I have been reviewing the perlfaq on using the sort function correctly but so far have not been able to get the exact output I need.

I have a hash setup with the dates and times as the keys and the data as the value. I need to sort the dates and times properly. this would normally not be a big issue but the times are in 12 hour format.

here is the format of the hash: 
$line_data{"9/10 @ 12:45 PM"} = "some superfluous data here";

[download]
Here is the sort: 
foreach $key (sort (keys(%line_data))) {
 print "$key   $line_data{$key}\n";
}

[download]
This will sort the dates and times but seems to ignore the AM/PM.

The code above does not reflect it but I have tried expanding on the sort with a custom sub called from it. I have not been sucessfull in setting up the right comparison code. More information to follow as I tinker with the sort helper sub.

Any help would be appreciated.

In reply to Hash sorting with dates and 12 hour time format. by shift9999

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.