How to sort dates from closest date to the furthest in an array of dates in PHP

Question

This post answered this question but I didn't understand the answers very well

I have an array contains dates,

I want to sort column date_res (results date) by the closest to today not the greatest or the smallest

my array may help you

<?php 
$today = date('Y-m-d');
$arr = array(
    [
        'id' => '1',
        'date' => '2020-03-27',
        'date_end' => '2020-05-02 17:00',
        'date_res' => '2020-06-02'
    ],
    [
        'id' => '2',
        'date' => '2020-04-27',
        'date_end' => '2020-06-02 17:00',
        'date_res' => '2020-08-02'
    ],
    [
        'id' => '3',
        'date' => '2020-06-27',
        'date_end' => '2020-07-02 17:00',
        'date_res' => '2020-08-02'
    ],
    [
        'id' => '4',
        'date' => '2021-01-01',
        'date_end' => '2021-02-01 17:00',
        'date_res' => '2021-03-01'
    ],
    [
        'id' => '5',
        'date' => '2021-02-01',
        'date_end' => '2021-03-01 17:00',
        'date_res' => '2021-04-01'
    ],
    [
        'id' => '6',
        'date' => '2021-05-01',
        'date_end' => '2021-06-01 17:00',
        'date_res' => '2021-08-01'
    ],
    [
        'id' => '7',
        'date' => '2021-02-06',
        'date_end' => '2021-01-29 17:00',
        'date_res' => '2021-01-29'
    ],
    [
        'id' => '9',
        'date' => '2021-04-27',
        'date_end' => '2021-05-03 17:00',
        'date_res' => '2021-05-03'
    ],
    [
        'id' => '10',
        'date' => '2021-02-01',
        'date_end' => '2021-02-06 17:00',
        'date_res' => '2021-05-03'
    ],
    [
        'id' => '11',
        'date' => '2021-02-02',
        'date_end' => '2021-02-07 17:00',
        'date_res' => '2021-05-05'
    ],
    [
        'id' => '12',
        'date' => '2021-03-27',
        'date_end' => '2021-02-07 17:00',
        'date_res' => '2021-06-02'
    ]);
?>

@John Hanley, it will be changed from date to a link , Because after date of the result ends , the results will appear and have a link — Eymen, Feb 08 '21 at 09:23
That is not my question. Your question states `sort` by closest to today. Is yesterday the same as tomorrow in your sort routine? — John Hanley, Feb 08 '21 at 09:27
OP seems to want the absolute difference/distance between today and date_res ordered from smallest to largest. With yesterday and tomorrow being equal distance apart. — Remy, Feb 08 '21 at 09:32
I don't know but I think if you but yasterday in the same routine there is no problem , beacause yasterday will be hidden , @John Hanley — Eymen, Feb 08 '21 at 11:02

Silidrone · Answer 1 · 2021-02-08T09:12:14.373

1

Try (note that I converted the date_res column to date in sort_dates function as it was string):

function sort_dates($x, $y) {
    return strtotime($x['date_res']) - strtotime($y['date_res']);
}
usort($arr, "sort_dates");

Tested it and I get the desired output using the array you provided.

edited Feb 08 '21 at 09:12

answered Feb 08 '21 at 09:02

Silidrone

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I tested it and it works for me with the same array you provided. – Silidrone Feb 08 '21 at 09:11
are you sure from this code, cuz I think the problem in my code that I added you code in it – Eymen Feb 08 '21 at 09:11
I ll try it in another way – Eymen Feb 08 '21 at 09:11
I edited the question and linked to code and output to show that it works. – Silidrone Feb 08 '21 at 09:12
4

This answer fails the criteria: `closest to today not the greatest or the smallest` You are just sorting on `date_res`. – John Hanley Feb 08 '21 at 09:19

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 08 '21 at 10:41

You need to compare the differences of the date_res entries to today:

usort($arr, function($dateA, $dateB) use ($today) {
    return
        abs(strtotime($dateA['date_res']) - strtotime($today)) -
        abs(strtotime($dateB['date_res']) - strtotime($today));
});

The abs is used to get the "distance" between date_res and today regardless if its before or after. Then you just compare the "distances".

Working example.

References

usort
abs

How to sort dates from closest date to the furthest in an array of dates in PHP

2 Answers2

References