The code is part of a larger eCommerce CGI script. While its live, warnings are turned off, therefore it wasn't an issue even if its bad practice. The sort must be able to handle numbers alone, or letters alone, or a combination of both (which I didn't explain properly). That was just my natural attempt to do that. I haven't tried yet, but i'm assuming cmp alone might be able to handle it.
Chris
I understand. From looking across my website, it looks as though its alright for now, all of the products are being sorted properly. I'll make adjustments if it becomes a problem in the future with varying colour names.