sorting by mixed fields

[Timothy Miller]

Hi,

I want to put a field called, say, "sequence number" on all the cards  
in a rather large stack. They will contain whole numbers from 1 to x,  
where X is the number of cards in the stack. They will represent the  
sequence I would like the cards to be in after I do a bunch of sorts  
and things.

I want to be able to sort cards by field "sequence"

The problem: In some cases, field "sequence" will be a bg field. In  
other cases, it will be a card field. Bg field "sequence" might even  
appear on more than one background.

There are too many cards in the stack to put a cd field "sequence" on  
every card, and that would complicate the process of making new  
cards, when needed.

I know I could set the numbers of cards by script, but doing that can  
alter the numbering of other cards, so it gets tricky

My question: Given the foregoing, what happens if I try to sort cards  
by field "sequence" ? Can this work?

The collateral question: If this has any chance of working, should I  
sort cards by:

field "sequence" ? or
bg field "sequence" ?

Would it be better to set a customkey? E.g., "set the sequenceNumber  
of this card to 522" ?

Can I sort cards by a customKey?

Any other good ideas?



Thanks in advance.


Tim