In the Configuration Manager dialog "Customization" you can specify a wide range of custom sorts for reporting. If these methods are not enough then you can write a plugin with a very specific sort order and set the server to use it instead.
This sample configures the server to do all collation and text sorting according to DIN 5007-2, a German standard.
A compiled version of the plugin is made available as collation.zip. In order to test this plugin, you need to copy the plugin ZIP file into the plugins folder of your installation or upload the plugin using Drag & Drop in the Store application. Afterwards the server needs to be restarted. You can check if the plugin was loaded in the dialog Store application. If there are problems, then check the log file of the server for more details.
Note: This will override (and hide) all former collation server settings in the Configuration Manager dialog "Customization".
If you want to write your own sorting plugin then you need to create an instance of java.text.Collator and register it in the ServerPluginManager. For more information please see the source files of this sample and the chapter Platform Programming Guide | Plugins in the Help of the SDK.
The following steps need to be taken if changes are made to the plugin code.
The plugin.properties and server plugin class are preconfigured to be used without modifications. If the sample is the basis for a custom plugin or just needs some adaptions, please refer to the platform programming guide for detailed instructions.
In order to build this plugin the following jar files are required at minimum:
inetcore.jar (included in the core directory)
These files are part of the SDK but will also be loaded from our public maven server when using the packaged build.gradle.
The plugin must be compiled into a jar file that is named like the id of the plugin. In this example it is collation.jar. It also must contain the compiled sources as well as required language resources and images.
The target plugin is a zip file, named collation.zip in this example. It contains the compiled jar file and the plugin.properties which configures the custom plugin.
The provided build.gradle in the sample can be used to build the plugin as well as any other build system.
Copy the ZIP file of the plugin into the plugins directory of the server or Drag & Drop the plugin into the Store application of the server for sideloading. Then restart the server. If there are problems, then check the log file of the server for more details. The "Config" logger is used to log plugin registration issues.