sort multidimensional array by values in PHP

Question

I have an array fetched from mysql database tables of type. I want to sort it in order of particular value.

$arr1=array(array(12, 8, 5, 34),
        array(54, 87, 32, 10),
        array(23, 76, 98, 13),
        array(53, 16, 24, 19));

How can i sort it by value? Like sorting by 2nd value should result to.

$arr1=array(array(12, 8, 5, 34),
        array(53, 16, 24, 19),
        array(23, 76, 98, 13),
        array(54, 87, 32, 10));

possible duplicate of [How do I sort a multidimensional array in php](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/96759/how-do-i-sort-a-multidimensional-array-in-php), then again, if you fetch it from a database, the database probably can do it faster for you... — Wrikken, Oct 23 '13 at 18:22
@Wrikken: `array_multisort` is one of those functions that I've never quite figured out how to use. — Rocket Hazmat, Oct 23 '13 at 18:26

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 23 '13 at 18:24

1

I like to use usort to solve these problems.

$sortKey = 1;
usort($arr1, function($a, $b) use($sortKey){
    return $a[$sortKey] - $b[$sortKey];
});

answered Oct 23 '13 at 18:24

Rocket Hazmat

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score 1 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 23 '13 at 19:40

1

Got to agree with @RocketHazmat, array_multsort is a royal pain in the backside. usort is much easier to follow but I thought I'd have a go anyway:

$sortKey = 1;
array_multisort(array_map(function($v) use($sortKey){
    return $v[$sortKey];
}, $arr1), $arr1);

It only took 20 minutes... :(

Here's a demo: http://ideone.com/2rZYIz

edited Oct 23 '13 at 19:40

Rocket Hazmat

204,503
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283
323

answered Oct 23 '13 at 19:00

Emissary

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sort multidimensional array by values in PHP

2 Answers2