Sorting a 2 dimensional array in PHP

Question

Wonder if anyone can help.

I have a two dimensional array which has a number of job items in eg;

$portfolioItems [$i] = array('job' => $extra_job->field_value,
      'mediaType' => $media_type->field_value, 'default' => $default->field_value
      );

I have simplified the array to show the elements I'm trying to sort.

Basically this list eventually populates the jfredcarousel I'm using with thumbnails/data etc.

This all works fine but what I'd like to do is have a specific order as follows;

if the media type has the text 'hero' in it (will just be one instance) then shove this right to the front.

Then the next items need to be some job items that have been identified as a 'default' set of items. so I'll probably set a flag somewhere that identifies a job number as being 'default' and check like with the 'hero' process.

So it would be 'hero' item, then the job number items defined as 'default', the rest would just drop in order after that (i'm already sorting the items by job number).

What's the best way to go about sorting an exsiting two dimensional array ? I had a look at shift/unshift etc but couldn't achieve what I wanted - I'm now looking at just duplicating the array then checking for these conditions one by one so the new array looks right. then destroying the old array.

Any thoughts appreciated

Thanks

Dan Grossman · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-26 09:48:16Z

2

Use uasort and write your own comparison function which embodies those rules you want.

Something like:

function cmp($a, $b) {
    if (strpos($a['mediaType'], 'hero') !== false && strpos($b['mediaType'], 'hero') === false) {
        return 1;
    } else if (strpos($a['mediaType'], 'hero') === false && strpos($b['mediaType'], 'hero') !== false) {
        return -1;
    } else if ($a['default'] == 1 && $b['default'] != 1) {
        return 1;
    } else if ($a['default'] != 1 && $b['default'] == 1) {
        return -1;
    } else {
        return 1;
    }
}

uasort($portfolioItems, 'cmp');

answered Jan 26, 2011 at 9:48

Dan Grossman

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3 Comments

frazzle Over a year ago

Cheers - Just a question though with uasort maintaining the index number, when I foreach through this array later to stick into an XML file - won't it be back in the index order ?

Dan Grossman Over a year ago

No, the purpose of uasort is to sort (change the order of) the array. Don't confuse indexing with ordering, as they aren't always the same. If you don't need to maintain the index associations you can use usort instead, though.

frazzle Over a year ago

Thanks Dan - I'll have a look at getting this going. Am I right in saying as this is a Two Dimensional array, I'm going to need to stick this function in a foreach for every element in the whole array ? eg uasort($portfolioItems[$count], 'cmp');

usoban · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-26 13:32:24Z

0

Something like that maybe? :)

$finalItems = array();

for($i = 0; i < count($portfolioItems); $i++){
       if($portfolioItems[$i]['media_type'] == 'hero'){
         reindex($finalItems, 0);
         $finalItems[0] = $portfolioItems[$i];
       }
       else if($portfolioItems[$i]['default'] == true){
         reindex($finalItems, 1);
         $finalItems[1] = $portfolioItems[$i];
       }

       else {
            if($i != 0 && $i != 1){
                  reindex($finalItems, $i);
                  $finalItems[$i] = $portfolioItems[$i];
            }
       }
}

function reindex(&$arr, $modifiedPosition){

 for($i = 0; $i < count($arr); $i++){
  if($modifiedPosition <= $i){
   $arr[$i+1] = $arr[$i]; 

    if($i == $modifiedPosition){
     unset($arr[$i]);
    }

  }

 }

}

edited Jan 26, 2011 at 13:32

answered Jan 26, 2011 at 10:06

usoban

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3 Comments

usoban Over a year ago

didn't test it though, just tell if it dosn't work, will try to fix it.

usoban Over a year ago

Well I updated it, previous clearly wouldn't work, that one should.

frazzle Over a year ago

hi, that works great thanks. I stuck this on the end also as the order was still as orginal. ksort($finalItems);

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