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NAME

       Unicode::Collate - Unicode Collation Algorithm

SYNOPSIS

         use Unicode::Collate;

         #construct
         $Collator = Unicode::Collate->new(%tailoring);

         #sort
         @sorted = $Collator->sort(@not_sorted);

         #compare
         $result = $Collator->cmp($a, $b); # returns 1, 0, or -1.

       Note: Strings in @not_sorted, $a and $b are interpreted according to Perl's Unicode support. See
       perlunicode, perluniintro, perlunitut, perlunifaq, utf8.  Otherwise you can use "preprocess" or should
       decode them before.

DESCRIPTION

       This module is an implementation of Unicode Technical Standard #10 (a.k.a. UTS #10) - Unicode Collation
       Algorithm (a.k.a. UCA).

   Constructor and Tailoring
       The "new" method returns a collator object. If new() is called with no parameters, the collator should do
       the default collation.

          $Collator = Unicode::Collate->new(
             UCA_Version => $UCA_Version,
             alternate => $alternate, # alias for 'variable'
             backwards => $levelNumber, # or \@levelNumbers
             entry => $element,
             hangul_terminator => $term_primary_weight,
             highestFFFF => $bool,
             identical => $bool,
             ignoreName => qr/$ignoreName/,
             ignoreChar => qr/$ignoreChar/,
             ignore_level2 => $bool,
             katakana_before_hiragana => $bool,
             level => $collationLevel,
             minimalFFFE => $bool,
             normalization  => $normalization_form,
             overrideCJK => \&overrideCJK,
             overrideHangul => \&overrideHangul,
             preprocess => \&preprocess,
             rearrange => \@charList,
             rewrite => \&rewrite,
             suppress => \@charList,
             table => $filename,
             undefName => qr/$undefName/,
             undefChar => qr/$undefChar/,
             upper_before_lower => $bool,
             variable => $variable,
          );

       UCA_Version
           If  the revision (previously "tracking version") number of UCA is given, behavior of that revision is
           emulated on collating.  If omitted, the return value of "UCA_Version()" is used.

           The following revisions are supported.  The default is 26.

                UCA       Unicode Standard         DUCET (@version)
              -------------------------------------------------------
                 8              3.1                3.0.1 (3.0.1d9)
                 9     3.1 with Corrigendum 3      3.1.1 (3.1.1)
                11              4.0                4.0.0 (4.0.0)
                14             4.1.0               4.1.0 (4.1.0)
                16              5.0                5.0.0 (5.0.0)
                18             5.1.0               5.1.0 (5.1.0)
                20             5.2.0               5.2.0 (5.2.0)
                22             6.0.0               6.0.0 (6.0.0)
                24             6.1.0               6.1.0 (6.1.0)
                26             6.2.0               6.2.0 (6.2.0)

           * Noncharacters (e.g. U+FFFF) are not ignored, and can be overridden since "UCA_Version" 22.

           * Fully ignorable characters were ignored, and would not interrupt contractions with "UCA_Version"  9
           and 11.

           * Treatment of ignorables after variables and some behaviors were changed at "UCA_Version" 9.

           * Characters regarded as CJK unified ideographs (cf. "overrideCJK") depend on "UCA_Version".

           * Many hangul jamo are assigned at "UCA_Version" 20, that will affect "hangul_terminator".

       alternate
           -- see 3.2.2 Alternate Weighting, version 8 of UTS #10

           For backward compatibility, "alternate" (old name) can be used as an alias for "variable".

       backwards
           -- see 3.4 Backward Accents, UTS #10.

                backwards => $levelNumber or \@levelNumbers

           Weights in reverse order; ex. level 2 (diacritic ordering) in French.  If omitted (or $levelNumber is
           "undef" or "\@levelNumbers" is "[]"), forwards at all the levels.

       entry
           -- see 5 Tailoring; 3.6.1 File Format, UTS #10.

