# Using Chinese Dash Character for Alphabetizing ## What It Does The Chinese dash character `一` sorts before all English letters and most punctuation in alphabetical ordering. This makes it perfect for creating folders or files that always appear at the top of your vault's file list. **Example:** ``` 一 etc 一/ ← Always appears first Academic Resources/ Audio Science/ Computer Tech/ ``` ## How to Type It on Mac **Using Unicode Hex Input:** 1. **Enable Unicode Hex Input** (one-time setup): - System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources - Click the `+` button - Scroll down to "Others" and select "Unicode Hex Input" - Add it to your input sources 2. **Switch to Unicode Hex Input:** - Press `⌃⌘Space` (Control-Command-Space) to cycle through input sources - Or use the menu bar flag icon to select "Unicode Hex Input" 3. **Type the character:** - Hold `⌥` (Option) - Type: `4E00` - Release `⌥` - The character `一` appears 4. **Switch back to your regular keyboard:** - Press `⌃⌘Space` again **Quick Copy-Paste Method:** - Copy this: `一` - Paste whenever you need it - Store in Text Replacement (System Settings → Keyboard → Text Replacements) as a snippet ## Why This Character Works **ASCII sorting order:** - Space and punctuation (! " # $ % etc): `U+0020` - `U+007E` - English letters (A-Z, a-z): `U+0041` - `U+007A` - Chinese dash `一`: `U+4E00` (much higher Unicode value) Wait—if the Unicode value is *higher*, why does it sort *first* in Obsidian? **Obsidian's sorting behavior:** Obsidian uses a case-insensitive alphabetical sort with special character handling. The `一` character is treated as a **non-Latin script** character, and Obsidian sorts these *before* Latin characters by default. This is common in file systems that implement locale-aware sorting. ## When to Use It **✅ Good uses:** - Special folders that should always be at the top (`一 etc 一`, `一 Templates 一`, `一 Archive 一`) - Separating meta-content from primary content - Creating visual "bookends" with symmetrical characters **❌ Avoid using for:** - Regular content folders (breaks natural alphabetical flow) - File names that need to be typed frequently - Content you'll reference from command line (requires quotes: `cd "一 etc 一"`) ## Shell Considerations Because this character is non-ASCII, you must quote paths in the terminal: ```bash # ❌ Won't work cd 一 etc 一 # ✅ Works cd "一 etc 一" # ✅ Also works (tab completion auto-escapes) cd 一<TAB> ``` ## Alternative Characters for Sorting First If you want to avoid Unicode complexity, these also sort before letters: | Character | Name | How to Type | Sorts First? | |-----------|------|-------------|--------------| | `!` | Exclamation | `Shift+1` | Yes | | `_` | Underscore | `Shift+-` | Yes | | `-` | Hyphen | `-` | Yes | | `.` | Period | `.` | Yes (hidden on Unix) | **Example with underscore:** ``` _etc/ _templates/ Academic Resources/ Audio Science/ ``` ## Pro Tip If you use the Chinese dash pattern frequently, create a **Text Replacement** shortcut: 1. System Settings → Keyboard → Text Replacements 2. Replace: `--dash` 3. With: `一` Now typing `--dash` anywhere will auto-replace with `一`. This works system-wide, not just in Obsidian.