Naturally sort an array of alphanumeric strings

Question

Im stuck on a sorting problem, I have an array with 10 numbers (1-10) and I need to sort the in the following way where 10 would come after 1, for example...

desired outcome

$arr['a1','a10','a2','a3','a4','a5','a6','a7','a8','a9'];

actual outcome

$arr['a1','a2','a3','a4','a5','a6','a7','a8','a9','a10'];

sort($arr);

$arr['a10','a1','a2','a3','a4','a5','a6','a7','a8','a9'];

I don't know the name of this type of sorting or how to perform it, if anyone could help me it would much appreciated.

NOTE: the numbers are part of a string

What would be the desired outcome if you add 20 and 100 to the incoming array? — Travis
– Travis, Commented Aug 3, 2012 at 17:45
@Travis I have not gotten that far as i have an array smaller than 100 but it would probably be something like 1,10,100,2,200 — mk_89
– mk_89, Commented Aug 3, 2012 at 17:46
Can we "safely" assume that all the string values are actually numbers? — scunliffe
– scunliffe, Commented Aug 3, 2012 at 17:48

Niet the Dark Absol · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-03 18:50:43Z

6

Try sort($arr,SORT_STRING) to explicitly treat the input as strings.

EDIT: Now that you've given your actual strings, try this:

usort($arr,function($a,$b) {
    $a = explode("=",$a);
    $b = explode("=",$b);
    return $a[0] == $b[0] ? strcmp($a[1],$b[1]) : strcmp($a[0],$b[0]);
});

edited Aug 3, 2012 at 18:50

answered Aug 3, 2012 at 17:45

Niet the Dark Absol

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4 Comments

mk_89 Over a year ago

OK I've been testing it and it doest not work with the string that I have which is

$arr = array('ASINList.ASIN.2=1580800939','ASINList.ASIN.1=1846031249 ','ASINList.ASIN.10=0340912081 ','ASINList.ASIN.3=1580800939');

mk_89 Over a year ago

ok thanks I sorted it out, I managed to sort by keys, thanks.

Niet the Dark Absol Over a year ago

Ah, well, that's because = > 0, so 1= > 10. No wonder. Will edit with answer.

mk_89 Over a year ago

actually I would love to hear your answer

AJcodez · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-03 17:50:03Z

0

Sure, you want to sort alphabetically, not numerically.

sort($arr, SORT_STRING);

ref: http://php.net/manual/en/function.sort.php

answered Aug 3, 2012 at 17:50

AJcodez

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1 Comment

AJcodez Over a year ago

yeah i write answers slowly so kolink probably answered as I was writing

Daniel · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-03 21:31:07Z

0

You can change the behaviour of sort with it's second parameter.

Try this:

sort($arr, SORT_STRING);

edited Aug 3, 2012 at 21:31

Daniel

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answered Aug 3, 2012 at 17:54

ToBe

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