Sorted Run Merge Plan
Produce a stable merge provenance plan for sorted numeric runs, breaking equal keys by earlier run index without mutating runs.
Description
Produce a stable merge provenance plan for sorted numeric runs, breaking equal keys by earlier run index without mutating runs.
Merging sorted runs can retain the source location of every emitted value. A stable tie policy makes the plan reproducible.
When to use this tool
Produce a stable merge provenance plan for sorted numeric runs, breaking equal keys by earlier run index without mutating runs.
- Prepare the supplied runs fields for this operation.
- Compare the complete example with the representation used by your own input before carrying the result into another step.
How to use the tool and how it works
- Enter runs. Use the exact text syntax, units and index conventions explained below.
- Run the tool. If input validation fails, correct the supplied fields before interpreting any result.
- Read result.plan. Interpret false, null and empty lists using the distinctions below; they can be valid outputs.
Require every numeric run nondecreasing. Repeatedly choose the smallest current head, preferring the lower run index on equality, and emit run, index and value while advancing that run.1
| Input field | Meaning and representation | Accepted input |
|---|---|---|
| runs | runs. | Numeric rows; at most 128 rows and 128 values per row |
| Output field | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| result | Object containing the named outputs below. |
| result.plan | The plan list in the ordering and representation described above. |
{
"input": {
"runs": [
[
1,
3
],
[
1,
2
]
]
},
"output": {
"result": {
"plan": [
{
"run": 0,
"index": 0,
"value": 1
},
{
"run": 1,
"index": 0,
"value": 1
},
{
"run": 1,
"index": 1,
"value": 2
},
{
"run": 0,
"index": 1,
"value": 3
}
]
}
}
}Limitations and assumptions
- The plan preserves within-run order. It is a bounded in-memory merge of at most 128 runs of 128 values, without external sorting or file access.
- All declared input fields are required and unexpected top-level fields are rejected. Numbers must be finite; lists are limited to 128 entries and ordinary text fields to 8,192 UTF-16 code units, with tighter limits where stated.
- JSON text inputs must parse within bounded nesting and size limits. Numeric outputs outside the safe finite range are rejected; large exact integer results use decimal strings. Indexes and half-open spans are zero-based unless a rank is explicitly described as one-based.
Alternative or Complementary methods
Choose the tie policy and whether you need values, original indexes, sorted positions or one-based ranks. Use a complete sort verifier when a local stability or adjacent-comparison check is insufficient.
References
Similar or alternative tools
- Inverse Sort Index Map
Return each original value’s position in a stable ascending numeric sort, the inverse argsort mapping; ties remain stable.
- Sort Key Tie Stability Audit
Audit only tie-order stability of an explicit numeric sort permutation, independently of whether the keys themselves are sorted.