diff --git a/search-services/alfresco-search/src/main/java/org/alfresco/solr/AlfrescoCollatableMLTextFieldType.java b/search-services/alfresco-search/src/main/java/org/alfresco/solr/AlfrescoCollatableMLTextFieldType.java
index 03d31c672..89d171642 100644
--- a/search-services/alfresco-search/src/main/java/org/alfresco/solr/AlfrescoCollatableMLTextFieldType.java
+++ b/search-services/alfresco-search/src/main/java/org/alfresco/solr/AlfrescoCollatableMLTextFieldType.java
@@ -39,12 +39,9 @@ import org.springframework.extensions.surf.util.I18NUtil;
 
 /**
  * @author Andy
- *
  */
 public class AlfrescoCollatableMLTextFieldType extends StrField
 {
-    
-
     /* (non-Javadoc)
      * @see org.apache.solr.schema.StrField#getSortField(org.apache.solr.schema.SchemaField, boolean)
      */
@@ -75,7 +72,6 @@ public class AlfrescoCollatableMLTextFieldType extends StrField
     }
 
 
-    
     public static class MLTextSortFieldComparatorSource extends FieldComparatorSource
     {
 
@@ -101,16 +97,20 @@ public class AlfrescoCollatableMLTextFieldType extends StrField
         private final String[] values;
 
         private BinaryDocValues docTerms;
-        
-        private Bits docsWithField;
+
+        /**
+         * An array of flags - one for each document in the segment. Each bit is set to true if the document has the
+         * field or false otherwise. If this is set to null then all docs in the segment have the field.
+         */
+        Bits docsWithField;
 
         private final String field;
 
-        final Collator collator;
+        Collator collator;
 
-        private String bottom;
-        
-        private String top;
+        String bottom;
+
+        String top;
 
         Locale collatorLocale;
 
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ public class AlfrescoCollatableMLTextFieldType extends StrField
         {
             final String comparableString = findBestValue(doc, docTerms.get(doc));
             return compareValues(bottom, comparableString);
-           
+
         }
 
         public void copy(int slot, int doc)
@@ -153,13 +153,14 @@ public class AlfrescoCollatableMLTextFieldType extends StrField
 
         private String findBestValue(int doc, BytesRef term)
         {
-            if (term.length == 0 && docsWithField.get(doc) == false) {
+            if (term.length == 0 && docsWithField != null && docsWithField.get(doc) == false)
+            {
                 return null;
             }
-            
+
             String withLocale = term.utf8ToString();
-            
-            // split strin into MLText object
+
+            // split string into MLText object
             if (withLocale == null)
             {
                 return withLocale;
@@ -231,14 +232,15 @@ public class AlfrescoCollatableMLTextFieldType extends StrField
         {
             docTerms = DocValues.getBinary(context.reader(), field);
             docsWithField = DocValues.getDocsWithField(context.reader(), field);
-            if (docsWithField instanceof Bits.MatchAllBits) {
-              docsWithField = null;
+            if (docsWithField instanceof Bits.MatchAllBits)
+            {
+                docsWithField = null;
             }
             return this;
         }
-        
+
         @Override
-        public int compareValues(String val1, String val2) 
+        public int compareValues(String val1, String val2)
         {
             if (val1 == null)
             {
@@ -254,9 +256,10 @@ public class AlfrescoCollatableMLTextFieldType extends StrField
             }
             return collator.compare(val1, val2);
         }
-        
-        @Override
-        public void setScorer(Scorer scorer) {}
-    }
 
