How to sort PHP array of objects by a value inside an object in each element?

Question

Here is a simplified version of the array. It is easy to sort this by 'id', or 'created_by', but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to sort it by the value of "e5e53240-1d5a-4b50-ad7d-cfa00f33badd" inside the 'elements' object. I've spent hours searching through other questions trying to figure this out, but with no luck.

So here's the simplified version of the array via print_r:

[0] => stdClass Object
    (
        [id] => 12
        [created_by] => 776
        [searchable] => 1
        [elements] =>  {
"b2c4ecaa-f68f-4a5c-a551-339aa8f01421":  {

},


"e5e53240-1d5a-4b50-ad7d-cfa00f33badd":  {
    "0":  {
        "value": "Aeronca"
    }
},

"d7c903a8-fa15-4620-9d9b-2238cb48fd5c":  {
    "0":  {
        "value": "L-3B"
    }
}

    )

[1] => stdClass Object
    (
        [id] => 21
        [created_by] => 776
        [searchable] => 1
        [elements] =>  {
"b2c4ecaa-f68f-4a5c-a551-339aa8f01421":  {

},


"e5e53240-1d5a-4b50-ad7d-cfa00f33badd":  {
    "0":  {
        "value": "BEECHCRAFT"
    }
},

"d7c903a8-fa15-4620-9d9b-2238cb48fd5c":  {
    "0":  {
        "value": "N-35"
    }
}

    )

[2] => stdClass Object
    (
        [id] => 13
        [created_by] => 776
        [searchable] => 1
        [elements] =>  {
"b2c4ecaa-f68f-4a5c-a551-339aa8f01421":  {

},

"e5e53240-1d5a-4b50-ad7d-cfa00f33badd":  {
    "0":  {
        "value": "AEROSPORT"
    }
},

"d7c903a8-fa15-4620-9d9b-2238cb48fd5c":  {
    "0":  {
        "value": ""
    }
}

    )

So basically the array, when sorted, should have the first element be where it is now, followed by the third element, followed by the second, so it would look like this:

[0] => stdClass Object
    (
        [id] => 12
        [created_by] => 776
        [searchable] => 1
        [elements] =>  {
"b2c4ecaa-f68f-4a5c-a551-339aa8f01421":  {

},


"e5e53240-1d5a-4b50-ad7d-cfa00f33badd":  {
    "0":  {
        "value": "Aeronca"
    }
},

"d7c903a8-fa15-4620-9d9b-2238cb48fd5c":  {
    "0":  {
        "value": "L-3B"
    }
}

    )

[1] => stdClass Object
    (
        [id] => 13
        [created_by] => 776
        [searchable] => 1
        [elements] =>  {
"b2c4ecaa-f68f-4a5c-a551-339aa8f01421":  {

},

"e5e53240-1d5a-4b50-ad7d-cfa00f33badd":  {
    "0":  {
        "value": "AEROSPORT"
    }
},

"d7c903a8-fa15-4620-9d9b-2238cb48fd5c":  {
    "0":  {
        "value": ""
    }
}

    )

[2] => stdClass Object
    (
        [id] => 21
        [created_by] => 776
        [searchable] => 1
        [elements] =>  {
"b2c4ecaa-f68f-4a5c-a551-339aa8f01421":  {

},


"e5e53240-1d5a-4b50-ad7d-cfa00f33badd":  {
    "0":  {
        "value": "BEECHCRAFT"
    }
},

"d7c903a8-fa15-4620-9d9b-2238cb48fd5c":  {
    "0":  {
        "value": "N-35"
    }
}

    )

Keep in mind that the actual array is far more complex, and contains close to 1,000 elements in the array, so hopefully whatever method I use would minimize load on the server.

AbraCadaver · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-08 17:14:45Z

1

Something like this to decode the json and create a key array. Then use the key array and array_multisort() to sort by whatever order you want:

foreach($object as $k => $o) {
    //PHP 5.4.0
    //$key[$k] = json_decode($o->elements, true)['e5e53240-1d5a-4b50-ad7d-cfa00f33badd'][0]['value'];
    $elements = json_decode($o->elements, true);
    $key[$k]  = $elements['e5e53240-1d5a-4b50-ad7d-cfa00f33badd'][0]['value'];
}

answered Oct 8, 2013 at 17:14

AbraCadaver

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1615903 · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-08 16:53:25Z

0

You want to create your own comparator function and use usort for sorting.

For example:

function myComparator($a, $b) {
    return  $a->someValue - $b->someValue;
}

The return value explained in php.net:

The comparison function must return an integer less than, equal to, or greater than zero if the first argument is considered to be respectively less than, equal to, or greater than the second.

And somewhere in your code where you want to sort the array:

usort($arrayOfObjects, 'myComparator');

answered Oct 8, 2013 at 16:53

1615903

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1 Comment

user1905478 Over a year ago

I did the following based on your answer, and it works like a charm: function myComparator($a, $b) { $json_var = json_decode($a->elements, true); $first = $json_var['e5e53240-1d5a-4b50-ad7d-cfa00f33badd'][0]['value']; $json_var = json_decode($b->elements, true); $second = $json_var['e5e53240-1d5a-4b50-ad7d-cfa00f33badd'][0]['value']; return strcmp ( $first , $second ); } usort($arrayOfObjects, 'myComparator');

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