Check whether the locale data should use locale aware sorting

[ST-DDT]

We should check whether the locale data should be sorted with their original locale in mind.

faker/scripts/generate-locales.ts

Line 301 in 7fb9bb5

.sort() as T

[ST-DDT]

Blocked by the initial sorting of the locale data after #2265

• infra: implement inactive locales content generation enhancement #2265

[xDivisionByZerox]

Potentially relevant implementation details in #2265 (comment).

Same as with the language aware letters. I can extend the previos compare function to be numeric aware:

const arr = ['B', 'A', 'Å', 'Å9', 'Å11']
const sorted = arr.toSorted((a,b) => a.localeCompare(b, undefined, { numeric: true }));
console.log(sorted); // ['A', 'Å', 'Å9', 'Å11', 'B']

[matthewmayer]

i tried a draft implementation at #2906 - this is imperfect, but gives you an idea of the scope of the likely changes if this is done.

[ST-DDT]

Team Decision

The current locale unaware sorting is good enough/the best approach for our contributor experience.

We will add a comment to the script similar to this one:

We cannot sort this locale aware, as the sort order is not stable within node versions #2905

faker/scripts/generate-locales.ts

Lines 300 to 301 in a5ffca1

	// sort entries alphabetically
	.sort() as T

[Shinigami92]

I did some research, digged down the rabbit-hole and found a bit out about ICU

so FFR, here is a list of helpful links:

• https://nodejs.org/api/intl.html#providing-icu-data-at-runtime
• https://www.npmjs.com/package/icu4c-data?activeTab=versions
• https://unicode-org.github.io/icu-docs/apidoc/released/icu4c/
• https://www.npmjs.com/package/node-icu
• https://github.com/Metrological/icudata/tree/master
• https://github.com/unicode-org/icu
• https://github.com/unicode-org/icu/releases/tag/release-75-1

This could be used to download the icu.dat file and store it in some cached way locally and pinned for execution when sorting

However I dont have the time right now, so it is just a way and idea and up for experimental grab if someone cares 🙂

[ST-DDT]

We will add a comment to the script similar to this one:

We cannot sort this locale aware, as the sort order is not stable within node versions #2905

Done:

• docs: document unstable icu sort order #2948