public int compareToIgnoreCase(FieldValue o) {
    if (type != o.type) {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException("invalid type");
    }

    switch (type) {
      case STRING:
        return ((String) value).compareToIgnoreCase((String) o.value);

      case INTEGER:
      case LONG:
      case FLOAT:
      case SIZE:
      case PERCENT:
        return compareTo(o);

      default:
        throw new AssertionError();
    }
  }
Represents a value of a field. The type of a value is defined by {@link FieldValue}.
hbase-hbtop/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/hbtop/field/FieldValue.java