World: r4wp

Back to the drawing board Sujoy and displaying the elements you want 
to use in your function piece by piece and maybe dump-obj is of any 
use?
(Now you don't use a and c)

the sort/compare works great if its an object...am stuck because 
its a hash

Testing your code. What is COMPS?

sorry - comps should be h - the hash

ok, the sort function must only have 2 parameters.

not quite understanding how to use sort with this structure...

The structure is a little strange. Are you trying to sort the outer 
hash or the inner hash?

both actually - need the outer hash sorted based on a property of 
the object inside the inner hash

ideally, would like to keep the hash h intact for retrieval by the 
keys

The data you have pasted, contains two identical objects, so am not 
sure what the outcome is supposed to be.

here's the hash closer to reality:
#[hash!["20Th Century Finance Corpn. Ltd. [Merged]" #[object! [
        name: "20Th Century Finance Corpn. Ltd. [Merged]"
        mcapz: #[hash!["1993-1994" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 30-Sep-1993
                rebal-year: 1993
                ln-mcap: 5.07528783998276
                mcap: 160.018245
                ltmto: 0
            ]] "1992-1993" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 30-Sep-1992
                rebal-year: 1992
                ln-mcap: 4.64720424566052
                mcap: 104.293
                ltmto: 0
            ]] "1991-1992" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 27-Sep-1991
                rebal-year: 1991
                ln-mcap: 3.28196329373846
                mcap: 26.628
                ltmto: 0
            ]] "1996-1997" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 30-Sep-1996
                rebal-year: 1996
                ln-mcap: 4.22786241308827
                mcap: 68.5705
                ltmto: 4.4951
            ]] "1995-1996" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 29-Sep-1995
                rebal-year: 1995
                ln-mcap: 4.6522555263423
                mcap: 104.821146
                ltmto: 1.9152
            ]] "1994-1995" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 30-Sep-1994
                rebal-year: 1994
                ln-mcap: 5.60133608288591
                mcap: 270.787961
                ltmto: 0
            ]] "1999-2000" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 1-Sep-1999
                rebal-year: 1999
                ln-mcap: #[none]
                mcap: #[none]
                ltmto: 0.3847
            ]] "1998-1999" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 30-Sep-1998
                rebal-year: 1998
                ln-mcap: 3.26596118430253
                mcap: 26.205287
                ltmto: 1.8029
            ]] "1997-1998" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 30-Sep-1997
                rebal-year: 1997
                ln-mcap: 3.70636432395486
                mcap: 40.705545
                ltmto: 4.0871
            ]]]]
    ]] "3M India Ltd." #[object! [
        name: "3M India Ltd."
        mcapz: #[hash!["1993-1994" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 30-Sep-1993
                rebal-year: 1993
                ln-mcap: 5.2695189287062
                mcap: 194.322457
                ltmto: 0
            ]] "1992-1993" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 30-Sep-1992
                rebal-year: 1992
                ln-mcap: 5.16365007188814
                mcap: 174.80133
                ltmto: 0
            ]] "1991-1992" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 27-Sep-1991
                rebal-year: 1991
                ln-mcap: 5.13698182480598
                mcap: 170.201295
                ltmto: 0
            ]] "1994-1995" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 30-Sep-1994
                rebal-year: 1994
                ln-mcap: 5.67980332582336
                mcap: 292.89182
