Abbreviated Syntax Nonabbreviated Syntax <pc>xyz</pc> <p>x</p><p>y</p><p>z</p> <sc>xyz</sc> <s>x</s><s>y</s><s>z</s> <tc>xyz</tc> <t>x</t><t>y</t><t>z</t> <ic>xyz</ic> <i>x</i><i>y</i><i>z</i> Table 10.5 Abbreviated Shift Syntax •Abbreviated shift syntax specifies multiple shift rules using a single pair of tags. The following table shows the correspondence between abbreviated syntax rules and the equivalent nonabbreviated rules. •The  <i>  shift rule indicates that one character sorts identically to another. The following rules cause  ’b’ to sort the same as  ’a’ : <p>\u0047</p> <reset>a</reset> <i>b</i> <reset>abc</reset> <p>z</p> •An expansion is a reset rule that establishes an anchor point for a multiple-character sequence. MySQL supports expansions 2 to 6 characters long. The following rules put  ’z’  greater at the primary level than the sequence of three characters  ’abc’ : •A contraction is a shift rule that sorts a multiple-character sequence. MySQL supports contractions 2 to 6 characters long. The following rules put the sequence of three characters  ’xyz’  greater at the primary level than  ’a’ : •Long expansions and long contractions can be used together. These rules put the sequence of three characters  ’xyz’  greater at the primary level than the sequence of three characters  ’abc’ : •Normal expansion syntax uses  <x>  plus  <extend>  elements to specify an expansion. The following rules put the character  ’k’  greater at the secondary level than the sequence  ’ch’ . That is,  ’k’ behaves as if it expands to a character after  ’c’  followed by  ’h’ : •Previous context syntax uses  <x>  plus  <context>  elements to specify that the context before a character affects how it sorts. The following rules put  ’-’  greater at the secondary level than  ’a’ , but only when  ’-’  occurs after  ’b’ : This syntax permits long sequences. These rules sort the sequence  ’ccs’  greater at the tertiary level than the sequence  ’cscs’ : The LDML specification describes normal expansion syntax as “tricky.”  See that specification for details. <reset>c</reset> <x><s>k</s><extend>h</extend></x> <reset>abc</reset> <p>xyz</p> <reset>a</reset> <p>xyz</p> <reset>cs</reset> <x><t>ccs</t><extend>cs</extend></x> <reset>a</reset> 2001 Adding a UCA Collation to a Unicode Character Set