Sort flat array by numeric substring in the middle of each string

Question

I want to sort an array of strings where the substring I want to use as sorting identifier is in the middle of the string in question. I've already tried to do that using a very crude technique and I was wondering if there was a better way to do this.

Here is what I've come up with so far:

<?php
$tracks = array(
"Arcane Library_Track2.mp3",
"Deeper Ocean_Track4.mp3"
"Neon Illumination_Track3.mp3",
"Sound Of Cars_Track1.mp3",
);

$tracksreversed = array();
$sortedtracks = array();

foreach( $tracks as $t) {
    array_push( $tracksreversed, strrev($t) ); 
}

sort($tracksreversed);

foreach( $tracksreversed as $t ) {
    array_push( $sortedtracks, strrev($t) );
}

$tracks = $sortedtracks;
?>

This method works but there are two issues. For one it uses two loops and the second problem is that this method will fail as soon as we include more file types like ogg or wav.

Is there a way to easily sort this string according to the _Track1, _Track2, _Track3 indentifiers? Maybe some regex sorting could be done here or perhaps there is some other method I could do which makes this more compact?

Ilia Yatsenko · Accepted Answer · 2021-07-15 08:46:24Z

1

Maybe the usort function will be useful. Like:

$getIdx = function(string $name) {
   preg_match('/_Track(?<idx>\d+)/', $name, $matches);
   return $matches['idx'];
};

usort($tracks, function ($a, $b) use ($getIdx) {
   return $getIdx($a) <=> $getIdx($b);
});

Seems to work https://3v4l.org/j65rd

answered Jul 15, 2021 at 8:46

Ilia Yatsenko

8327 silver badges15 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

mickmackusa · Accepted Answer · 2023-10-09 03:38:07Z

0

Modify my advice on this similar answer to isolate the numbers that trail _Track and use array_multisort() to sort without modifying the original values or declaring additional variables.

Code: (Demo)

array_multisort(
    preg_replace('/.*_Track(\d+)\..*/', '$1', $tracks),
    SORT_NATURAL,
    $tracks
);
var_export($tracks);

answered Oct 9, 2023 at 3:38

mickmackusa♦

49.2k13 gold badges98 silver badges165 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Sort flat array by numeric substring in the middle of each string

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related