           If  the  same  character  (or a sequence of characters) exists in the collation element table through
           "table", mapping to collation elements is overridden.  If it does not exist, the mapping  is  defined
           additionally.

               entry => <<'ENTRY', # for DUCET v4.0.0 (allkeys-4.0.0.txt)
           0063 0068 ; [.0E6A.0020.0002.0063] # ch
           0043 0068 ; [.0E6A.0020.0007.0043] # Ch
           0043 0048 ; [.0E6A.0020.0008.0043] # CH
           006C 006C ; [.0F4C.0020.0002.006C] # ll
           004C 006C ; [.0F4C.0020.0007.004C] # Ll
           004C 004C ; [.0F4C.0020.0008.004C] # LL
           00F1      ; [.0F7B.0020.0002.00F1] # n-tilde
           006E 0303 ; [.0F7B.0020.0002.00F1] # n-tilde
           00D1      ; [.0F7B.0020.0008.00D1] # N-tilde
           004E 0303 ; [.0F7B.0020.0008.00D1] # N-tilde
           ENTRY

               entry => <<'ENTRY', # for DUCET v4.0.0 (allkeys-4.0.0.txt)
           00E6 ; [.0E33.0020.0002.00E6][.0E8B.0020.0002.00E6] # ae ligature as <a><e>
           00C6 ; [.0E33.0020.0008.00C6][.0E8B.0020.0008.00C6] # AE ligature as <A><E>
           ENTRY

           NOTE:  The  code  point  in the UCA file format (before ';') must be a Unicode code point (defined as
           hexadecimal), but not a native code point.  So 0063 must always denote "U+0063", but not a  character
           of "\x63".

           Weighting  may  vary  depending on collation element table.  So ensure the weights defined in "entry"
           will be consistent with those in the collation element table loaded via "table".

           In DUCET v4.0.0, primary weight of "C" is 0E60 and that of "D" is "0E6D". So setting  primary  weight
           of  "CH"  to  "0E6A"  (as  a  value between 0E60 and "0E6D") makes ordering as "C < CH < D".  Exactly
           speaking DUCET already has some characters between "C" and "D": "small  capital  C"  ("U+1D04")  with
           primary  weight 0E64, "c-hook/C-hook" ("U+0188/U+0187") with 0E65, and "c-curl" ("U+0255") with 0E69.
           Then primary weight "0E6A" for "CH" makes "CH" ordered between "c-curl" and "D".

       hangul_terminator
           -- see 7.1.4 Trailing Weights, UTS #10.

           If a true value is given (non-zero but should be positive), it will be added as a terminator  primary
           weight  to the end of every standard Hangul syllable. Secondary and any higher weights for terminator
           are set to zero.  If the value is false or "hangul_terminator"  key  does  not  exist,  insertion  of
           terminator weights will not be performed.

           Boundaries  of  Hangul  syllables are determined according to conjoining Jamo behavior in the Unicode
           Standard and HangulSyllableType.txt.

           Implementation Note: (1) For expansion mapping (Unicode character mapped to a sequence  of  collation
           elements),  a  terminator  will  not  be  added  between  collation elements, even if Hangul syllable
           boundary exists there.  Addition of terminator is  restricted  to  the  next  position  to  the  last
           collation element.

           (2)  Non-conjoining Hangul letters (Compatibility Jamo, halfwidth Jamo, and enclosed letters) are not
           automatically terminated with a terminator primary weight.   These  characters  may  need  terminator
           included in a collation element table beforehand.

       highestFFFF
           -- see 5.14 Collation Elements, UTS #35.

           If  the  parameter  is  made  true,  "U+FFFF"  has  a  highest  primary  weight.   When  a boolean of
           "$coll->ge($str, "abc")" and "$coll->le($str, "abc\x{FFFF}")" is  true,  it  is  expected  that  $str
           begins  with  "abc",  or  another  primary  equivalent.  $str may be "abcd", "abc012", but should not
           include "U+FFFF" such as "abc\x{FFFF}xyz".

           "$coll->le($str, "abc\x{FFFF}")" works like "$coll->lt($str, "abd")" almostly, but the latter  has  a
           problem  that  you  should know which letter is next to "c". For a certain language where "ch" as the
           next letter, "abch" is greater than "abc\x{FFFF}", but lesser than "abd".

           Note: This is equivalent to "entry => 'FFFF ; [.FFFE.0020.0005.FFFF]'".   Any  other  character  than
           "U+FFFF" can be tailored by "entry".

       identical
           -- see A.3 Deterministic Comparison, UTS #10.

           By  default,  strings  whose weights are equal should be equal, even though their code points are not
           equal.  Completely ignorable characters are ignored.

           If the parameter is made true, a final, tie-breaking level is used.  If no difference of  weights  is
           found  after  the  comparison  through  all  the level specified by "level", the comparison with code
           points will be performed.  For the tie-breaking comparision, the sort key  has  code  points  of  the
           original string appended.  Completely ignorable characters are not ignored.

