Number Sort Algorithm

[Melanie]

Let's swing sorting slightly towards PBP... not quite a million numbers though... can't recall too many PICs with that kind of RAM capability, and with other forms of storage you're then relying on their I/O speed characteristics.

However, in professional embedded applications, when you take an ADC reading, good practice states that you take more than one and eradicate any anomalies. That way, when your sensor sits at the end of a length of cable, you can eliminate lightning strikes and the odd Redneck trying to weld his pickup truck in near proximity.

Well, the way I achieve that is to take say 16 ADC readings, sort them in sequential order of value, junk the top and bottom four readings as being 'out-of-range', sum and average the middle eight... this makes ADC readings in industrial applications pretty much bomb-proof...

Now, whilst there's quite a few tricks and treats within this, here's a simple sort routine for doing just that (when you analyse it, it's pretty similar to your example Trent albeit a little more compact)... The Data to be sorted sits in an array called RawData, and when it falls out of the subroutine, RawData is in sequential order. Change DataA and RawData variables to WORDS if you need them. Those that know will notice that the additional variable DataA is only needed because PBP's SWAP command doesn't work with arrays.

    CounterA var Byte
    DataA var Byte
    RawData var Byte [16]
    .. ..

        '
        '    Sort Array
        '    ----------
SortArray:
    CounterA=0
SortLoop:
    If RawData(CounterA+1) < RawData(CounterA) then
        DataA=RawData(CounterA)
        RawData(CounterA)=RawData(CounterA+1)
        RawData(CounterA+1+0)=DataA
        If CounterA > 0 then CounterA=CounterA-2
        endif
    CounterA=CounterA+1
    If CounterA < 15 then goto SortLoop
    Return