+        @Override
+        public void setScorer(Scorer scorer)
+        {
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/search-services/alfresco-search/src/main/java/org/alfresco/solr/AlfrescoCollatableTextFieldType.java b/search-services/alfresco-search/src/main/java/org/alfresco/solr/AlfrescoCollatableTextFieldType.java
index d3d54cd63..604dbcc27 100644
--- a/search-services/alfresco-search/src/main/java/org/alfresco/solr/AlfrescoCollatableTextFieldType.java
+++ b/search-services/alfresco-search/src/main/java/org/alfresco/solr/AlfrescoCollatableTextFieldType.java
@@ -104,16 +104,20 @@ public class AlfrescoCollatableTextFieldType extends StrField
         private final String[] values;
 
         private BinaryDocValues docTerms;
-        
-        private Bits docsWithField;
+
+        /**
+         * An array of flags - one for each document in the segment. Each bit is set to true if the document has the
+         * field or false otherwise. If this is set to null then all docs in the segment have the field.
+         */
+        Bits docsWithField;
 
         private final String field;
 
-        final Collator collator;
+        Collator collator;
 
-        private String bottom;
+        String bottom;
         
-        private String top;
+        String top;
 
         Locale collatorLocale;
 
@@ -141,7 +145,6 @@ public class AlfrescoCollatableTextFieldType extends StrField
         {
             final String comparableString = findBestValue(doc, docTerms.get(doc));
             return compareValues(bottom, comparableString);
-           
         }
 
         public void copy(int slot, int doc)
@@ -156,7 +159,8 @@ public class AlfrescoCollatableTextFieldType extends StrField
 
         private String findBestValue(int doc, BytesRef term)
         {
-            if (term.length == 0 && docsWithField.get(doc) == false) {
+            if (term.length == 0 && docsWithField != null && docsWithField.get(doc) == false)
+            {
                 return null;
             }
             
