X3Photo Gallery Forums

I would certainly say you have knack for pushing something to the breaking point, in this when you are challenging naming conventions across different platforms by using names like "0000000000000000.jpg" and "0000000000000000~profile.png". If you are naming files manually in the first place, then surely it makes more sense with 1.jpg 2.jpg, or 0001.jpg 0002.jpg? Simple solutions to get correct sorting.

First of all, where in the rule book does it say that "0000000000000000.jpg" should come before or after "0000000000000000~profile.png"? It would be based on some secondary rules depending on the platform (eg server, browser, desktop). Add a 1 there with the zero's, and you have consistent and logical sorting. Then there is alphanumerical sort vs "human" sort factors ... For example, what comes first of "2.jpg" and "10.jpg"? In normal order, 10.jpg will come first, because "1" is before "2", although humans will like to think 2 comes before 10. This varies across sorting mechanisms.

Then of course, I should mention there is already "Custom sort" option in X3, especially meant for when your images are not properly sorted by file name. This should really be the answer to your question.

groupname1~0000000000000.jpg
groupname1~0000000000000~profile.png
groupname1~0b9d98044419e03d.jpeg
groupname1~02d07f5062eca009.jpg

It seems this extreme naming convention is created because you already have loads of files that start with "0" and you don't want or can't rename them?

Thing is, I could do some tests and study exactly why X3 differs slightly, but in the end this is PHP and your server.

The simple solution would be to use a logical name sorting convention for alphanumerical sorting, or use custom sorting. If someone asked me how the items would sort (on any system), I probably couldn't even answer without testing. It definitely looks more correct in your Windows, but if PHP sorts like that, then something from groupname1~0* is triggering it.