Product Sorting Not working Properly

Question

I have created product attribute named Custom Sort Catalog >> Attributes >> Manage Attributes

Catalog Input Type for Store Owner as Text Field Input Validation for Store Owner as Decimal

and i'm using this attribute as default sort for my products Catalog >> Manage Categories in category edit page under Display Settings i have set Default Product Listing Sort By as my attribute Custom Sort

but the issue is magento sorts the products in following way 1 11 2 3

I would like to sort products in following way 1 2 3 11

Please guide me how to achieve this

Answer 1

Actually the sorting works properly. If your attribute has the type "text" the sorting will work on strings.
So from the strings point of view 11 < 2.
You need to have the attribute as decimal.
The Input Validation for Store Owner fields means just a simple validation. It does not mean that the attribute type will be decimal.
The value is still saved as varchar.

See this on how to create a product attribute programatically.

If you want to create the attribute from the UI and have the type 'decimal', I'm not sure what type you have to choose. I think price but not sure.