ara.t.howard / noaa.gov wrote:
> that sorts strings like this
> 
>   /dmsp/nrt/data/incoming/afwa/2006.f13_0731556_DT.DAT
>   /dmsp/nrt/data/incoming/afwa/2006.f13_0731737_DS.DAT
> 
> where
> 
>   2006.f13_0731556_DT.DAT
>   ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^
>   |    |   |       |
>   year sat time    type
> 
> first by sat, then by year, then by time and finally by type
> 
> using only
> 
>   pats = %w[  f\d\d  ^\d{4}  _\d{7}  _\w{2}  ].map{|p|/#{p}/}
> 
>   basenames.sort!{|a,b| pats.map{|pat| a[pat]} <=> pats.map{|pat| b[pat]} }

Interesting idea, but may be _\w{2}\. would be more appropriate instead 
of _\w{2} which can match also against a beginnig of the 'time' part. :)

P.