NATSORT(3)								 1								NATSORT(3)

natsort - Sort an array using a ";natural order" algorithm

SYNOPSIS

       bool natsort (array  &$array)

DESCRIPTION

	This  function	implements  a  sort  algorithm that orders alphanumeric strings in the way a human being would while maintaining key/value
       associations. This is described as a "natural ordering". An example of the difference between  this  algorithm  and  the  regular  computer
       string sorting algorithms (used in sort(3)) can be seen in the example below.

PARAMETERS

	      o $array
		- The input array.

RETURN VALUES

	Returns TRUE on success or FALSE on failure.

CHANGELOG

       +--------+---------------------------------------------------+
       |Version |						    |
       |	|						    |
       |	|		     Description		    |
       |	|						    |
       +--------+---------------------------------------------------+
       |5.2.10	|						    |
       |	|						    |
       |	|  Zero  padded numeric strings (e.g., '00005') now |
       |	| essentially ignore the 0 padding.		    |
       |	|						    |
       +--------+---------------------------------------------------+
EXAMPLES

       Example #1

	      natsort(3) examples demonstrating basic usage

	      <?php
	      $array1 = $array2 = array("img12.png", "img10.png", "img2.png", "img1.png");

	      asort($array1);
	      echo "Standard sorting
";
	      print_r($array1);

	      natsort($array2);
	      echo "
Natural order sorting
";
	      print_r($array2);
	      ?>

	      The above example will output:

	      Standard sorting
	      Array
	      (
		  [3] => img1.png
		  [1] => img10.png
		  [0] => img12.png
		  [2] => img2.png
	      )

	      Natural order sorting
	      Array
	      (
		  [3] => img1.png
		  [2] => img2.png
		  [1] => img10.png
		  [0] => img12.png
	      )

	       For more information see: Martin Pool's Natural Order String Comparison page.

       Example #2

	      natsort(3) examples demonstrating potential gotchas

	      <?php
	      echo "Negative numbers
";
	      $negative = array('-5','3','-2','0','-1000','9','1');
	      print_r($negative);
	      natsort($negative);
	      print_r($negative);

	      echo "Zero padding
";
	      $zeros = array('09', '8', '10', '009', '011', '0');
	      print_r($zeros);
	      natsort($zeros);
	      print_r($zeros);
	      ?>

	      The above example will output:

	      Negative numbers
	      Array
	      (
		  [0] => -5
		  [1] => 3
		  [2] => -2
		  [3] => 0
		  [4] => -1000
		  [5] => 9
		  [6] => 1
	      )
	      Array
	      (
		  [2] => -2
		  [0] => -5
		  [4] => -1000
		  [3] => 0
		  [6] => 1
		  [1] => 3
		  [5] => 9
	      )

	      Zero padding
	      Array
	      (
		  [0] => 09
		  [1] => 8
		  [2] => 10
		  [3] => 009
		  [4] => 011
		  [5] => 0
	      )
	      Array
	      (
		  [5] => 0
		  [1] => 8
		  [3] => 009
		  [0] => 09
		  [2] => 10
		  [4] => 011
	      )

SEE ALSO

       natcasesort(3), The comparison of array sorting functions, strnatcmp(3), strnatcasecmp(3).

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