diff --git a/search-services/alfresco-search/src/test/java/org/alfresco/solr/AlfrescoCollatableMLTextFieldTypeTest.java b/search-services/alfresco-search/src/test/java/org/alfresco/solr/AlfrescoCollatableMLTextFieldTypeTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dcd57f47e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/search-services/alfresco-search/src/test/java/org/alfresco/solr/AlfrescoCollatableMLTextFieldTypeTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,200 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2005-2014 Alfresco Software Limited.
+ *
+ * This file is part of Alfresco
+ *
+ * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Alfresco is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+package org.alfresco.solr;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.reset;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
+import static org.mockito.MockitoAnnotations.initMocks;
+
+import java.text.Collator;
+import java.util.Locale;
+
+import org.alfresco.solr.AlfrescoCollatableMLTextFieldType.MLTextSortFieldComparator;
+import org.apache.lucene.index.BinaryDocValues;
+import org.apache.lucene.util.Bits;
+import org.apache.lucene.util.BytesRef;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.mockito.InjectMocks;
+import org.mockito.Mock;
+
+/** Unit tests for {@link AlfrescoCollatableMLTextFieldType}. */
+public class AlfrescoCollatableMLTextFieldTypeTest
+{
+    private static final int NUM_HITS = 3;
+    private static final String FIELD = "field";
+    private static final Locale LOCALE = Locale.getDefault();
+    /** A document id. */
+    private static final int DOC = 0;
+    /** A value for the current bottom document. */
+    private static final String BOTTOM_STRING = "Bottom";
+
+    @InjectMocks
+    MLTextSortFieldComparator textSortFieldComparator = new MLTextSortFieldComparator(NUM_HITS, FIELD, LOCALE);
+    @Mock
+    BinaryDocValues mockDocTerms;
+    @Mock
+    Bits mockDocsWithField;
+    @Mock
+    Collator mockCollator;
+
+    @Before
+    public void setUp()
+    {
+        initMocks(this);
+        reset(mockDocTerms, mockDocsWithField);
+        textSortFieldComparator.bottom = BOTTOM_STRING;
+    }
+
+    /** Check that a zero length term is sorted before a populated field. */
+    @Test
+    public void testCompareBottom_termLengthZeroAndDocDoesntHaveField()
+    {
+        // Set up the document to have an empty term.
+        when(mockDocTerms.get(DOC)).thenReturn(new BytesRef());
+        when(mockDocsWithField.get(DOC)).thenReturn(false);
+
+        // Call the method under test.
+        int result = textSortFieldComparator.compareBottom(DOC);
+
+        assertEquals("Expected value for doc to be null, and so it to be sorted before BOTTOM_TERM", 1, result);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Check the behaviour of compareBottom when docsWithField is null (this happens when all documents contain the
+     * field).
+     */
+    @Test
+    public void testCompareBottom_nullDocsWithField()
+    {
+        // Set docsWithField to null to simulate all documents containing the field.
+        Bits oldValue = textSortFieldComparator.docsWithField;
+        textSortFieldComparator.docsWithField = null;
+
+        // Set up the document to have an empty term.
+        when(mockDocTerms.get(DOC)).thenReturn(new BytesRef());
+
+        // Call the method under test.
+        textSortFieldComparator.compareBottom(DOC);
+
+        // Expect the EMPTY_TERM to be compared
+        verify(mockCollator).compare(BOTTOM_STRING, "");
+
+        // Reset docsWithField with the mock after the test.
+        textSortFieldComparator.docsWithField = oldValue;
+    }
+
+    /** Check that if the doc has a value then it is compared with the existing value. */
+    @Test
+    public void testCompareBottom_populatedTerm()
+    {
+        // Set up the document to have "Some value" for the field.
+        when(mockDocTerms.get(DOC)).thenReturn(new BytesRef("Some value"));
+        when(mockDocsWithField.get(DOC)).thenReturn(false);
+
+        // Call the method under test.
+        textSortFieldComparator.compareBottom(DOC);
+
+        verify(mockCollator).compare(BOTTOM_STRING, "Some value");
+    }
+
+    /** Check the behaviour if the multilanguage term is encoded. */
+    @Test
+    public void testCompareBottom_encodedTerm_localeFound()
+    {
+        // Create an encoded multilanguage string with Russian, US English and Thai with Thai digits.
+        String mlText = "\u0000ru\u0000First\u0000Ignored" +
+                "\u0000en_US\u0000Second\u0000IgnoredToo" +
+                "\u0000th_TH_TH\u0000Third\u0000AlsoIgnored";
+        // Set up the document to have an encoded value for the field.
