Sorry, maybe I just don't get it,
but why is your first example a stable sort?
my @unsorted =
([1,1], [2,1], [1,2], [2,2], [2,3], [1,3], [2,4], [1,4]);
print join( ' ',
map { $_->[0].$_->[1] }
sort { $a->[0] <=> $b->[0] } @unsorted) . "\n";
my @sortedindices = sort
{ $unsorted[$a]->[0] <=> $unsorted[$b]->[0] }
0..$#unsorted;
print join ( ' ', map { $_->[0].$_->[1] }
@unsorted[@sortedindices]);
__END__
11 12 13 14 23 21 24 22
11 12 13 14 23 21 24 22
Both sorts are not stable.
daniel.
update: got it now ;-) replace compare-function by
$unsorted[$a]->[0] <=> $unsorted[$b]->[0] || $a <=> $b
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