Setting the sort order

The sort order affects only the way the filenames are displayed.

You can set the sort order for the current panel and the current directory only or you can set the global sort order for all panels and directories. The global settings are retained between sessions.

On the top of the panel there are settings for hidden files processing. Hidden files can be excluded from the file list if it is desired. A special setting hides them in the user's home directory only, because they traditionally tend to clutter mainly the home directory. A reminder HIDDEN is displayed at the lower right panel corner when such files exist in a directory, but they are excluded from the panel.

Files are first grouped and then the groups are sorted. If grouping is enabled, CLEX will group files of the same type together. Files will be displayed in this order:

directories first (see the note #1)
then special files
then plain files

or alternatively:

directories (see the note #1)
block devices (see the note #2)
character devices (see the note #2)
other special files
plain files

Notes:

Directories . and .. will be always on the top of the display. (1)
Despite the selected sort order, devices will be sorted by their major and minor numbers. (2)

Files within a group are sorted using the order selected from the menu.

Notes:

The term hidden files is used for files with names beginning with a period (dot) because they are usually not listed in a directory listing (output of the ls command). This naming convention is the only difference between normal and hidden files.
Sorting by name is affected by the locale.
The sort by extension (by filename suffix) considers a file named .file to be a hidden file without an extension.
The unusual sort by reversed name option is useful in sendmail queue directories where files like qf1234, df1234, and xf1234 belong together.