                ltmto: 0
            ]] "1995-1996" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 29-Sep-1995
                rebal-year: 1995
                ln-mcap: 5.36086870986747
                mcap: 212.909823
                ltmto: 2.438
            ]] "1996-1997" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 27-Sep-1996
                rebal-year: 1996
                ln-mcap: 5.29527142738166
                mcap: 199.391739
                ltmto: 13.7717
            ]] "1999-2000" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 30-Sep-1999
                rebal-year: 1999
                ln-mcap: 6.62266108574718
                mcap: 751.943423
                ltmto: 70.8157
            ]] "1998-1999" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 30-Sep-1998
                rebal-year: 1998
                ln-mcap: 5.59892693888198
                mcap: 270.136379
                ltmto: 12.1941
            ]] "1997-1998" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 30-Sep-1997
                rebal-year: 1997
                ln-mcap: 5.41116944722567
                mcap: 223.893266
                ltmto: 10.31
            ]] "2002-2003" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 30-Sep-2002
                rebal-year: 2002
                ln-mcap: 5.87169433363346
                mcap: 354.849705
                ltmto: 18.495901
            ]] "2001-2002" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 28-Sep-2001
                rebal-year: 2001
                ln-mcap: 5.70261800358953
                mcap: 299.650862
                ltmto: 17.817
            ]] "2000-2001" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 29-Sep-2000
                rebal-year: 2000
                ln-mcap: 6.51937914011665
                mcap: 678.157214
                ltmto: 39.9108
            ]] "2003-2004" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 30-Sep-2003
                rebal-year: 2003
                ln-mcap: 6.14402101757279
                mcap: 465.923295
                ltmto: 22.518454
            ]] "2004-2005" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 30-Sep-2004
                rebal-year: 2004
                ln-mcap: 6.36648735824138
                mcap: 582.009842
                ltmto: 18.47743
            ]] "2005-2006" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 30-Sep-2005
                rebal-year: 2005
                ln-mcap: 6.89448778574422
                mcap: 986.820132
                ltmto: 76.96006
            ]] "2007-2008" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 28-Sep-2007
                rebal-year: 2007
                ln-mcap: 7.61782530207882
                mcap: 2034.13369
                ltmto: 565.232151
            ]] "2006-2007" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 29-Sep-2006
                rebal-year: 2006
                ln-mcap: 7.29216005157061
                mcap: 1468.739827
                ltmto: 326.743221999999
            ]] "2008-2009" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 30-Sep-2008
                rebal-year: 2008
                ln-mcap: 7.3914506403371
                mcap: 1622.057429
                ltmto: 244.97382
            ]] "2010-2011" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 30-Sep-2010
                rebal-year: 2010
                ln-mcap: 8.40720356304076
                mcap: 4479.217133
                ltmto: 123.100087
            ]] "2009-2010" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 30-Sep-2009
                rebal-year: 2009
                ln-mcap: 7.58070461394744
                mcap: 1960.009529
                ltmto: 91.0568390000001
            ]] "2011-2012" #[object! [
                yyyymmdd: 30-Sep-2011
                rebal-year: 2011
                ln-mcap: 8.45073201719186
                mcap: 4678.496222
                ltmto: 282.168385
            ]]]]
    ]]