+        when(mockDocTerms.get(DOC)).thenReturn(new BytesRef(mlText));
+        when(mockDocsWithField.get(DOC)).thenReturn(false);
+
+        // Check that the Russian text can be extracted.
+        textSortFieldComparator.collatorLocale = Locale.forLanguageTag("ru");
+        textSortFieldComparator.compareBottom(DOC);
+        verify(mockCollator).compare(BOTTOM_STRING, "First");
+
+        // Check that the English text can be extracted.
+        textSortFieldComparator.collatorLocale = Locale.forLanguageTag("en");
+        textSortFieldComparator.compareBottom(DOC);
+        verify(mockCollator).compare(BOTTOM_STRING, "Second");
+
+        // Check that the Thai text can be extracted.
+        textSortFieldComparator.collatorLocale = Locale.forLanguageTag("th");
+        textSortFieldComparator.compareBottom(DOC);
+        verify(mockCollator).compare(BOTTOM_STRING, "Third");
+
+        // Reset the locale for other tests.
+        textSortFieldComparator.collatorLocale = LOCALE;
+    }
+
+    /** Check the behaviour if the term has a locale but no text. */
+    @Test
+    public void testCompareBottom_badlyEncodedTerm()
+    {
+        // Set the value to have a locale but no text.
+        String mlText = "\u0000ru";
+        when(mockDocTerms.get(DOC)).thenReturn(new BytesRef(mlText));
+
+        // Call the method under test.
+        textSortFieldComparator.compareBottom(DOC);
+
+        // Check that an empty string is assumed.
+        verify(mockCollator).compare(BOTTOM_STRING, "");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testCompareValues_nullLessThanString()
+    {
+        int result = textSortFieldComparator.compareValues(null, "NotNull");
+        assertEquals("Expected null to be 'less' than string.", -1, result);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testCompareValues_stringGreaterThanNull()
+    {
+        int result = textSortFieldComparator.compareValues("NotNull", null);
+        assertEquals("Expected string to be 'greater' than null.", 1, result);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testCompareValues_nullEqualToNull()
+    {
+        int result = textSortFieldComparator.compareValues(null, null);
+        assertEquals("Expected two null values to be equal.", 0, result);
+    }
+
+    /** Check that when two non-null strings are compared then the underlying collator is used to get the result. */
+    @Test
+    public void testCompareValues_twoStringsCompared()
+    {
+        // An arbitrary value to be returned by the collator.
+        int comparisonResult = 10;
+        when(mockCollator.compare("NotNull1", "NotNull2")).thenReturn(comparisonResult);
+
+        // Call the method under test.
+        int result = textSortFieldComparator.compareValues("NotNull1", "NotNull2");
+
+        verify(mockCollator).compare("NotNull1", "NotNull2");
+        assertEquals("Expected result to be obtained from collator.", comparisonResult, result);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/search-services/alfresco-search/src/test/java/org/alfresco/solr/AlfrescoCollatableTextFieldTypeTest.java b/search-services/alfresco-search/src/test/java/org/alfresco/solr/AlfrescoCollatableTextFieldTypeTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..be8609c27
--- /dev/null
+++ b/search-services/alfresco-search/src/test/java/org/alfresco/solr/AlfrescoCollatableTextFieldTypeTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,168 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2005-2014 Alfresco Software Limited.
+ *
+ * This file is part of Alfresco
+ *
+ * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Alfresco is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+package org.alfresco.solr;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.reset;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
+import static org.mockito.MockitoAnnotations.initMocks;
+
+import java.text.Collator;
+import java.util.Locale;
+
+import org.alfresco.solr.AlfrescoCollatableTextFieldType.TextSortFieldComparator;
+import org.apache.lucene.index.BinaryDocValues;
+import org.apache.lucene.util.Bits;
+import org.apache.lucene.util.BytesRef;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.mockito.InjectMocks;
+import org.mockito.Mock;
+
+/** Unit tests for {@link AlfrescoCollatableTextFieldType}. */
+public class AlfrescoCollatableTextFieldTypeTest
+{
+    private static final int NUM_HITS = 3;
+    private static final String FIELD = "field";
+    private static final Locale LOCALE = Locale.getDefault();
+    /** A document id. */
+    private static final int DOC = 0;
+    /** A value for the current bottom document. */
+    private static final String BOTTOM_STRING = "Bottom";
+
+    @InjectMocks