           If  "preprocess"  and/or "normalization" is applied, the code points of the string after them (in NFD
           by default) are used.

       ignoreChar
       ignoreName
           -- see 3.6.2 Variable Weighting, UTS #10.

           Makes the entry in the table completely ignorable; i.e. as if the weights were zero at all level.

           Through "ignoreChar", any character matching "qr/$ignoreChar/" will be ignored. Through "ignoreName",
           any character whose name (given in the "table" file as a comment) matches "qr/$ignoreName/"  will  be
           ignored.

           E.g. when 'a' and 'e' are ignorable, 'element' is equal to 'lament' (or 'lmnt').

       ignore_level2
           -- see 5.1 Parametric Tailoring, UTS #10.

           By  default,  case-sensitive  comparison  (that  is level 3 difference) won't ignore accents (that is
           level 2 difference).

           If the parameter is made true, accents (and other primary ignorable  characters)  are  ignored,  even
           though cases are taken into account.

           NOTE: "level" should be 3 or greater.

       katakana_before_hiragana
           -- see 7.2 Tertiary Weight Table, UTS #10.

           By default, hiragana is before katakana.  If the parameter is made true, this is reversed.

           NOTE:  This  parameter  simplemindedly  assumes that any hiragana/katakana distinctions must occur in
           level 3, and their weights at level 3 must be same as those mentioned in  7.3.1,  UTS  #10.   If  you
           define your collation elements which violate this requirement, this parameter does not work validly.

       level
           -- see 4.3 Form Sort Key, UTS #10.

           Set the maximum level.  Any higher levels than the specified one are ignored.

             Level 1: alphabetic ordering
             Level 2: diacritic ordering
             Level 3: case ordering
             Level 4: tie-breaking (e.g. in the case when variable is 'shifted')

             ex.level => 2,

           If omitted, the maximum is the 4th.

           NOTE:  The  DUCET  includes  weights over 0xFFFF at the 4th level.  But this module only uses weights
           within  0xFFFF.   When  "variable"  is  'blanked'  or  'non-ignorable'  (other  than  'shifted'   and
           'shift-trimmed'), the level 4 may be unreliable.

           See also "identical".

       minimalFFFE
           -- see 5.14 Collation Elements, UTS #35.

           If  the  parameter  is  made  true,  "U+FFFE"  has  a minimal primary weight.  The comparison between
           "$a1\x{FFFE}$a2" and "$b1\x{FFFE}$b2" first compares $a1 and $b1 at level 1, and then $a2 and $b2  at
           level 1, as followed.

                   "ab\x{FFFE}a"
                   "Ab\x{FFFE}a"
                   "ab\x{FFFE}c"
                   "Ab\x{FFFE}c"
                   "ab\x{FFFE}xyz"
                   "abc\x{FFFE}def"
                   "abc\x{FFFE}xYz"
                   "aBc\x{FFFE}xyz"
                   "abcX\x{FFFE}def"
                   "abcx\x{FFFE}xyz"
                   "b\x{FFFE}aaa"
                   "bbb\x{FFFE}a"

           Note:  This  is  equivalent  to "entry => 'FFFE ; [.0001.0020.0005.FFFE]'".  Any other character than
           "U+FFFE" can be tailored by "entry".

       normalization
           -- see 4.1 Normalize, UTS #10.

           If specified, strings are normalized before preparation of sort keys (the normalization  is  executed
           after preprocess).

           A  form  name  "Unicode::Normalize::normalize()"  accepts  will  be  applied  as $normalization_form.
           Acceptable names include 'NFD', 'NFC', 'NFKD', and 'NFKC'.  See "Unicode::Normalize::normalize()" for
           detail.  If omitted, 'NFD' is used.

           "normalization" is performed after "preprocess" (if defined).

           Furthermore, special values, "undef" and "prenormalized", can be used, though they are not  concerned
           with "Unicode::Normalize::normalize()".

           If  "undef"  (not a string "undef") is passed explicitly as the value for this key, any normalization
           is not carried out (this may make tailoring easier  if  any  normalization  is  not  desired).  Under
           "(normalization  =>  undef)",  only  contiguous contractions are resolved; e.g. even if "A-ring" (and
           "A-ring-cedilla") is ordered after "Z", "A-cedilla-ring" would be primary  equal  to  "A".   In  this
           point,  "(normalization  =>  undef,  preprocess  =>  sub  {  NFD(shift)  })"  is  not  equivalent  to
           "(normalization => 'NFD')".

