How to sort arrays inside an array?

Question

I need to sort arrays inside an array of array based on one of the array's array value.

For example:

$data = array( array( 1, "Article One", 132, 12402773, 3 ),
               array( 2, "Article Two", 251, 12519283, 5 ),
               array( 3, "Article Three", 107, 12411321, 3 ),
               array( 4, "Article Four", 501, 12228135, 4 ) );

By default, if I print the 2nd element of each array:

Article One
Article Two
Article Three
Article Four

I need to sort it in a descending order by the 3rd element of the child-array.

So it would be like this:

Article Four
Article Two
Article One
Article Three

Because 501 > 251 > 132 > 107.

Any suggestion?

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 18 '09 at 18:55

8

I typically use a usort() for this:

function compare($a, $b) {
    return ($a[2] > $b[2]);
}

usort($data, 'compare');

answered Dec 18 '09 at 18:55

willoller

6,556
34
59

4

This is one of my favorite functions in php, especially with the uasort variant that preserves keys. – Dave Dec 18 '09 at 18:57
I Agree this is the way to go. usort/uasort dpending on the situation. – mmundiff Dec 18 '09 at 19:15
Better way would be to use an closure: `usort($data, function($a, $b) { return $a[2] > $b[2]; });` – Xethron Jul 21 '15 at 09:00
Yep - closure syntax is nice. A lot has changed since 2009! – willoller Jul 21 '15 at 15:56

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 18 '09 at 18:53

2

array_multisort :)

answered Dec 18 '09 at 18:53

Tor Valamo

30,859
10
70
79

How to sort arrays inside an array?

2 Answers2

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