How to sort Array containing that contains NSDictionaries

Question

Suppose I would like to sort array by "firstName" key.

Example

Array = (
   {
     People1 = {
         firstName = @"Jack Adam";
         email = @"adam@gmail.com";
     };
     Address = {
         cityCode = @"TH";
     };
   },
     People2 = {
         firstName = @"Jack DAm";
         email = @"dam@gmail.com";
     };
      Address = {
         city = @"TH";
     };
);

Is it really "People1" in the first dictionary and "People2" in the second? Why do you use different keys for each array element? — Martin R, Nov 01 '13 at 08:03
@MartinR It's my wrong. It should be "People1" and "People1". — Dashzaki, Nov 01 '13 at 08:17

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 01 '13 at 08:05

user Sort Comparator

NSArray *sortedArray = [unsortedArray sortedArrayUsingComparator:^(NSDictionary *a, NSDictionary *b) {

  return [a[@"People"][@"firstname"] compare:b[@"People"][@"firstname"]];

}];

But Your Key is inconsistency ... I Think that data should be

Array = (
{
 People = {
     firstName = @"Jack Adam";
     email = @"adam@gmail.com";
 };
 Address = {
     cityCode = @"TH";
 };
},
 People = {
     firstName = @"Jack DAm";
     email = @"dam@gmail.com";
 };
  Address = {
     city = @"TH";
 };
);

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Nov 01 '13 at 08:18

0

First,you should implement a compare-method for your object.

- (NSComparisonResult)compare:(Person *)otherObject {
    return [self.birthDate compare:otherObject.birthDate];
}

NSArray *sortedArray;
sortedArray = [drinkDetails sortedArrayUsingSelector:@selector(compare:)];

edited Nov 01 '13 at 08:18

Bug

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answered Nov 01 '13 at 07:56

hackcat

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2

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 01 '13 at 07:58

0

Using blocks and modern Objective-C syntax:

NSArray *sortedArray = [unsortedArray sortedArrayUsingComparator:^(NSDictionary *first, NSDictionary *second) {

      return [first[@"Person"] compare:second[@"Person"]];

}];

answered Nov 01 '13 at 07:58

sergio

68,819
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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 01 '13 at 08:01

Using NSSortDescriptor:

NSSortDescriptor *descriptor = [[NSSortDescriptor alloc] initWithKey:@"firstName"  ascending:YES];
    myArray=[stories sortedArrayUsingDescriptors:[NSArray arrayWithObjects:descriptor,nil]];
    temp = [stories copy]; //temp is NSMutableArray

myArray is the array you want to sort.

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 01 '13 at 08:36

As you replied in a comment, the first dictionary key is "Person1" in all array elements. Then "Person1.firstName" is the key path that gives the first name of each array element. This key path can be used in a sort descriptor:

NSArray *array = ... // your array
NSSortDescriptor *sort = [[NSSortDescriptor alloc] initWithKey:@"Person1.firstName" ascending:YES];
NSArray *sortedArray = [array sortedArrayUsingDescriptors:@[sort]];

How to sort Array containing that contains NSDictionaries

5 Answers5