Troubleshooting Mac OS X 10.2.x: Numeric sort order

Though we've discussed Mac OS X's inability to properly open files according to creation date, or sequential naming order, Tim Nowak describes a problem with the actual numerical sorting used by the Finder.

To reproduce the problem, create a folder. Put a small file in it and duplicate it until there are six files in the folder. Rename the six items to these names:

• 002.gif
• 002.jpg
• 02.gif
• 130306_21.jpg
• 13316617.jpg
• 88004.jpg

View the folder "as List" and sort it by name. Why is 13316617.jpg at the top and 130306_021.jpg at the bottom? This is not numeric, logical, or nature sort order.

Nowak writes "This is only in Finder related list views. When viewing the same folder through another application such as GraphicConverter's 'Convert' screen the files list in the expect sorted order."

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