Sort hyper parameters numeric values as numbers and not strings

server/database/model/base.py

@@ -76,6 +76,8 @@ class GetMixin(PropsMixin):
     }
     MultiFieldParameters = namedtuple("MultiFieldParameters", "pattern fields")
 
+    _field_collation_overrides = {}
+
     class QueryParameterOptions(object):
         def __init__(
             self,
@@ -476,6 +478,8 @@ class GetMixin(PropsMixin):
         """
         Fetch all documents matching a provided query. For the first order by field
         the None values are sorted in the end regardless of the sorting order.
+        If the first order field is a user defined parameter (either from execution.parameters,
+        or from last_metrics) then the collation is set that sorts strings in numeric order where possible.
         This is a company-less version for internal uses. We assume the caller has either added any necessary
         constraints to the query or that no constraints are required.
 
@@ -516,6 +520,16 @@ class GetMixin(PropsMixin):
                 query_sets = [cls.objects(non_empty), cls.objects(empty)]
 
             query_sets = [qs.order_by(*order_by) for qs in query_sets]
+            if order_field:
+                collation_override = first(
+                    v
+                    for k, v in cls._field_collation_overrides.items()
+                    if order_field.startswith(k)
+                )
+                if collation_override:
+                    query_sets = [
+                        qs.collation(collation=collation_override) for qs in query_sets
+                    ]
 
         if search_text:
             query_sets = [qs.search_text(search_text) for qs in query_sets]
@@ -672,5 +686,5 @@ def validate_id(cls, company, **kwargs):
         id_to_name.setdefault(obj_id, []).append(name)
     raise errors.bad_request.ValidationError(
         "Invalid {} ids".format(cls.__name__.lower()),
-        **{name: obj_id for obj_id in missing for name in id_to_name[obj_id]}
+        **{name: obj_id for obj_id in missing for name in id_to_name[obj_id]},
     )

server/database/model/task/task.py

@@ -103,6 +103,11 @@ class TaskType(object):
 
 
 class Task(AttributedDocument):
+    _field_collation_overrides = {
+        "execution.parameters.": {"locale": "en_US", "numericOrdering": True},
+        "last_metrics.": {"locale": "en_US", "numericOrdering": True}
+    }
+
     meta = {
         "db_alias": Database.backend,
         "strict": strict,

server/schema/services/tasks.conf

@@ -475,7 +475,11 @@ get_all {
                     minimum: 1
                 }
                 order_by {
-                    description: "List of field names to order by. When search_text is used, '@text_score' can be used as a field representing the text score of returned documents. Use '-' prefix to specify descending order. Optional, recommended when using page"
+                    description: """List of field names to order by. When search_text is used,
+                    '@text_score' can be used as a field representing the text score of returned documents.
+                    Use '-' prefix to specify descending order. Optional, recommended when using page.
+                    If the first order field is a hyper parameter or metric then string values are ordered
+                    according to numeric ordering rules where applicable"""
                     type: array
                     items { type: string }
                 }

server/tests/automated/test_entity_ordering.py

@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ class TestEntityOrdering(TestService):
             page_size=page_size,
         ).tasks
 
-    def _assertSorted(self, vals: Sequence, ascending=True):
+    def _assertSorted(self, vals: Sequence, ascending=True, is_numeric=False):
         """
         Assert that vals are sorted in the ascending or descending order
         with None values are always coming from the end
@@ -80,6 +80,9 @@ class TestEntityOrdering(TestService):
             self.assertTrue(all(val == empty_value for val in none_tail))
             self.assertTrue(all(val != empty_value for val in vals))
 
+        if is_numeric:
+            vals = list(map(int, vals))
+
         if ascending:
             cmp = operator.le
         else:
@@ -106,14 +109,18 @@ class TestEntityOrdering(TestService):
             # test that the output is correctly ordered
             field_name = order_by if not order_by.startswith("-") else order_by[1:]
             field_vals = [self._get_value_for_path(t, field_name.split(".")) for t in tasks]
-            self._assertSorted(field_vals, ascending=not order_by.startswith("-"))
+            self._assertSorted(
+                field_vals,
+                ascending=not order_by.startswith("-"),
+                is_numeric=field_name.startswith("execution.parameters.")
+            )
 
     def _create_tasks(self):
         tasks = [
             self._temp_task(
                 **(dict(execution={"parameters": {"test": f"{i}"} if i >= 5 else {}}))
             )
-            for i in range(10)
+            for i in range(20)
         ]
         for idx, task in zip(range(5), tasks):
             self.api.tasks.started(task=task)