org-sort not working properly

Question

Given this org-file as an example:

org syntax example
​
* header
#+TITLE: Tasks
:PROPERTIES:
:TMP01: Azat
:ID: 123
:END:
​
* hh.2
** hh.2.1
another date [2019-01-25 Fri]
more date <2019-01-25 Fri 20:08>
* TODO [#A] hh.1 :tag1:tag2:
:PROPERTIES:
:TMP01: Dav
:ID: 123
:END:
*some* thing in water
** hh.1.1
unordered lists
- bold *love*
- italic /slanted text/
- underline _undies_
- verbatim =as is=
- code ~1+1=3~ but +wrong+
#+BEGIN_CENTER
does not compute
#+END_CENTER
*** hh.1.1.1
#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE
var x = 3
x + 4
#+END_EXAMPLE
*** hh.1.1.2
DEADLINE: <2019-01-25 Fri>
learn emacs lisp
#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
(+ 3 4)
#+END_SRC
** hh.1.2
** hh.1.3

if you try to org-sort it by property named TMP01, you get a headline without properties in the middle, which is not what I expect.

Nevertheless, if you reverse-sort it by property by inputting R, it does reverse sort well. Is it a bug?

Answer 1

This is almost certainly a bug, but it has an easy workaround: move the #+TITLE: to the top of the file: although keyword lines like this can theoretically appear anywhere in the file, most people put them at the top of the file (after all, they affect the whole file, not a particular section, no matter where you put them)^[1]. IIRC, originally Org mode required them to be at the top of the file, but the restriction was relaxed later, but since most people still put them at the top of the file, bugs like this can easily creep through.

So try sorting the following file and let me know whether it works for you:

#+TITLE: Tasks

org syntax example
​
* header
:PROPERTIES:
:TMP01: Azat
:ID: 123
:END:
​
* hh.2
** hh.2.1
another date [2019-01-25 Fri]
more date <2019-01-25 Fri 20:08>
* TODO [#A] hh.1 :tag1:tag2:
:PROPERTIES:
:TMP01: Dav
:ID: 123
:END:
*some* thing in water
** hh.1.1
unordered lists
- bold *love*
- italic /slanted text/
- underline _undies_
- verbatim =as is=
- code ~1+1=3~ but +wrong+
#+BEGIN_CENTER
does not compute
#+END_CENTER
*** hh.1.1.1
#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE
var x = 3
x + 4
#+END_EXAMPLE
*** hh.1.1.2
DEADLINE: <2019-01-25 Fri>
learn emacs lisp
#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
(+ 3 4)
#+END_SRC
** hh.1.2
** hh.1.3

If it works, then you can submit a bug report to the mailing list with M-x org-submit-bug-report (or if you prefer, I can submit it in your name - let me know).

---

[1] Do not confuse these "global" keywords with so-called "affiliated" keywords which need to be tightly coupled with the object they are affiliated to. E.g. #+ATTR_LATEX: keywords that modify the default rendering of a table in LaTeX export have to be physically attached to the table:

...
     #+ATTR_LATEX: :environment longtable :align l|lp{3cm}r|l
     | ... | ... |
     | ... | ... |

There should not be even an empty line separating the affiliated keyword line from the object it is attached to.