DBX_COMPARE(3)								 1							    DBX_COMPARE(3)

dbx_compare - Compare two rows for sorting purposes

SYNOPSIS

       int dbx_compare (array  $row_a, array  $row_b, string  $column_key, [int  $flags = DBX_CMP_ASC | DBX_CMP_NATIVE])

DESCRIPTION

       dbx_compare(3) is a helper function for dbx_sort(3) to ease the make and use of the custom sorting function.

PARAMETERS

	      o $row_a
		- First row

	      o $row_b
		- Second row

	      o $column_key
		- The compared column

	      o $flags
		- The $flags can be set to specify comparison direction:

		     o DBX_CMP_ASC - ascending order

		     o DBX_CMP_DESC - descending order

	       and the preferred comparison type:

		     o DBX_CMP_NATIVE - no type conversion

		     o DBX_CMP_TEXT - compare items as strings

		     o DBX_CMP_NUMBER - compare items numerically

	       One of the direction and one of the type constant can be combined with bitwise OR operator (|).

RETURN VALUES

	Returns  0  if	the  row_a[$column_key] is equal to row_b[$column_key], and 1 or -1 if the former is greater or is smaller than the latter
       one, respectively, or vice versa if the $flag is set to DBX_CMP_DESC.

EXAMPLES

       Example #1

	      dbx_compare(3) example

	      <?php
	      function user_re_order($a, $b)
	      {
		  $rv = dbx_compare($a, $b, "parentid", DBX_CMP_DESC);
		  if (!$rv) {
		      $rv = dbx_compare($a, $b, "id", DBX_CMP_NUMBER);
		  }
		  return $rv;
	      }

	      $link   = dbx_connect(DBX_ODBC, "", "db", "username", "password")
		  or die("Could not connect");

	      $result = dbx_query($link, "SELECT id, parentid, description FROM table ORDER BY id");
		  // data in $result is now ordered by id

	      dbx_sort($result, "user_re_order");
		  // date in $result is now ordered by parentid (descending), then by id

	      dbx_close($link);
	      ?>

SEE ALSO

       dbx_sort(3).

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