Just screwing around with further sorting files and such out on my computer. Discovered some interesting notes.
We all are aware that underscoring files makes them top-priority when sorted alphabetically/by name. Besides adding a period or exclamation mark beforehand to be even higher ranking than that (though I generally wouldn't advise doing so; more underscores works better), I stumbled upon 2 different bottom-ranker ASCII symbols you can use to do the polar opposite of this trick, for whatever reason you see fit (like using a separate folder on your desktop as a de-facto TO-DO list, or sorting your favorite music in a folder for games like Beat Hazard or something; no content necessary, just titles and auto-sorting by date modified or name (text files or shortcuts to nowhere are safest to use in this case); Yes, I am THAT lazy.).
Anyway, the symbols I discovered that work like a charm, similar to _filename.txt (or more _'s to promote even higher), are ∞ (Infinity, ALT+236) for non-alpha sorting numerically (or in plain English: Bottom of filenames that begin with numbers, but not letters (_, 0→9, ∞, A-Z, a-z), no matter what.). Just as well, and better-yet, to absolutely nail something to the bottom of any file list, including shortcuts, which are somehow even lower ranking alphabetically, somehow, prefix with Ω (Omega, ALT+234). Basically, Ω is the ultimate bottom-rank override.
So, we have a sorting system refined to being: (special characters), 0-9, ∞, Latin accent characters, (Alphabet) Roman characters, Greek characters, ending with Ω at the very bottom, regardless.
Cleaned up: !._, 0-9, ∞, â-ÿ, A-Z/a-z, α-Ω
Something neat I learned/stumbled across; It's always the things I stumble across that are usually the most satisfying to learn/apply. Now you know. Happy sorting.
EDIT:
Adding more Ωs is just like adding more _s to the prefix of a file. It ranks them worse than the previous Ω. So it truly is the polar opposite of underscoring your files. Same can be said for the numerical equivalent for the ∞s (sorry, -∞ doesn't do what you'd expect; but - is higher than a number, but lesser than an _). And yes, they can stack somehow.
!Highest-of-the-High
.Way-Higher
___Highest
___∞Highest-Bottom-Most-Number
___ΩHighest-Worst
__Higher
__ΩΩΩΩHigher-Ranking-Worst
_High
_ΩHigh-Worse
_ΩΩHigh-Even-Worst
_ΩΩΩHigh-Worst
0stuff
1thing
9things
-∞things
∞things
Anything
Regular-Stuff
Ω_Worse-High
ΩWorse
ΩΩ__Even-Worse-Higher
ΩΩ_Even-Worse-High
ΩΩEven-Worse
ΩΩΩWorst
This can get zany if you're not paying attention to your own ranking system, and maybe make your head hurt keeping track of multiple tiered proper alphabets. A legend for reference about your own ranking system within a single folder using these will help.
Mind you, prior sorting rules still apply per-character. And to have spaces in your file name prefixes, ALT+255 ( ) actually works; but I advise against using it. Overall, I advise you make a legend for these things (at least so you can tier them properly; or if you intend on using regular expressions for sorting a crap-ton of files, especially in a single folder, all at once), so you won't get confused.
CAUTION:
Latin accents may still be ranked just like regular Roman alphabet, and even mix-rank. After all, they're the same letter, just with an accent. Looks silly, but can be funny screwing around with the orders of different things by abusing this sorting anomaly (If you have people who sort data alot, then you can definitely give them a hard time with this, even when file sharing, I would think as well. It would be an OCD nightmare. Best-used as an April Fool's prank for the OCD in your lot, or the NSA when sorting through files (if raw copy).). Hell, file searching would be more tedious because of accent usage (or a bunch of _/Ω tiers) as prefixes, especially when replacing the first relevant letter (best AS the first character; so accented vowels, keep in mind). Then again, regular expressions...
EDIT EDIT:
I can't help but to state, after all this: I am the
Underscore, and the Omega. Screw Alpha.
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