php array_multisort not sorting my multidimensional array

Question

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [id] => 7
            [workorder_id] => 27
            [truck_id] => 4
            [event_type] => 1
            [location_id] => 
            [location_name] => Billing Address
            [address_address] => 123 Main Street
            [address_city] => Montreal
            [address_state] => QC
            [address_zip] => A1A1A1
            [address_country_id] => 1
            [contact] => bob
            [phone] => 555-555-555
            [fax] => 555-555-555
            [po] => 123131
            [notes] => 
            [appointment_from] => 2013-03-30 12:30:00
            [appointment_to] => 2013-03-30 14:30:00
            [crossdock] => 0
            [status] => 1
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [id] => 8
            [workorder_id] => 27
            [truck_id] => 4
            [event_type] => -1
            [location_id] => 
            [location_name] => Billing Address
            [address_address] => 123 Main Street
            [address_city] => Montreal
            [address_state] => QC
            [address_zip] => A1A1A1
            [address_country_id] => 1
            [contact] => 
            [phone] => 555-555-555
            [fax] => 
            [po] => 
            [notes] => 
            [appointment_from] => 2013-04-04 06:00:00
            [appointment_to] => 2013-04-04 12:00:00
            [crossdock] => 0
            [status] => 1
        )

    [2] => Array
        (
            [id] => 9
            [workorder_id] => 27
            [truck_id] => 4
            [event_type] => 1
            [location_id] => 
            [location_name] => Billing Address
            [address_address] => 123 Main Street
            [address_city] => Montreal
            [address_state] => QC
            [address_zip] => A1A1A1
            [address_country_id] => 2
            [contact] => Jim Smith
            [phone] => 555-555-555
            [fax] => 555-555-555
            [po] => 
            [notes] => 
            [appointment_from] => 2013-04-16 10:00:00
            [appointment_to] => 2013-04-16 12:00:00
            [crossdock] => 0
            [status] => 1
        )

)

Okay, so I have this array, lets call it $array.

I now have a function to sort multidimensional arrays by multiple keys.

function sort_multiple_keys($array,$key1,$key1_sort = SORT_DESC,$key2,$key2_sort = SORT_ASC){

    $sort = array(); 
    if(count($array) > 0){
        foreach($array as $k=>$v) {
            $first[$k] = $v[$key1];
            $second[$k] = $v[$key2];
        }

        array_multisort($first, $key1_sort, $second, $key2_sort, $array);

    }

    unset($sort);
}

So, I would to sort it by the EVENT TYPE and then APPOINTMENT_FROM date. So I run this function:

sort_multiple_keys($array,'event_type',SORT_DESC,'appointment_from',SORT_ASC);

But nothing??

Any help?

Answer 1

You're not actually returning a value from your sort function.

You can either return $array at the end; or pass it in as a reference, so the function works on the original instance instead of a copy; for that, you need to change the function definition to:

function sort_multiple_keys(&$array,$key1,$key1_sort = SORT_DESC,$key2,$key2_sort = SORT_ASC){
                            ^ tells PHP that this variable is by reference