           In the case of  "(normalization  =>  "prenormalized")",  any  normalization  is  not  performed,  but
           discontiguous  contractions  with  combining  characters are performed.  Therefore "(normalization =>
           'prenormalized', preprocess => sub { NFD(shift) })" is equivalent to "(normalization => 'NFD')".   If
           source  strings  are  finely  prenormalized,  "(normalization  => 'prenormalized')" may save time for
           normalization.

           Except "(normalization => undef)", Unicode::Normalize is required (see also CAVEAT).

       overrideCJK
           -- see 7.1 Derived Collation Elements, UTS #10.

           By default, CJK unified ideographs are ordered in Unicode codepoint  order,  but  those  in  the  CJK
           Unified Ideographs block are lesser than those in the CJK Unified Ideographs Extension A etc.

               In the CJK Unified Ideographs block:
               U+4E00..U+9FA5 if UCA_Version is 8, 9 or 11.
               U+4E00..U+9FBB if UCA_Version is 14 or 16.
               U+4E00..U+9FC3 if UCA_Version is 18.
               U+4E00..U+9FCB if UCA_Version is 20 or 22.
               U+4E00..U+9FCC if UCA_Version is 24 or 26.

               In the CJK Unified Ideographs Extension blocks:
               Ext.A (U+3400..U+4DB5) and Ext.B (U+20000..U+2A6D6) in any UCA_Version.
               Ext.C (U+2A700..U+2B734) if UCA_Version is 20 or greater.
               Ext.D (U+2B740..U+2B81D) if UCA_Version is 22 or greater.

           Through "overrideCJK", ordering of CJK unified ideographs (including extensions) can be overridden.

           ex. CJK unified ideographs in the JIS code point order.

             overrideCJK => sub {
                 my $u = shift;             # get a Unicode codepoint
                 my $b = pack('n', $u);     # to UTF-16BE
                 my $s = your_unicode_to_sjis_converter($b); # convert
                 my $n = unpack('n', $s);   # convert sjis to short
                 [ $n, 0x20, 0x2, $u ];     # return the collation element
             },

           The  return value may be an arrayref of 1st to 4th weights as shown above. The return value may be an
           integer as the primary weight as shown below.  If "undef" is returned, the default derived  collation
           element will be used.

             overrideCJK => sub {
                 my $u = shift;             # get a Unicode codepoint
                 my $b = pack('n', $u);     # to UTF-16BE
                 my $s = your_unicode_to_sjis_converter($b); # convert
                 my $n = unpack('n', $s);   # convert sjis to short
                 return $n;                 # return the primary weight
             },

           The return value may be a list containing zero or more of an arrayref, an integer, or "undef".

           ex. ignores all CJK unified ideographs.

             overrideCJK => sub {()}, # CODEREF returning empty list

              # where ->eq("Pe\x{4E00}rl", "Perl") is true
              # as U+4E00 is a CJK unified ideograph and to be ignorable.

           If  "undef"  is  passed  explicitly as the value for this key, weights for CJK unified ideographs are
           treated as undefined.  But assignment of weight for CJK unified ideographs in "table" or  "entry"  is
           still valid.

           Note:  In  addition to them, 12 CJK compatibility ideographs ("U+FA0E", "U+FA0F", "U+FA11", "U+FA13",
           "U+FA14", "U+FA1F", "U+FA21", "U+FA23", "U+FA24", "U+FA27", "U+FA28", "U+FA29") are also  treated  as
           CJK  unified  ideographs.  But  they can't be overridden via "overrideCJK" when you use DUCET, as the
           table includes weights for them. "table" or "entry" has priority over "overrideCJK".

       overrideHangul
           -- see 7.1 Derived Collation Elements, UTS #10.

           By default, Hangul syllables are decomposed into Hangul Jamo, even  if  "(normalization  =>  undef)".
           But the mapping of Hangul syllables may be overridden.

           This parameter works like "overrideCJK", so see there for examples.

           If  you want to override the mapping of Hangul syllables, NFD and NFKD are not appropriate, since NFD
           and NFKD will decompose Hangul syllables before overriding. FCD may decompose Hangul syllables as the
           case may be.

           If "undef" is passed explicitly as the value for this key, weight for Hangul syllables is treated  as
           undefined  without  decomposition into Hangul Jamo.  But definition of weight for Hangul syllables in
           "table" or "entry" is still valid.

       preprocess
           -- see 5.4 Preprocessing, UTS #10.