+    TextSortFieldComparator textSortFieldComparator = new TextSortFieldComparator(NUM_HITS, FIELD, LOCALE);
+    @Mock
+    BinaryDocValues mockDocTerms;
+    @Mock
+    Bits mockDocsWithField;
+    @Mock
+    Collator mockCollator;
+
+    @Before
+    public void setUp()
+    {
+        initMocks(this);
+        reset(mockDocTerms, mockDocsWithField);
+        textSortFieldComparator.bottom = BOTTOM_STRING;
+    }
+
+    /** Check that a zero length term is sorted before a populated field. */
+    @Test
+    public void testCompareBottom_termLengthZeroAndDocDoesntHaveField()
+    {
+        // Set up the document to have an empty term.
+        when(mockDocTerms.get(DOC)).thenReturn(new BytesRef());
+        when(mockDocsWithField.get(DOC)).thenReturn(false);
+
+        // Call the method under test.
+        int result = textSortFieldComparator.compareBottom(DOC);
+
+        assertEquals("Expected value for doc to be null, and so it to be sorted before BOTTOM_TERM", 1, result);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Check the behaviour of compareBottom when docsWithField is null (this happens when all documents contain the
+     * field).
+     */
+    @Test
+    public void testCompareBottom_nullDocsWithField()
+    {
+        // Set docsWithField to null to simulate all documents containing the field.
+        Bits oldValue = textSortFieldComparator.docsWithField;
+        textSortFieldComparator.docsWithField = null;
+
+        // Set up the document to have an empty term.
+        when(mockDocTerms.get(DOC)).thenReturn(new BytesRef());
+
+        // Call the method under test.
+        textSortFieldComparator.compareBottom(DOC);
+
+        // Expect the EMPTY_TERM to be compared
+        verify(mockCollator).compare(BOTTOM_STRING, "");
+
+        // Reset docsWithField with the mock after the test.
+        textSortFieldComparator.docsWithField = oldValue;
+    }
+
+    /** Check that if the doc has a value then it is compared with the existing value. */
+    @Test
+    public void testCompareBottom_populatedTerm()
+    {
+        // Set up the document to have "Some value" for the field.
+        when(mockDocTerms.get(DOC)).thenReturn(new BytesRef("Some value"));
+        when(mockDocsWithField.get(DOC)).thenReturn(false);
+
+        // Call the method under test.
+        textSortFieldComparator.compareBottom(DOC);
+
+        verify(mockCollator).compare(BOTTOM_STRING, "Some value");
+    }
+
+    /** Check the behaviour if the term is encoded. */
+    @Test
+    public void testCompareBottom_encodedTerm()
+    {
+        // Set up the document to have an encoded value for the field.
+        when(mockDocTerms.get(DOC)).thenReturn(new BytesRef("\u0000Value\u0000Ignored"));
+        when(mockDocsWithField.get(DOC)).thenReturn(false);
+
+        // Call the method under test.
+        textSortFieldComparator.compareBottom(DOC);
+
+        verify(mockCollator).compare(BOTTOM_STRING, "Value");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testCompareValues_nullLessThanString()
+    {
+        int result = textSortFieldComparator.compareValues(null, "NotNull");
+        assertEquals("Expected null to be 'less' than string.", -1, result);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testCompareValues_stringGreaterThanNull()
+    {
+        int result = textSortFieldComparator.compareValues("NotNull", null);
+        assertEquals("Expected string to be 'greater' than null.", 1, result);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testCompareValues_nullEqualToNull()
+    {
+        int result = textSortFieldComparator.compareValues(null, null);
+        assertEquals("Expected two null values to be equal.", 0, result);
+    }
+
+    /** Check that when two non-null strings are compared then the underlying collator is used to get the result. */
+    @Test
+    public void testCompareValues_twoStringsCompared()
+    {
+        // An arbitrary value to be returned by the collator.
+        int comparisonResult = 10;
+        when(mockCollator.compare("NotNull1", "NotNull2")).thenReturn(comparisonResult);
+
+        // Call the method under test.
+        int result = textSortFieldComparator.compareValues("NotNull1", "NotNull2");
+
+        verify(mockCollator).compare("NotNull1", "NotNull2");
+        assertEquals("Expected result to be obtained from collator.", comparisonResult, result);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/search-services/alfresco-search/src/test/java/org/alfresco/solr/query/AlfrescoSolrSortIT.java b/search-services/alfresco-search/src/test/java/org/alfresco/solr/query/AlfrescoSolrSortIT.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dd269a25b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/search-services/alfresco-search/src/test/java/org/alfresco/solr/query/AlfrescoSolrSortIT.java
