sortkey

noun

sortkey

noun

Etymology From sort + key.

1

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A key (field or value) by which data items are sorted.

Output conversion routines may be applied to sortkey items before they are sorted.1973, Generalized Data Base Management Systems, page 257:
Sortkeys are made by picking out delimiting characters and special signs.1975, Network, Library and Information Science Division of the World Information Systems Exchange, page 15:

1 more example

In data-processing terminology, descriptors by which a file is ordered are called sortkeys. (Likewise, descriptors used in searching are called search keys.) A library catalog may be arranged by sortkey 1: author, and sortkey 2: title.1985, Dagobert Soergel, Organizing Information: Principles of Data Base and Retrieval Systems (Library and Information Science Series), Academic Press, →ISBN, page 200:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.