Sort an array with arrays in it by string

Question

I have an array that contains several arrays and I would like to order the arrays based on a certain string within those arrays.

var myArray = [
                [1, 'alfred', '...'],
                [23, 'berta', '...'],
                [2, 'zimmermann', '...'],
                [4, 'albert', '...'],
              ];

How can I sort it by the name so that albert comes first and zimmermann comes last?

I know how I would do it if I could use the integer for sorting but the string leaves me clueless.

Thank for your help! :)

Answer 1

This can be achieved by passing a supporting function as an argument to the Array.sort method call.

Something like this:

  function Comparator(a, b) { if (a[1] < b[1]) return -1; if (a[1] > b[1]) return 1; return 0; } var myArray = [ [1, 'alfred', '...'], [23, 'berta', '...'], [2, 'zimmermann', '...'], [4, 'albert', '...'], ]; myArray = myArray.sort(Comparator); console.log(myArray); 

Answer 2

You can still use array.sort() with a custom function. Inside the function, simply compare the element that you want to use as your key. For you example, you could use:

myArray.sort(function(a, b) { 
    return a[1] > b[1] ? 1 : -1;
});

Answer 3

There´s an easier way now:

myArray = myArray.sort(function(a, b) {
    return a[1].localeCompare(b[1]);
})

It is case insensitive too.

Source: https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/String/localeCompare

Answer 4

Awesome! Compound sort on first element, second element and then third, all ascending in this example, would be

myArray=myArray.sort(function(a,b){
    retVal=0;
    if(a[0]!=b[0]) retVal=a[0]>b[0]?1:-1;
    else if(a[1]!=b[1]) retVal=a[1]>b[1]?1:-1;
    else if(a[2]!=b[2]) retVal=a[2]>b[2]?1:-1;
    return retVal
});

(multiple sort on more than one column)

Answer 5

In ES6 one might do the relatively pithy:

myArray.sort(([a], [b]) => a.localeCompare(b))

or

myArray.sort(([a], [b]) => a < b ? -1 : a > b ? 1 : 0)

The helpful/modern bits being the => lambda operator, and the [X] argument destructuring.

Answer 6

Kept getting issues with the solutions posted here. For a simple sorter of simple strings inside an array, I used this:

arr = ["aaa","abc","aba"]
arr.sort((a, b) => a.localeCompare(b));
console.log(arr);
//['aaa','aba','abc']