topic Re: What is the alphanumeric sort order? in 3ds Max Forum

What is the alphanumeric sort order?

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 16:34:48 GMT

HI.

I've recently switched from Max 2014 to 2016 and am trying to adjust to the new layer system. In previous versions I've made use of the sorting order of characters in the layer manager. A period (.) would go before zero layer (0), then would be capital letters. Following capitals would be layers with an underscore (_) prefix, then lowercase letters, etc.

Is there any documentation on how characters are now sorted? And is there a way to change it?

Thanks,

Caleb

Re: What is the alphanumeric sort order?

ViperAleks — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 02:40:14 GMT

By default the layers order stay the same after renaming the layer name. You can sort the names clicking on the cell tab right above the layer names (Name Sorted Ascending, Descending, ...). Click on it couple of times to change the order.

Re: What is the alphanumeric sort order?

Anonymous — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 14:25:09 GMT

Yes, that I understand.

I found it annoying that the order was changed. In previous versions of Max, lowercase layers would go after uppercase, as well as other ordering changes. It made it easier to organize scenes with many layers.

Re: What is the alphanumeric sort order?

ViperAleks — Sat, 10 Sep 2016 06:58:35 GMT

I do agree. This is an annoying thing that the list of layers does not sort constantly.

Re: What is the alphanumeric sort order?

dylanVPLFP — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 16:06:43 GMT

I realise this thread is dead. But I do have an answer, manually tested with help from ChatGPT to pair with ASCII Code.

Hope this helps someone else 🙂

Order	Symbol	ASCII Code
1	' (apostrophe)	39
2	!	33
3	#	35
4	%	37
5	&	38
6	(	40
7	)	41
8	*	42
9	,	44
10	.	46
11	/	47
12	:	58
13	@	64
14	[	91
15	]	93
16	^	94
17	_	95
18	{	123
19	`	`
20	}	125
21	~	126
22	£	163
23	+	43
24	<	60
25	=	61
26	>	62
27	0 (default)	48 (0)