PHP sort multidimensional array using a specific key value

Question

I have an array which generated using PHP as below:

Array ( 
    [0] => Array ( [user] => test 1 [esttime] => 5 mins [destination] => testing location svvfefhsrdfd ) 
    [1] => Array ( [user] => test 2 [esttime] => 5 mins [destination] => testing location fsdfdsv  ) 
    [2] => Array ( [user] => test 5 [esttime] => 8 mins [destination] => testing location scvvfe ) 
    [3] => Array ( [user] => test 3 [esttime] => 5 mins [destination] => testing location sfds) 
    [4] => Array ( [user] => test 4 [esttime] => 8 mins [destination] => testing location gfsdarr ) 
    [5] => Array ( [user] => test 6 [esttime] => 10 mins [destination] => testing location dgfd ) 
)

the array have keys user,estimate time and destination and related values, i need to sort this array using esttime key value.

i tried many ways, but couldn't able to find a way.

anyone know how to sort this array using php, thank you

Answer 1

You could use custom sorting usort() in this case, then just use strtotime() for that relative time:

usort($array, function($a, $b){
    $time_a = strtotime($a['esttime']);
    $time_b = strtotime($b['esttime']);

    return $time_a - $time_b;
});

echo '<pre>';
print_r($array);

Sample Out

Answer 2

One way to do it is to generate a new array:

foreach($array as $row) {
        $new[str_replace(" ","_",$row['esttime'])][] = $row;
    }

print_r($new) Should look like this after:

Array (
        [5_mins][0] => Array ([user] => test 1 [esttime] => 5 mins [destination] => testing location svvfefhsrdfd)
        [5_mins][1] => Array ( [user] => test 2 [esttime] => 5 mins [destination] => testing location fsdfdsv)
        [5_mins][2] => Array ( [user] => test 3 [esttime] => 5 mins [destination] => testing location sfds)
        [8_mins][0] => Array ( [user] => test 5 [esttime] => 8 mins [destination] => testing location scvvfe )
        [8_mins][1] => Array ( [user] => test 4 [esttime] => 8 mins [destination] => testing location gfsdarr )
        [10_mins][0] => Array ( [user] => test 6 [esttime] => 10 mins [destination] => testing location dgfd )
      )