sortFunc never returns 0, so sorting reorders items with equal values
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Description
What happened:
sortFunc in web/src/utils/common.ts never returns 0. When the two values
are equal, a > b is false, so it falls through to the -1 branch:
export const sortFunc = (
a: string | number,
b: string | number,
direction: "ASC" | "DESC" = "ASC"
): number => {
if (direction === "ASC") return a > b ? 1 : -1; // equal -> -1
return a > b ? -1 : 1; // equal -> 1
};
So for identical inputs the comparator reports both a < b and b < a.
Array.prototype.sort is only stable when the comparator returns 0 for equal
elements, so equal elements get shuffled instead of keeping their original
order.
What you expected to happen:
Equal values compare as equal (return 0) and keep their relative order.
How to reproduce it:
Sorting a list where several entries share a name:
const items = [
{ name: "api", id: 1 }, { name: "api", id: 2 }, { name: "api", id: 3 },
{ name: "api", id: 4 }, { name: "api", id: 5 }, { name: "api", id: 6 },
{ name: "web", id: 7 }, { name: "api", id: 8 }, { name: "api", id: 9 },
{ name: "api", id: 10 }, { name: "api", id: 11 }, { name: "api", id: 12 },
];
items.sort((a, b) => sortFunc(a.name, b.name)).map(i => i.id);
actual: 12,11,10,9,8,6,5,4,3,2,1,7
expected: 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10,11,12,7
The equal-named entries come out fully reversed. The exact result also depends
on list length, since V8 switches sorting strategy for larger arrays, so short
lists can look fine while longer ones don't.
Where it shows up:
sortFunc sorts the piped/application lists in the four application forms
(application-form-v0, application-form-v1, application-form-manual-v0,
application-form-manual-v1) and in encrypt-secret-drawer, where duplicate
names are normal. sortDateFunc calls sortFunc, so it has the same problem
for equal timestamps.
web/src/utils/common.ts currently has no test file, which is probably why
this went unnoticed.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start in web/src/utils/common.ts by reading sortFunc and sortDateFunc, then inspect their usages in the application forms and encrypt-secret-drawer. Add focused tests for equal values in ascending and descending sorts, including equal timestamps, and confirm the original order is preserved while existing ordering still works.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- typescript
- Domain
- frontend, testing
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 2/5
- Estimated time
- 1-3 hours
- Activity status
- Active
- Clarity
- Clearly specified
- Newbie friendliness
- 78/100