           If specified, the coderef is used to preprocess each string before the formation of sort keys.

           ex. dropping English articles, such as "a" or "the".  Then, "the pen" is before "a pencil".

                preprocess => sub {
                      my $str = shift;
                      $str =~ s/\b(?:an?|the)\s+//gi;
                      return $str;
                   },

           "preprocess" is performed before "normalization" (if defined).

           ex. decoding strings in a legacy encoding such as shift-jis:

               $sjis_collator = Unicode::Collate->new(
                   preprocess => \&your_shiftjis_to_unicode_decoder,
               );
               @result = $sjis_collator->sort(@shiftjis_strings);

           Note: Strings returned from the coderef will be interpreted according to Perl's Unicode support.  See
           perlunicode, perluniintro, perlunitut, perlunifaq, utf8.

       rearrange
           -- see 3.5 Rearrangement, UTS #10.

           Characters that are not coded in logical order and to be rearranged.  If "UCA_Version" is equal to or
           lesser than 11, default is:

               rearrange => [ 0x0E40..0x0E44, 0x0EC0..0x0EC4 ],

           If  you  want  to disallow any rearrangement, pass "undef" or "[]" (a reference to empty list) as the
           value for this key.

           If "UCA_Version" is equal to or greater than 14, default is "[]" (i.e. no rearrangement).

           According to the version 9 of UCA, this parameter shall not be used; but it is not warned at present.

       rewrite
           If specified, the coderef is used to rewrite lines in "table" or "entry".  The coderef will get  each
           line,  and  then  should  return  a  rewritten line according to the UCA file format.  If the coderef
           returns an empty line, the line will be skipped.

           e.g. any primary ignorable characters into tertiary ignorable:

               rewrite => sub {
                   my $line = shift;
                   $line =~ s/\[\.0000\..{4}\..{4}\./[.0000.0000.0000./g;
                   return $line;
               },

           This example shows rewriting weights. "rewrite" is allowed to affect code points,  weights,  and  the
           name.

           NOTE:  "table"  is available to use another table file; preparing a modified table once would be more
           efficient than rewriting lines on reading an unmodified table every time.

       suppress
           -- see suppress contractions in 5.14.11 Special-Purpose Commands, UTS #35 (LDML).

           Contractions beginning with the specified characters are suppressed, even if those  contractions  are
           defined in "table".

           An example for Russian and some languages using the Cyrillic script:

               suppress => [0x0400..0x0417, 0x041A..0x0437, 0x043A..0x045F],

           where 0x0400 stands for "U+0400", CYRILLIC CAPITAL LETTER IE WITH GRAVE.

           NOTE: Contractions via "entry" are not be suppressed.

       table
           -- see 3.6 Default Unicode Collation Element Table, UTS #10.

           You can use another collation element table if desired.

           The  table  file  should  locate  in  the  Unicode/Collate directory on @INC. Say, if the filename is
           Foo.txt, the table file is searched as Unicode/Collate/Foo.txt in @INC.

           By default, allkeys.txt (as the filename of DUCET) is used.  If you will prepare your own table file,
           any name other than allkeys.txt may be better to avoid namespace conflict.

           NOTE: When XSUB is used, the DUCET is compiled on building this module, and it may save time  at  the
           run  time.  Explicit saying "table => 'allkeys.txt'" (or using another table), or using "ignoreChar",
           "ignoreName", "undefChar", "undefName" or "rewrite" will prevent this module from using the  compiled
           DUCET.

           If  "undef"  is  passed  explicitly  as  the  value for this key, no file is read (but you can define
           collation elements via "entry").

           A typical way to define a collation element table without any file of table:

              $onlyABC = Unicode::Collate->new(
                  table => undef,
                  entry => << 'ENTRIES',
           0061 ; [.0101.0020.0002.0061] # LATIN SMALL LETTER A
           0041 ; [.0101.0020.0008.0041] # LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A
           0062 ; [.0102.0020.0002.0062] # LATIN SMALL LETTER B
           0042 ; [.0102.0020.0008.0042] # LATIN CAPITAL LETTER B
           0063 ; [.0103.0020.0002.0063] # LATIN SMALL LETTER C
           0043 ; [.0103.0020.0008.0043] # LATIN CAPITAL LETTER C
           ENTRIES
               );

           If "ignoreName" or "undefName" is used, character names should be specified as a  comment  (following
           "#") on each line.

       undefChar
       undefName
           -- see 6.3.4 Reducing the Repertoire, UTS #10.