i need to sort the hash based on a param (mcap) for an input year 
(say "1991-1992")

then do things like 
1. select the top 50%
2. calculate interquartile ranges etc.

Why do the brackets not match...

apologies again - extracted this fragment from a gzillion mb file 
- there should be     
  ]]]]
at the end

aha, skipping does work, but the comparison happens on the strings 
instead of the objects.

yes...
>> sort/skip/compare/all comps 2 func [a b][a > b ]
..sorts in reverse order

i cant seem to reference the object!

is MCAPZ the same as ATTRIBS?

yes

if i do:

>> sort/skip/compare/all comps 2 func [a b][length? a/mcapz > length? 
b/mcapz ]
i get an invalid path error

and what i need to do is more complex than that :(

you can do a REVERSE H before and after the sorting. That allows 
SORT to grab the objects.

let me try...

>> reverse comps sort/skip/compare/all comps 2 func [a b][length? 
a/mcapz  > length? b/mcapz ]
** Script Error: Invalid path value: mcapz
** Near: length? a/mcapz > length? b/mcapz

Try:


func [a b][probe type? a probe type? b length? a/mcapz  > length? 
b/mcapz ]

when you use /all,   you get two BLOCKS.  one for each record of 
length /skip

so your function is called like so: 

sort-func [   "2009-2010"  #[object! [  ... ]]  ]      [ "2011-2012" 
 #[object! [ ... ]]   ]

aha, that means you don't need the REVERSE. You just need to reference 
the values differently.

reverse comps sort/skip/compare/all comps 2  func [a b][probe type? 
a probe type? b length? a/mcapz  > length? b/mcapz ]

block!
block!
** Script Error: Invalid path value: mcapz
** Near: length? a/mcapz > length? b/mcapz

Maxim's SORT-FUNC block shows you how to reference the values properly.

my last example above with ?? added shows this clearly:


>>  sort/skip/compare/all [1 [2  "a"] 0 [4 "z"] 5 [4 "m"]] 2 func 
[a b][ ?? a  ?? b   a/2/2 < b/2/2 ]
a: [0 [4 "z"]]
b: [5 [4 "m"]]
a: [1 [2 "a"]]
b: [0 [4 "z"]]
a: [5 [4 "m"]]
b: [1 [2 "a"]]
== [1 [2 "a"] 5 [4 "m"] 0 [4 "z"]]


what is part of the record is completely irrelevant to sort, it transfers 
all control to your function.

the only really problem with a compare func is that you must be sure 
that your data can be compared (which is not true for all types.

ex:  true/false  is not defined for all comparison ops:
>>   true > false
** Script Error: Cannot use greater? on logic! value
** Near: true > false

am getting somewhere (i think)
>> sort/skip/compare/all comps 2 func [a b][o: a/2/mcapz probe o]
=== make hash! ["2003-2004" make object! [
        yyyymmdd: 30-Sep-2003
        rebal-year: 2003
        ...]]
etc

so it is a referencing problem

yep... its the /2/ which is important here  <:-)

just discovered another problem though...not all inner hashes have 
the same years - so one objects inner hash may have key "1991-1992" 
while another may not

looks like i will have to collect the objects/inner-hash-objects 
into a separate collection, then apply the sorting on the new collection

c: copy[] foreach [k v] comps [if select v/mcapz "1991-1992" [append 
c v]] or some such

then use maxim's sort-func on c instead

is that generally the right direction? i would have ideally liked 
to have avoided creating new blocks to conserve memory...

you can simply say that when an entry doesn't have a year, it is 
always larger,  so you have them at the end of the list.  you could 
then sort those without a date according to their name.


if you want just the list for "1991-1992" yes, that is a good approach... 


however usually, the fastest way to filter-out lists, is to copy 
the block (not deep, so its quick) and then use remove-each on the 
new block... like-so:

filtered-data: copy data

remove-each [hash mcapz] filtered-data [ not select mcapz "1991-1992"]

will try with both approaches.

thanks for the filtered-data tip maxim - will definitely move to 
that!

anyone know which one of these would be the correct one to use?

1. percentile: func[s p /local n][n: round/floor (p * (length? s) 
+ 0.5) return s/(n - 1)]

2. percentile: func[s p /local n][n: round/floor (p * (length? s) 
+ 0.5) return s/(n)]

s is a sorted series, p is a decimal from 0.0 to 1.0

Those radio buttons are a real pain in the ... . Somebody please 
rewrite those and make a radiogroup that makes sense?

view layout [
    radio-line of 'a "Check this out"
    radio-line of 'a "or this"
    pad 8
    radio-line of 'b "Or Check this out"
    radio-line of 'b "or this"
    radio-line of 'b "or that"
]

What' exactly is your problem with radio buttons, Arnold?

Well it was quite a problem to get the selected value. I ended up 
first initialising all /data fields to their respective values beforehand 
to true for the one on and false for the two unselected ones. After 
that the fields behaved like you would expect, being true in case 
the selection was on this button and false if not selected.
Radio-line is new to me.

Something like this cost me only a couple of hours trial and err 
(mostly err) for there was no proper example to copy and it didn't 
work out of the box without the initialisations. 
main: layout [
a: radio on 'things lbl-a: "A"
b: radio of 'things lbl-b: "B"
etc]
a/data: true
b/data: false
view main

by default all radio buttons in the same pane switch together, you 
can just wrap your radio buttons in a panel.