Attributes sort order for invoice/packing slip

I've recently noticed that on the Orders, Invoice, and Packing Slip pages in the admin, the product attributes seem to be in a random order.

Is there a way to adjust these pages so the attributes use the sort order specified in the Attributes Controller?

It's a problem for my client because her attributes are paired, and it's confusing to create the product when these attributes are out of order.

Example:

1 x Mommy Tags Bracelet

• Second Child Name: joe smith (+$7.50)
• Main Tag Birthdate: 08/19/03
• Main Tag Child Name: josephine smith
• Second Child Birthdate: 06/08/06

We would like to see these in order, like so:

1 x Mommy Tags Bracelet

• Main Tag Child Name: josephine smith
• Main Tag Birthdate: 08/19/03
• Second Child Name: joe smith (+$7.50)
• Second Child Birthdate: 06/08/06

I've looked at invoice.php and packingslip.php files, but am not sure how (or if) this is being sorted.

Any tips on how to make this change?

This is for a 1.2.7 site.

      if (isset($order->products[$i]['attributes']) && (sizeof($order->products[$i]['attributes']) > 0)) {
        for ($j=0, $k=sizeof($order->products[$i]['attributes']); $j<$k; $j++) {
          echo '<br><nobr><small> <i> - ' . $order->products[$i]['attributes'][$j]['option'] . ': ' . $order->products[$i]['attributes'][$j]['value'];
          echo '</i></small></nobr>';
        }
      }

Thanks in advance for any advice or code!

Do all Option Names, Option Values and Attributes have sort orders set?

The option names have sort orders and the option values are text fields.

Right now they are set like this in the Option Name Manager:

• Main Tag Child Name: 1
• Main Tag Birthdate: 2
• Second Child Name: 3
• Second Child Birthdate: 4

They display in the correct order on the item pages, just not on the invoice through the admin.

Thanks!

Very odd ...

I added 4 text Option names in a random order ... added them to the Product in a random order ...

They maintain their order from Product Info ... Shopping Cart ... Checkout Confirmation ... Email ... Order ... My Account ...

I am numbering in 10s as in 10, 20, 30, 40 etc.

That is the only difference that I can see ...

Checking again with my client's site, it looks like her invoices almost always have the item options in the correct order and she's just seen a few that are out of order. Strange because I can't track down what's different about the "bad" order - I found a good invoice for the exact same item.

I've asked her to gather a few order numbers for me to compare so I can try to find a similarity between them. I'll let you know if I figure this one out!

I've had this happen a few rare times as well - did you figure out why it was happening? I can't even see a pattern - I can't solve it without a pattern.

No, I haven't figured this one out! I can't tell what's different about these few screwy orders.