           Undefines  the  collation  element as if it were unassigned in the "table".  This reduces the size of
           the table.  If an unassigned character appears in the string to be collated, the  sort  key  is  made
           from  its codepoint as a single-character collation element, as it is greater than any other assigned
           collation elements (in the codepoint order among the unassigned characters).  But, it'd be better  to
           ignore characters unfamiliar to you and maybe never used.

           Through  "undefChar", any character matching "qr/$undefChar/" will be undefined. Through "undefName",
           any character whose name (given in the "table" file as a comment) matches  "qr/$undefName/"  will  be
           undefined.

           ex. Collation weights for beyond-BMP characters are not stored in object:

               undefChar => qr/[^\0-\x{fffd}]/,

       upper_before_lower
           -- see 6.6 Case Comparisons, UTS #10.

           By default, lowercase is before uppercase.  If the parameter is made true, this is reversed.

           NOTE:  This  parameter simplemindedly assumes that any lowercase/uppercase distinctions must occur in
           level 3, and their weights at level 3 must be same as those mentioned in  7.3.1,  UTS  #10.   If  you
           define  your  collation  elements  which  differs  from this requirement, this parameter doesn't work
           validly.

       variable
           -- see 3.6.2 Variable Weighting, UTS #10.

           This key allows for variable weighting of variable collation  elements,  which  are  marked  with  an
           ASTERISK in the table (NOTE: Many punctuation marks and symbols are variable in allkeys.txt).

              variable => 'blanked', 'non-ignorable', 'shifted', or 'shift-trimmed'.

           These names are case-insensitive.  By default (if specification is omitted), 'shifted' is adopted.

              'Blanked'        Variable elements are made ignorable at levels 1 through 3;
                               considered at the 4th level.

              'Non-Ignorable'  Variable elements are not reset to ignorable.

              'Shifted'        Variable elements are made ignorable at levels 1 through 3
                               their level 4 weight is replaced by the old level 1 weight.
                               Level 4 weight for Non-Variable elements is 0xFFFF.

              'Shift-Trimmed'  Same as 'shifted', but all FFFF's at the 4th level
                               are trimmed.

   Methods for Collation
       "@sorted = $Collator->sort(@not_sorted)"
           Sorts a list of strings.

       "$result = $Collator->cmp($a, $b)"
           Returns  1  (when  $a is greater than $b) or 0 (when $a is equal to $b) or -1 (when $a is lesser than
           $b).

       "$result = $Collator->eq($a, $b)"
       "$result = $Collator->ne($a, $b)"
       "$result = $Collator->lt($a, $b)"
       "$result = $Collator->le($a, $b)"
       "$result = $Collator->gt($a, $b)"
       "$result = $Collator->ge($a, $b)"
           They works like the same name operators as theirs.

              eq : whether $a is equal to $b.
              ne : whether $a is not equal to $b.
              lt : whether $a is lesser than $b.
              le : whether $a is lesser than $b or equal to $b.
              gt : whether $a is greater than $b.
              ge : whether $a is greater than $b or equal to $b.

       "$sortKey = $Collator->getSortKey($string)"
           -- see 4.3 Form Sort Key, UTS #10.

           Returns a sort key.

           You compare the sort keys using a binary comparison and get the  result  of  the  comparison  of  the
           strings using UCA.

              $Collator->getSortKey($a) cmp $Collator->getSortKey($b)

                 is equivalent to

              $Collator->cmp($a, $b)

       "$sortKeyForm = $Collator->viewSortKey($string)"
           Converts  a  sorting key into its representation form.  If "UCA_Version" is 8, the output is slightly
           different.

              use Unicode::Collate;
              my $c = Unicode::Collate->new();
              print $c->viewSortKey("Perl"),"\n";

              # output:
              # [0B67 0A65 0B7F 0B03 | 0020 0020 0020 0020 | 0008 0002 0002 0002 | FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF]
              #  Level 1               Level 2               Level 3               Level 4

   Methods for Searching
       The "match", "gmatch", "subst", "gsubst" methods work like "m//", "m//g", "s///", "s///g",  respectively,
       but they are not aware of any pattern, but only a literal substring.

       DISCLAIMER:  If  "preprocess"  or  "normalization" parameter is true for $Collator, calling these methods
       ("index", "match", "gmatch", "subst", "gsubst") is croaked, as the position and the length  might  differ
       from those on the specified string.

       "rearrange"   and   "hangul_terminator"   parameters   are   neglected.   "katakana_before_hiragana"  and
       "upper_before_lower" don't affect matching and searching, as it doesn't matter whether greater or lesser.

