org.apache.jmeter.report.processor

## Class ExternalSampleSorter

- java.lang.Object
- - org.apache.jmeter.report.processor.AbstractSampleProcessor
  - - org.apache.jmeter.report.processor.AbstractSampleConsumer
    - - org.apache.jmeter.report.processor.ExternalSampleSorter

All Implemented Interfaces:
  SampleConsumer, SampleProcessor, SampleProducer

    public class ExternalSampleSorter
    extends AbstractSampleConsumer

R-way external sample sorter.

This SampleConsumer should be used to sort samples base on a `SampleComparator`

Samples are sorted with the external sort algorithm. Thus, samples are not all stored in memory to be sorted. Instead, they are sorted by chunk in memory and then written to the disk before being merged at the end.

This sorter makes it possible to sort any number of samples with a fixed amount of memory. Hard disk will be used instead of RAM, at the cost of performance

When parallel mode is enabled and several CPU are available to the JVM, this sorter uses multiple CPU to reduce sort time.
The parallel mode can be disabled if some sort of concurrency issue is encountered.

As a last note, this `SampleConsumer` can be used as normal class with the different `sort()` methods

It is important to set the `chunkSize` property according to the available memory as the algorithm does not take care of memory allocation (samples sizes are not predictable)

Meanwhile, it is equally important to set a `SampleComparator` to define sample ordering

Since:
  3.0

### Constructor Summary

Constructors
Constructor and Description
`ExternalSampleSorter()`
`ExternalSampleSorter(SampleComparator comparator)`

### Method Summary

All Methods Instance Methods Concrete Methods
`void` `consume(Sample s, int channel)` Consumes the specified sample ton the specified channel.
`boolean` `isParallelize()`
`boolean` `isRevertedSort()`
`void` `mergeFiles(List<File> chunks, SampleMetadata metadata, SampleProducer producer)`
`void` `setChunkSize(long chunkSize)` Set the number of samples that will be stored in memory.
`void` `setParallelize(boolean parallelize)` Enabled parallel mode
`void` `setRevertedSort(boolean revertedSort)`
`void` `setSampleComparator(SampleComparator sampleComparator)` Set the sample comparator that will define sample ordering
`void` `sort(CsvFile inputFile, File outputFile, boolean writeHeader)` Sort an input CSV file to an sorted output CSV file.
`List<Sample>` `sort(List<Sample> samples)`
`void` `sort(SampleMetadata sampleMetadata, File inputFile, File outputFile, boolean writeHeader)` Sort an input CSV file whose metadata structure is provided.
`void` `startConsuming()` Start the sample consuming.
`void` `stopConsuming()` Stops the consuming process.

### Methods inherited from class org.apache.jmeter.report.processor.AbstractSampleConsumer

`addSampleConsumer, getConsumedChannelCount, getConsumedMetadata, getConsumer, getDataFromContext, getName, getWorkingDirectory, produce, removeSampleConsumer, setChannelAttribute, setConsumedMetadata, setDataToContext, setName, setProducedMetadata, setSampleConsumer, setSampleConsumers, setSampleContext, startProducing, stopProducing`

### Methods inherited from class org.apache.jmeter.report.processor.AbstractSampleProcessor

`getChannelAttribute, getSampleContext`

### Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

`clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait`

### Methods inherited from interface org.apache.jmeter.report.processor.SampleProcessor

`getChannelAttribute, getSampleContext`

### Constructor Detail

#### ExternalSampleSorter

    public ExternalSampleSorter()

#### ExternalSampleSorter

    public ExternalSampleSorter(SampleComparator comparator)

### Method Detail

#### setChunkSize

    public void setChunkSize(long chunkSize)

Set the number of samples that will be stored in memory. This defines the number of samples that will be written in each chunk file before merging step as well.

Parameters:
  `chunkSize` - The number of samples sorted in memory before they are written to disk. 5000 is the minimum and will be used if given chunkSize is less than 5000

#### setSampleComparator

    public final void setSampleComparator(SampleComparator sampleComparator)

Set the sample comparator that will define sample ordering

Parameters:
  `sampleComparator` - comparator to define the ordering

#### setParallelize

    public void setParallelize(boolean parallelize)

Enabled parallel mode

Parameters:
  `parallelize` - `true` to enable, `false` to disable

#### isParallelize

    public boolean isParallelize()

Returns:
  `true` when parallel mode is enabled, `false` otherwise

#### sort

    public void sort(CsvFile inputFile,
                     File outputFile,
                     boolean writeHeader)

Sort an input CSV file to an sorted output CSV file.

The input CSV must have a header otherwise sorting will give unpredictable results

Parameters:
  `inputFile` - The CSV file to be sorted (must not be `null`)
  `outputFile` - The sorted destination CSV file (must not be `null`)
  `writeHeader` - Whether the CSV header should be written to the output CSV file

#### sort

    public void sort(SampleMetadata sampleMetadata,
                     File inputFile,
                     File outputFile,
                     boolean writeHeader)

Sort an input CSV file whose metadata structure is provided. Use this method when input CSV file has no header : header information is then provided through the sampleMetadata parameter.

Parameters:
  `sampleMetadata` - The CSV metadata : header information + separator (must not be `null`)
  `inputFile` - The input file to be sorted (must not be `null`)
  `outputFile` - The output sorted file (must not be `null`)
  `writeHeader` - Whether output CSV header should be written (based on provided sample metadata)

#### startConsuming

    public void startConsuming()

Description copied from interface: `SampleConsumer`
Start the sample consuming. This step is used by consumer to initialize their process.

#### consume

    public void consume(Sample s,
                        int channel)

Description copied from interface: `SampleConsumer`
Consumes the specified sample ton the specified channel.

Parameters:
  `s` - The sample to be consumed
  `channel` - The channel on which the sample is consumed

#### stopConsuming

    public void stopConsuming()

Description copied from interface: `SampleConsumer`
Stops the consuming process. No sample will be processed after this service has been called.

#### sort

    public List<Sample> sort(List<Sample> samples)

#### mergeFiles

    public void mergeFiles(List<File> chunks,
                           SampleMetadata metadata,
                           SampleProducer producer)

#### isRevertedSort

    public final boolean isRevertedSort()

Returns:
  flag, whether the order of the sort should be reverted

#### setRevertedSort

    public final void setRevertedSort(boolean revertedSort)

Parameters:
  `revertedSort` - flag, whether the order of the sort should be reverted. `false` uses the order of the configured `SampleComparator`