```
sort [<i>sortDirection</i>] [<i>sortStyle</i>] ¬
   by <i>expression</i>

sort [this] stack [<i>sortDirection</i>] ¬
   [<i>sortStyle</i>] by <i>expression</i>

sort [marked] cards [of this stack] ¬
   [<i>sortDirection</i>] [<i>sortStyle</i>] ¬
   by <i>expression</i>

sort <i>bkgnd</i> [<i>sortDirection</i>] ¬
   [<i>sortStyle</i>] by <i>expression</i>

sort [marked] cards of <i>bkgnd</i> ¬
   [<i>sortDirection</i>] [<i>sortStyle</i> ] ¬
   by <i>expression</i>

sort [<i>chunks</i> of] <i>container</i> ¬
   [<i>sortDirection</i>] [<i>sortStyle</i>] ¬
   [by <i>expression</i>]
```

where<code> <i>chunks</i> </code>are limited to either lines or items.

The first five forms of the<code> sort </code>command order all the cards in a stack or background by the value of<code> <i>expression</i>,</code> evaluated  for each card in the stack or background.

The last form of the<code> sort </code>command (<code>by <i>expression</i></code> )<code> </code>sorts lines or items of a container by any expression. If you don’t specify,<code> sort </code>orders by lines.  Before<code> <i>expression</i> </code>is evaluated for each line or item of the container, the local variable<code> each </code>is set to the contents of the chunk. (Click the Examples button to see syntax examples using<code> each</code>.)

For all forms of the<code> sort </code>command, the default sort direction is<code> ascending, </code>and the default sort style is<code> text</code>.

Sort direction<code> ascending </code>orders the sort elements—the value of the expression on each card or the lines or items in the container—from lower to higher values.

Sort direction<code> descending </code>orders the sort elements from higher to lower values.

Sort style<code> text </code>compares the sort elements based on their ASCII values:

<code>"1" < "101" < "2" < "a" < "ab" < "b"</code>

Note that neither case nor diacritical marks matter with the sort style<code> text</code>:

`"apple" = "APPLE" = "äpplé"`

Sort style<code> numeric </code>correctly sorts numbers.  With sort style<code> text,</code>

`"1" < "100" < "17" < "2"`

The sort style<code> numeric </code>correctly sorts these values as:

<code>"1" < "2" < "17" < "100"</code>

The sort style<code> dateTime </code>orders the sort elements by their date or time format. (See the<code> convert </code>command for valid date and time formats.)

The sort style<code> international </code>correctly sorts non-English text containing diacritical marks and special characters based on the international resource installed in the current stack, the Home stack, HyperCard itself, or the System file.