Sort javascript array by words

Question

I have an array of objects with many layers. It looks like this:

var array = [
  {
    fields: { title: "Some title here" },
    sys: { id: "1234" }
  },
  {
    fields: { title: "Another one there" },
    sys: { id: "13456" }
  },
  {
    fields: { title: "Final example" },
    sys: { id: "234" }
  },
  {
    fields: { title: "Most final thing" },
    sys: { id: "4665" }
  },
];

Now I want to sort the array based on whether text exists in the fields.title. For example, I have the phrase "Final search". That needs to sort the array so the current array[2] and array[3] move to the top positions because they contain the word "final".

The sort needs to include multiple words though. So if I used the phrase "final example", array[2] would go first because it contains both words, followed by array[3] which only contains "final".

Is this possible and how?

@MikeC thanks. I already knew about sort but have never seen it used like this before with multiple sort queries and on a multi level array. — CaribouCode
– CaribouCode, Commented May 4, 2015 at 16:10
It's all about how you write your compare function. That will depend a lot on your specific needs. — Mike Cluck
– Mike Cluck, Commented May 4, 2015 at 16:13
Js arrays are zero-indexed, so in your example you don't have array[4]. Also you should clarify which text you want to check (probably fields.title), so pls edit your question to be more concise. — Drops
– Drops, Commented May 4, 2015 at 16:14

Ram · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-04 17:25:32Z

1

Yes, it is possible.

You could split the strings by space character, count the intersection of the 2 generated arrays and use it for sorting. Another option which follows the same logic and should be faster is using regular expression and String.prototype.match method, something like:

function finder(input) {
    var reg = new RegExp(input.trim().split(' ').join('|'), 'gi');
    return function(el) {
       var m = el.fields.title.match(reg);
       return m ? m.length : -1;
    }         
}

function sortBy(arr, input) {
    var find = finder(input);
    return arr.sort(function (a, b) {
        return find(a) < find(b);
    });
}

sortBy(array, "user input");

Here is a demo.

edited May 4, 2015 at 17:25

answered May 4, 2015 at 16:46

Ram

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Comments

Sudhir Jonathan · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-04 16:14:03Z

0

What you're describing is a little more complicated than the title suggests - you're probably better of using a small text search and ranking library like Twitter's Bloodhound.

answered May 4, 2015 at 16:14

Sudhir Jonathan

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