       "$position = $Collator->index($string, $substring[, $position])"
       "($position, $length) = $Collator->index($string, $substring[, $position])"
           If $substring matches a part of $string, returns the position of the first occurrence of the matching
           part in scalar context; in list context, returns a two-element list of the position and the length of
           the matching part.

           If $substring does not match any part of $string, returns "-1" in scalar context and an empty list in
           list context.

           e.g. you say

             my $Collator = Unicode::Collate->new( normalization => undef, level => 1 );
                                                # (normalization => undef) is REQUIRED.
             my $str = "Ich muss studieren Perl.";
             my $sub = "MUeSS";
             my $match;
             if (my($pos,$len) = $Collator->index($str, $sub)) {
                 $match = substr($str, $pos, $len);
             }

           and get "muss" in $match since "muss" is primary equal to "MUeSS".

       "$match_ref = $Collator->match($string, $substring)"
       "($match)   = $Collator->match($string, $substring)"
           If $substring matches a part of $string,  in  scalar  context,  returns  a  reference  to  the  first
           occurrence  of  the  matching  part  ($match_ref  is always true if matches, since every reference is
           true); in list context, returns the first occurrence of the matching part.

           If $substring does not match any part of $string, returns "undef" in scalar context and an empty list
           in list context.

           e.g.

               if ($match_ref = $Collator->match($str, $sub)) { # scalar context
                   print "matches [$$match_ref].\n";
               } else {
                   print "doesn't match.\n";
               }

                or

               if (($match) = $Collator->match($str, $sub)) { # list context
                   print "matches [$match].\n";
               } else {
                   print "doesn't match.\n";
               }

       "@match = $Collator->gmatch($string, $substring)"
           If $substring matches a part of $string, returns all the matching parts (or matching count in  scalar
           context).

           If $substring does not match any part of $string, returns an empty list.

       "$count = $Collator->subst($string, $substring, $replacement)"
           If  $substring  matches  a  part of $string, the first occurrence of the matching part is replaced by
           $replacement ($string is modified) and $count (always equals to 1) is returned.

           $replacement can be a "CODEREF", taking the matching part as an argument, and returning a  string  to
           replace the matching part (a bit similar to "s/(..)/$coderef->($1)/e").

       "$count = $Collator->gsubst($string, $substring, $replacement)"
           If  $substring  matches  a  part of $string, all the occurrences of the matching part are replaced by
           $replacement ($string is modified) and $count is returned.

           $replacement can be a "CODEREF", taking the matching part as an argument, and returning a  string  to
           replace the matching part (a bit similar to "s/(..)/$coderef->($1)/eg").

           e.g.

             my $Collator = Unicode::Collate->new( normalization => undef, level => 1 );
                                                # (normalization => undef) is REQUIRED.
             my $str = "Camel donkey zebra came\x{301}l CAMEL horse cam\0e\0l...";
             $Collator->gsubst($str, "camel", sub { "<b>$_[0]</b>" });

             # now $str is "<b>Camel</b> donkey zebra <b>came\x{301}l</b> <b>CAMEL</b> horse <b>cam\0e\0l</b>...";
             # i.e., all the camels are made bold-faced.

              Examples: levels and ignore_level2 - what does camel match?
             ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
              level  ignore_level2  |  camel  Camel  came\x{301}l  c-a-m-e-l  cam\0e\0l
             -----------------------|---------------------------------------------------
                1        false      |   yes    yes      yes          yes        yes
                2        false      |   yes    yes      no           yes        yes
                3        false      |   yes    no       no           yes        yes
                4        false      |   yes    no       no           no         yes
             -----------------------|---------------------------------------------------
                1        true       |   yes    yes      yes          yes        yes
                2        true       |   yes    yes      yes          yes        yes
                3        true       |   yes    no       yes          yes        yes
                4        true       |   yes    no       yes          no         yes
             ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
              note: if variable => non-ignorable, camel doesn't match c-a-m-e-l
                    at any level.

   Other Methods
       "%old_tailoring = $Collator->change(%new_tailoring)"
       "$modified_collator = $Collator->change(%new_tailoring)"
           Changes the value of specified keys and returns the changed part.

               $Collator = Unicode::Collate->new(level => 4);

               $Collator->eq("perl", "PERL"); # false

               %old = $Collator->change(level => 2); # returns (level => 4).

               $Collator->eq("perl", "PERL"); # true

               $Collator->change(%old); # returns (level => 2).

