RE: [search-ws] RE: sru/cql sort

["LeVan,Ralph" <levan@oclc.org>]

> > Sure, it affects the ordering, but not the creation of the result
> > set. It's just as legitimate to do the sorting after the result set
> > creation as during; it's just not as convenient.
> 
> That's not correct.  If you sort a resultset you create a new
resultset
> as the ordering has changed.  Sort order is an inherent part of the
> result set, otherwise we could reuse the identifier for a re-sorted
> result set.
> 
> "Processing of a query results in the selection of a set of records,
> represented by a result set maintained at the server; logically it is
> an
> ordered list of references to the records. Once created, a result set
> cannot be modified. Any operation which would somehow change a result
> set instead creates a new result set."

I suppose that's true enough, as modeling, but it has no practical
implications.  Sorting can still be a separate step, completely
independent of the query.  None of which has any bearing on whether the
sort specification should be transmitted as a separate parameter or
buried in the query.

Ralph