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2005-2014 Alfresco Software Limited.
+ *
+ * This file is part of Alfresco
+ *
+ * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Alfresco is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+package org.alfresco.solr.query;
+
+import org.alfresco.solr.AbstractAlfrescoDistributedIT;
+import org.apache.lucene.util.LuceneTestCase;
+import org.apache.solr.SolrTestCaseJ4;
+import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.response.QueryResponse;
+import org.apache.solr.common.SolrDocumentList;
+import org.apache.solr.common.util.NamedList;
+import org.junit.After;
+import org.junit.AfterClass;
+import org.junit.BeforeClass;
+import org.junit.Rule;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import static org.hamcrest.core.Is.is;
+
+/**
+ * https://issues.alfresco.com/jira/browse/SEARCH-2012
+ */
+@SolrTestCaseJ4.SuppressSSL
+@LuceneTestCase.SuppressCodecs({"Appending","Lucene3x","Lucene40","Lucene41","Lucene42","Lucene43", "Lucene44", "Lucene45","Lucene46","Lucene47","Lucene48","Lucene49"})
+public class AlfrescoSolrSortIT extends AbstractAlfrescoDistributedIT
+{
+    @BeforeClass
+    private static void initData() throws Throwable
+    {
+        initSolrServers(1, getClassName(), null);
+    }
+
+    @AfterClass
+    private static void destroyData()
+    {
+        dismissSolrServers();
+    }
+
+    @After
+    public void clearData() throws Exception
+    {
+        deleteByQueryAllClients("*:*");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void AlfrescoCollatableFieldType_emptyValuesSortingAsc__shouldBeRankedFirst() throws Exception {
+        prepareIndexSegmentWithAllNonNullFieldValues("text@s__sort@{http://www.alfresco.org/model/content/1.0}title");
+        putHandleDefaults();
+        // Docs with id 1, 3, 5 and 6 should be first (note that these will be sorted by indexing time).
+        String[] expectedRanking = new String[]{"1","3","5","6","4","2"};
+        
+        QueryResponse response = query(getDefaultTestClient(), true,
+                "{\"query\":\"(id:(1 2 3 4 5 6))\",\"locales\":[\"en\"], \"templates\": [{\"name\":\"t1\", \"template\":\"%cm:content\"}], \"authorities\": [\"joel\"], \"tenants\": []}",
+                params("qt", "/afts", "shards.qt", "/afts", "start", "0", "rows", "100", "sort", "text@s__sort@{http://www.alfresco.org/model/content/1.0}title asc"));
+
+        NamedList res = response.getResponse();
+        SolrDocumentList searchResults = (SolrDocumentList)res.get("response");
+        for(int i=0;i<searchResults.size();i++){
+            assertThat(searchResults.get(i).get("id"),is(expectedRanking[i]));
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void AlfrescoMLCollatableFieldType_emptyValuesSortingDesc_shouldRankThemLast() throws Exception {
+        prepareIndexSegmentWithAllNonNullFieldValues("mltext@m__sort@{http://www.alfresco.org/model/content/1.0}title");
+
+        putHandleDefaults();
+        // Docs with id 1, 3, 5 and 6 should be last (note that these will be sorted by indexing time).
+        String[] expectedRanking = new String[]{"2","4","1","3","5","6"};
+
+        QueryResponse response = query(getDefaultTestClient(), true,
+                "{\"query\":\"(id:(1 2 3 4 5 6))\",\"locales\":[\"en\"], \"templates\": [{\"name\":\"t1\", \"template\":\"%cm:content\"}], \"authorities\": [\"joel\"], \"tenants\": []}",
+                params("qt", "/afts", "shards.qt", "/afts", "start", "0", "rows", "100", "sort", "mltext@m__sort@{http://www.alfresco.org/model/content/1.0}title desc"));
+
+        NamedList res = response.getResponse();
+        SolrDocumentList searchResults = (SolrDocumentList)res.get("response");
+        for(int i=0;i<searchResults.size();i++){
+            assertThat(searchResults.get(i).get("id"),is(expectedRanking[i]));
+        }
+    }
+
+    /** Create six documents where the field is null for docs with id 1, 3, 5 and 6, and populated for docs with id 2 and 4. */
+    private void prepareIndexSegmentWithAllNonNullFieldValues(String field) throws Exception {
+        index(getDefaultTestClient(), true, "id", "1", "_version_", "0", field, "");
+        index(getDefaultTestClient(), true, "id", "2", "_version_", "0", field, "B");
+        index(getDefaultTestClient(), true, "id", "3", "_version_", "0", field, "");
+        index(getDefaultTestClient(), true, "id", "4", "_version_", "0", field, "A");
+        index(getDefaultTestClient(), true, "id", "5", "_version_", "0", field, "");
+        index(getDefaultTestClient(), true, "id", "6", "_version_", "0", field, "");
+        commit(getDefaultTestClient(), true);
+    }
+}
+