Sort X & Y by size

Question

I'm trying to figure out how to sort an array, that has sub arrays which each have an X & Y coordinate. I need to sort the largest size first to the smallest, example:

$sizes = array(
    'a' => array(
        'x' => 10,
        'y' => 140,
    ),
    'b' => array(
        'x' => 20,
        'y' => 24,
    ),
    'c' => array(
        'x' => 20,
        'y' => 40,
    ),
    'd' => array(
        'x' => 50,
        'y' => 50,
    ),
    'e' => array(
        'x' => 10,
        'y' => 9,
    ),
);

Should resort naturally like so:

$sizes = array(
    'e' => array(
        'x' => 10,
        'y' => 9,
    ),
    'b' => array(
        'x' => 20,
        'y' => 24,
    ),
    'c' => array(
        'x' => 20,
        'y' => 40,
    ),
    'd' => array(
        'x' => 50,
        'y' => 50,
    ),
    'a' => array(
        'x' => 10,
        'y' => 140,
    ),
);

I've sorted by value before using asort, however I'm not sure how to sort and maintain index association on a multidimensional array like this. Any help would be great!

Have you tried `uasort()`? Also, shouldn't `[10, 140]` be the second item? — Ja͢ck, Mar 23 '15 at 03:26
Hi Jack, No I haven't, but 10 x 140 would actually be the largest, seeing as it's width is smaller, it would still take up the most area. — Shannon Hochkins, Mar 23 '15 at 04:21
So, `uasort($sizes, function($a, $b) { return ($a['x'] * $a['y']) - ($b['x'] * $b['y']); });` then? — Ja͢ck, Mar 23 '15 at 04:37
Thanks heaps for this jack, but why does the 10 x 140 end up second last? — Shannon Hochkins, Mar 23 '15 at 04:48
I just changed the * to + as that's the result I'm looking for, but thankyou! — Shannon Hochkins, Mar 23 '15 at 04:51
You mentioned area, which pretty much means width x height ... but whatever works for you. — Ja͢ck, Mar 23 '15 at 04:52
Ah sorry, You are correct, but I did write the wrong thing, thankyou though! — Shannon Hochkins, Mar 23 '15 at 05:11

tibc-dev · Answer 1 · 2015-03-23T12:34:09.353

A great goto for me:

    function sort_multi_array_2_col($arrInbound
        , $strColumn1
        , $strColumn1Sort = "ASC"
        , $strColumn2
        , $strColumn2Sort = "ASC") {

        reset($arrInbound);

        foreach ($arrInbound as $key => $row) {
            $columnToSort1[$key] = $row[$strColumn1];
            $columnToSort2[$key] = $row[$strColumn2];
       }

        array_multisort($columnToSort1
            , get_sort_flag($strColumn1Sort)
            , $columnToSort2
            , get_sort_flag($strColumn2Sort)
            , $arrInbound);

        return $arrInbound;
  }

    function get_sort_flag($strSort) {

    if($strSort == "ASC"){
          return SORT_ASC;
      } else {
          return SORT_DESC;
      }

  }

Hi mate, what is get_sort_flag, this seems to be a function that doesn't exist for me? — Shannon Hochkins, Mar 23 '15 at 04:32

Sort X & Y by size

1 Answers1