Sort run names with leading numbers differently (tensorflow#6664)

## Motivation for features / changes
We have been treating all run names as strings even though some run
names are (serialized) numbers and some begin with numbers. This means
that sorting worked pretty unintuitively.

Note: I've also changed the behavior around sorting `undefined` values.
When sorting descending they should now appear at the top of the list.
This was a recent change but it wasn't clear it was intentional and I
found it made the code more complex.

tensorflow#6651

Internal users see [b/278671226](http://b/278671226)

## Screenshots of UI changes (or N/A)

Before:

![image](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorboard/assets/78179109/5f805c37-283d-4f55-b1bf-3dfa4d9ea1da)

After:

![image](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorboard/assets/78179109/0d740b6e-2ed5-4762-aec0-22400eeb152d)


![image](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorboard/assets/78179109/5283bade-b4da-401d-9893-932d9fb9d378)

tensorboard/webapp/runs/views/runs_table/BUILD

@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ tf_ng_module(
         "runs_table_component.ts",
         "runs_table_container.ts",
         "runs_table_module.ts",
+        "sorting_utils.ts",
     ],
     assets = [
         ":regex_edit_dialog_styles",
@@ -131,6 +132,7 @@ tf_ts_library(
         "regex_edit_dialog_test.ts",
         "runs_data_table_test.ts",
         "runs_table_test.ts",
+        "sorting_utils_test.ts",
     ],
     deps = [
         ":runs_table",

tensorboard/webapp/runs/views/runs_table/runs_table_container.ts

@@ -70,7 +70,6 @@ import {
   ColumnHeader,
   FilterAddedEvent,
   SortingInfo,
-  SortingOrder,
   TableData,
 } from '../../../widgets/data_table/types';
 import {
@@ -101,6 +100,7 @@ import {
   getPotentialHparamColumns,
 } from '../../../metrics/views/main_view/common_selectors';
 import {runsTableFullScreenToggled} from '../../../core/actions';
+import {sortTableDataItems} from './sorting_utils';
 
 const getRunsLoading = createSelector<
   State,
@@ -182,34 +182,6 @@ function sortRunTableItems(
   return sortedItems;
 }
 
-function sortTableDataItems(
-  items: TableData[],
-  sort: SortingInfo
-): TableData[] {
-  const sortedItems = [...items];
-
-  sortedItems.sort((a, b) => {
-    let aValue = a[sort.name];
-    let bValue = b[sort.name];
-
-    if (sort.name === 'experimentAlias') {
-      aValue = (aValue as ExperimentAlias).aliasNumber;
-      bValue = (bValue as ExperimentAlias).aliasNumber;
-    }
-
-    if (aValue === bValue) {
-      return 0;
-    }
-
-    if (aValue === undefined || bValue === undefined) {
-      return bValue === undefined ? -1 : 1;
-    }
-
-    return aValue < bValue === (sort.order === SortingOrder.ASCENDING) ? -1 : 1;
-  });
-  return sortedItems;
-}
-
 function matchFilter(
   filter: DiscreteFilter | IntervalFilter,
   value: number | DiscreteHparamValue | undefined

tensorboard/webapp/runs/views/runs_table/sorting_utils.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+/* Copyright 2023 The TensorFlow Authors. All Rights Reserved.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+==============================================================================*/
+import {
+  SortingInfo,
+  SortingOrder,
+  TableData,
+} from '../../../widgets/data_table/types';
+import {ExperimentAlias} from '../../../experiments/types';
+
+enum UndefinedStrategy {
+  BEFORE,
+  AFTER,
+}
+
+interface SortOptions {
+  insertUndefined: UndefinedStrategy;
+}
+
+const POTENTIALLY_NUMERIC_TYPES = new Set(['string', 'number']);
+
+const DEFAULT_SORT_OPTIONS: SortOptions = {
+  insertUndefined: UndefinedStrategy.AFTER,
+};
+
+export function parseNumericPrefix(value: string | number) {
+  if (typeof value === 'number') {
+    return isNaN(value) ? undefined : value;
+  }
+
+  if (!isNaN(parseInt(value))) {
+    return parseInt(value);
+  }
+
+  for (let i = 0; i < value.length; i++) {
+    if (isNaN(parseInt(value[i]))) {
+      if (i === 0) return;
+      return parseInt(value.slice(0, i));
+    }
+  }
+
+  return;
+}
+
+export function sortTableDataItems(
+  items: TableData[],
+  sort: SortingInfo
+): TableData[] {
+  const sortedItems = [...items];
+
+  sortedItems.sort((a, b) => {
+    let aValue = a[sort.name];
+    let bValue = b[sort.name];
+
+    if (sort.name === 'experimentAlias') {
+      aValue = (aValue as ExperimentAlias).aliasNumber;
+      bValue = (bValue as ExperimentAlias).aliasNumber;
+    }
+
+    if (aValue === bValue) {
+      return 0;
+    }
+
+    if (aValue === undefined || bValue === undefined) {
+      return compareValues(aValue, bValue);
+    }
+
+    if (
+      POTENTIALLY_NUMERIC_TYPES.has(typeof aValue) &&
+      POTENTIALLY_NUMERIC_TYPES.has(typeof bValue)
+    ) {
+      const aPrefix = parseNumericPrefix(aValue as string | number);
+      const bPrefix = parseNumericPrefix(bValue as string | number);
+      // Show runs with numbers before to runs without numbers
+      if (
+        (aPrefix === undefined || bPrefix === undefined) &&
+        aPrefix !== bPrefix
+      ) {
+        return compareValues(aPrefix, bPrefix, {
+          insertUndefined: UndefinedStrategy.BEFORE,
+        });
+      }
+      if (aPrefix !== undefined && bPrefix !== undefined) {
+        if (aPrefix === bPrefix) {
+          const aPostfix =
+            aValue.toString().slice(aPrefix.toString().length) || undefined;
+          const bPostfix =
+            bValue.toString().slice(bPrefix.toString().length) || undefined;
+          return compareValues(aPostfix, bPostfix, {
+            insertUndefined: UndefinedStrategy.BEFORE,
+          });
+        }
+
+        return compareValues(aPrefix, bPrefix);
+      }
+    }
+
+    return compareValues(aValue, bValue);
+  });
+  return sortedItems;
+
+  function compareValues(
+    a: TableData[string] | undefined,
+    b: TableData[string] | undefined,
+    {insertUndefined}: SortOptions = DEFAULT_SORT_OPTIONS
+  ) {
+    if (a === b) {
+      return 0;
+    }
+
+    if (a === undefined) {
+      return insertUndefined === UndefinedStrategy.AFTER ? 1 : -1;
+    }
+    if (b === undefined) {
+      return insertUndefined === UndefinedStrategy.AFTER ? -1 : 1;
+    }
+
+    return a < b === (sort.order === SortingOrder.ASCENDING) ? -1 : 1;
+  }
+}