               $Collator->eq("perl", "PERL"); # false

           Not  all  "(key,value)"s  are  allowed  to  be  changed.   See  also  @Unicode::Collate::ChangeOK and
           @Unicode::Collate::ChangeNG.

           In the scalar context, returns the modified collator (but it is not a clone from the original).

               $Collator->change(level => 2)->eq("perl", "PERL"); # true

               $Collator->eq("perl", "PERL"); # true; now max level is 2nd.

               $Collator->change(level => 4)->eq("perl", "PERL"); # false

       "$version = $Collator->version()"
           Returns the version number (a string) of the Unicode Standard which the  "table"  file  used  by  the
           collator  object is based on.  If the table does not include a version line (starting with @version),
           returns "unknown".

       "UCA_Version()"
           Returns the revision number of UTS #10 this module consults, that should correspond  with  the  DUCET
           incorporated.

       "Base_Unicode_Version()"
           Returns  the  version  number  of UTS #10 this module consults, that should correspond with the DUCET
           incorporated.

EXPORT

       No method will be exported.

INSTALL

       Though this module can be used without any "table" file, to use this module easily, it is recommended  to
       install   a   table   file   in  the  UCA  format,  by  copying  it  under  the  directory  <a  place  in
       @INC>/Unicode/Collate.

       The most preferable one is "The Default Unicode Collation Element Table" (aka DUCET), available from  the
       Unicode Consortium's website:

          http://www.unicode.org/Public/UCA/

          http://www.unicode.org/Public/UCA/latest/allkeys.txt (latest version)

       If     DUCET     is     not    installed,    it    is    recommended    to    copy    the    file    from
       http://www.unicode.org/Public/UCA/latest/allkeys.txt to  <a  place  in  @INC>/Unicode/Collate/allkeys.txt
       manually.

CAVEATS

       Normalization
           Use of the "normalization" parameter requires the Unicode::Normalize module (see Unicode::Normalize).

           If  you  need  not  it  (say,  in the case when you need not handle any combining characters), assign
           "normalization => undef" explicitly.

           -- see 6.5 Avoiding Normalization, UTS #10.

       Conformance Test
           The Conformance Test for the UCA is available under <http://www.unicode.org/Public/UCA/>.

           For CollationTest_SHIFTED.txt,  a  collator  via  "Unicode::Collate->new(  )"  should  be  used;  for
           CollationTest_NON_IGNORABLE.txt,  a  collator via "Unicode::Collate->new(variable => "non-ignorable",
           level => 3)".

           If "UCA_Version" is 26 or later, the "identical" level is preferred; "Unicode::Collate->new(identical
           => 1)" and "Unicode::Collate->new(identical => 1," "variable => "non-ignorable", level => 3)"  should
           be used.

           Unicode::Normalize is required to try The Conformance Test.

AUTHOR, COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

       The  Unicode::Collate  module for perl was written by SADAHIRO Tomoyuki, <SADAHIRO@cpan.org>. This module
       is Copyright(C) 2001-2012, SADAHIRO Tomoyuki. Japan. All rights reserved.

       This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it  under  the  same  terms  as  Perl
       itself.

       The         file         Unicode/Collate/allkeys.txt        was        copied        verbatim        from
       <http://www.unicode.org/Public/UCA/6.2.0/allkeys.txt>.  For this file, Copyright (c)  2001-2012  Unicode,
       Inc.  Distributed under the Terms of Use in <http://www.unicode.org/copyright.html>.

SEE ALSO

       Unicode Collation Algorithm - UTS #10
           <http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr10/>

       The Default Unicode Collation Element Table (DUCET)
           <http://www.unicode.org/Public/UCA/latest/allkeys.txt>

       The conformance test for the UCA
           <http://www.unicode.org/Public/UCA/latest/CollationTest.html>

           <http://www.unicode.org/Public/UCA/latest/CollationTest.zip>

       Hangul Syllable Type
           <http://www.unicode.org/Public/UNIDATA/HangulSyllableType.txt>

       Unicode Normalization Forms - UAX #15
           <http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr15/>

       Unicode Locale Data Markup Language (LDML) - UTS #35
           <http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr35/>

POD ERRORS

       Hey! The above document had some coding errors, which are explained below:

       Around line 1751:
           Non-ASCII character seen before =encoding in 'muss'. Assuming ISO8859-1

perl v5.18.2                                       2014-01-06                            Unicode::Collate(3perl)