natsort(3) [php man page]

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).

PHP Documentation Group 														NATSORT(3)

SORT(3) 								 1								   SORT(3)

sort - Sort an array

SYNOPSIS

       bool sort (array  &$array, [int	$sort_flags = SORT_REGULAR])

DESCRIPTION

	This function sorts an array. Elements will be arranged from lowest to highest when this function has completed.

PARAMETERS

	      o $array
		- The input array.

	      o $sort_flags
		- The optional second parameter $sort_flags may be used to modify the sorting behavior using these values:  Sorting type flags:

		     o SORT_REGULAR - compare items normally (don't change types)

		     o SORT_NUMERIC - compare items numerically

		     o SORT_STRING - compare items as strings

		     o SORT_LOCALE_STRING  - compare items as strings, based on the current locale. It uses the locale, which can be changed using
		       setlocale(3)

		     o SORT_NATURAL - compare items as strings using "natural ordering" like natsort(3)

		     o SORT_FLAG_CASE - can be combined (bitwise OR) with SORT_STRING or SORT_NATURAL to sort strings case-insensitively

RETURN VALUES

	Returns TRUE on success or FALSE on failure.

CHANGELOG

       +--------+---------------------------------------------------+
       |Version |						    |
       |	|						    |
       |	|		     Description		    |
       |	|						    |
       +--------+---------------------------------------------------+
       | 5.4.0	|						    |
       |	|						    |
       |	|  Added    support    for     SORT_NATURAL	and |
       |	| SORT_FLAG_CASE as $sort_flags 		    |
       |	|						    |
       | 5.0.2	|						    |
       |	|						    |
       |	|	       Added SORT_LOCALE_STRING 	    |
       |	|						    |
       +--------+---------------------------------------------------+
EXAMPLES

       Example #1

	      sort(3) example

	      <?php

	      $fruits = array("lemon", "orange", "banana", "apple");
	      sort($fruits);
	      foreach ($fruits as $key => $val) {
		  echo "fruits[" . $key . "] = " . $val . "
";
	      }

	      ?>

	      The above example will output:

	      fruits[0] = apple
	      fruits[1] = banana
	      fruits[2] = lemon
	      fruits[3] = orange

	The fruits have been sorted in alphabetical order.

       Example #2

	      sort(3) example using case-insensitive natural ordering

	      <?php

	      $fruits = array(
		  "Orange1", "orange2", "Orange3", "orange20"
	      );
	      sort($fruits, SORT_NATURAL | SORT_FLAG_CASE);
	      foreach ($fruits as $key => $val) {
		  echo "fruits[" . $key . "] = " . $val . "
";
	      }

	      ?>

	      The above example will output:

	      fruits[0] = Orange1
	      fruits[1] = orange2
	      fruits[2] = Orange3
	      fruits[3] = orange20

	The fruits have been sorted like natcasesort(3).

NOTES

       Note

	      This  function assigns new keys to the elements in $array. It will remove any existing keys that may have been assigned, rather than
	      just reordering the keys.

       Note

	       Like most PHP sorting functions, sort(3) uses an implementation of Quicksort. The pivot is chosen in the middle	of  the  partition
	      resulting in an optimal time for already sorted arrays. This is however an implementation detail you shouldn't rely on.

       Warning

	       Be careful when sorting arrays with mixed types values because sort(3) can produce unpredictable results.

SEE ALSO

       asort(3), The comparison of array sorting functions.

PHP Documentation Group 														   SORT(3)