing in the display when the default baseString field  204  is displayed. 
     The three-field text class  202  of the present invention also provides another avenue for supporting alternative sort orders for different cultures. A group of IString objects  202  may be sorted by the Unicode value in the baseString field  204 . However, since ideographs having multiple meanings and/or pronunciations may not be sorted in a culturally correct order without knowledge of the associated pronunciation, sorting IString objects  202  may be based on the Unicode characters within the sortString field  306 . 
     While the Unicode character stored in the baseString field  204  of an IString class object  202  may provide no information as to the correct pronunciation, the characters within the sortString field  206  will provide culturally correct sort order information for the IString class object  202 . IString objects, therefore, may be sorted by employing the altString field  306  as the sort key rather than the baseString field  304 . This allows, for example, Japanese to be sorted in a culturally correct order despite the Unicode ordering of the Kanji character set and despite the fact that a particular ideographic symbol may have several different pronunciations and/or meanings. 
     Since the hiragana or katakana representation of the word is captured by IME  224  in the sortString field  206 , IString objects  202  may be sorted by sortString  206 , or first sorted by baseString  204  and, for subgroups of multiple objects having identical characters in the baseString field  204 , by altString  206  within such subgroups. The former approach would be preferable for Japanese, since the Unicode ordering is culturally incorrect. The latter approach may be preferable in other circumstances. 
     A high level flowchart for a process of sorting three-field text class objects in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in FIG.  3 . The process begins at step  302 , which depicts a sort of IString class objects being initiated. The process then passes to step  304 , which illustrates a determination of whether a sort key (baseString  204 , sortString  206 , or altString  208 ) has been specified. If so, the process proceeds to step  306 , which depicts sorting the subject IString objects utilizing the specified sort key. The process then passes to step  316 , which illustrates the process becoming idle until another sort of IString objects is initiated. 
     Referring again to step  304 , if no sort key is specified, the process proceeds instead to step  308 , which depicts checking the language and locale properties of the system in which the sorting is being performed. The process next passes to step  310 , which illustrates a determination of whether alternate key sorting is employed for the language or locale specified. If so, the process proceeds to step  312 , which depicts sorting the subject IString class objects by the default sort key for languages or locales which do not employ an alternate sort key, which is baseString  204  in the exemplary embodiment. The process then passes to step  316 . 
     If the language or locale specified by the language and locale properties employ an alternate sort key, the process proceeds from step  310  to step  314 , which illustrates sorting the subject IString class objects utilizing the alternate sort key, which would typically be sortString  206 . Alternatively, the sorting mechanism may sort first by a default sort key, such as baseString  204 , and then perform a secondary sort within objects having the same contents within baseString  204  by the alternate sort key, such as sortString  206 . The process then passes to step  316 . 
     It should be noted that employing sortString  206  for sorting purposes does not require the subject IString objects to be displayed utilizing sortString  206 . The objects may be sorted utilizing the contents of one field, but represented in the display by the contents of a different field. When integrated with the language and locale properties, this permits IString objects containing strings in languages such as Japanese to be automatically sorted in a culturally correct order, despite the order of the Unicode characters. This also permits artificially promoted IString objects to be displayed without displaying the mechanism by which the sort order was changed. 
     It is important to note that while the present invention has been described in the context of a fully functional data processing system and/or network, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mechanism of the present invention is capable of being distributed in the form of a computer usable medium of instructions in a variety of forms, and that the present invention applies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of computer usable mediums include: nonvolatile, hard-coded type mediums such as read only memories (ROMs) or erasable, electrically programmable read only memories (EEPROMs), recordable type mediums such as floppy disks, hard disk drives and CD-ROMs, and transmission type mediums such as digital and analog communication links. 
     While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.