internal string comparison (Scollate)

I too think it would be useful if R exported some version of its
string sorting routines, since sorting strings while respecting
locale, and doing so in a portable fashion while respecting the user's
environment, is not trivial. R holds a fast, portable, well-tested
solution, and I think package developers would be very appreciative if
some portion of this was exposed at the C level.

If not `Scollate`, then perhaps other candidates could be the more
generic `sortVector`, or the more string-specific (and NA-respecting)
`scmp`.

I understand that the volunteers at R Core have limited time and
resources, and exposing an API imposes additional maintenance burdens
on an already thinly stretched team, but this is a situation where the
R users and package authors alike could benefit. Or, if there are
other reasons why exporting such routines is not possible nor
recommended, it would be very informative to know why.

Thanks,
Kevin

internal string comparison (Scollate)

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