[RESOLVED] Merging arrays and listing alphabetically

middleman666

Hi there,

I have two array's of data that need to be kept together and then listed alphabetically by one of the arrays.

I've looked through countless examples, but I can't seem to get my head round them, so I was hoping someone could explain how it's done?

here's what I have at the moment:

  $BandNameArray[] = $BandName;
  $BandIDArray[] = $BandID;

  //List Results
  $i=0; 
  while($i<count($BandNameArray)) { 
    echo '<a href="index.php?id='.$BandIDArray[$i].'">'.$BandNameArray[$i].'</a><br />'; 
    $i++; 
  }

I tried sort($BandNameArray) which does list the names alphabetically, but it doesn't keep the correct BandIDArray data.

Thanks.

laserlight

You can try using [man]array_multisort/man. A possibly better approach is to place band names and band ids into a Band class, and then sort an array of Band objects with [man]usort/man.

middleman666

array_multisort($BandNameArray, $BandIDArray);

Worked great thanks 🙂

It's all alphabetical and the ID's match the name, but the last two entries are not in alphabetical order. The list goes from A - Y, but then the last two entries start with a D and an I.

I've checked the database entry and theres no spaces before the name or anything like that.
Do you know why it might be doing this?

jmack159

can you do a var_dump() on those arrays so we can see whats in them?

middleman666

A var_dump of the BandNameArray after the multisort shows these:

(sorry theres so many)

array(212) { [0]=> string(8) "13 Riots" [1]=> string(13) "66 Kicks, The" [2]=> string(10) "9FoldPunch" [3]=> string(11) "Action Plan" [4]=> string(5) "Adele" [5]=> string(11) "Air Traffic" [6]=> string(11) "Aliens, The" [7]=> string(29) "All New Adventures Of Us, The" [8]=> string(11) "Alones, The" [9]=> string(10) "Alterkicks" [10]=> string(23) "Amusement Parks On Fire" [11]=> string(12) "Anotherstory" [12]=> string(22) "Answering Machine, The" [13]=> string(14) "Argonauts, The" [14]=> string(8) "Ascendia" [15]=> string(11) "Ascent, The" [16]=> string(12) "Assembly Now" [17]=> string(6) "Battle" [18]=> string(14) "Be Be See, The" [19]=> string(17) "Black Tricks, The" [20]=> string(15) "Blood Red Shoes" [21]=> string(16) "Bolt Action Five" [22]=> string(12) "Boom The Cat" [23]=> string(20) "Boxer Rebellion, The" [24]=> string(11) "Broken Mile" [25]=> string(14) "Burn In Reason" [26]=> string(4) "CM45" [27]=> string(7) "Calayla" [28]=> string(13) "Cameron, Tom " [29]=> string(11) "Cat The Dog" [30]=> string(22) "Cats And Cats And Cats" [31]=> string(8) "Circuits" [32]=> string(6) "Clocks" [33]=> string(4) "Cord" [34]=> string(13) "Culprits, The" [35]=> string(9) "Damn Arms" [36]=> string(27) "Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip" [37]=> string(19) "Data. Select. Party" [38]=> string(11) "Dead Monroe" [39]=> string(4) "Deco" [40]=> string(14) "Dirty Subjects" [41]=> string(18) "Displacements, The" [42]=> string(14) "Draytones, The" [43]=> string(10) "Eight Legs" [44]=> string(9) "Envelopes" [45]=> string(6) "Eracol" [46]=> string(11) "Escape 1942" [47]=> string(12) "Eskimo Disco" [48]=> string(11) "Famous, The" [49]=> string(14) "Fear Of Flying" [50]=> string(12) "Feeling, The" [51]=> string(14) "Feelmores, The" [52]=> string(14) "Fell City Girl" [53]=> string(9) "Firstborn" [54]=> string(16) "Flamboyant Bella" [55]=> string(12) "Flex Cabana!" [56]=> string(5) "Foals" [57]=> string(12) "Francos, The" [58]=> string(33) "Freewheelin' Troubadour (DJ), The" [59]=> string(14) "Friendly Fires" [60]=> string(10) "Fun! Yeah!" [61]=> string(5) "Ghost" [62]=> string(6) "Ghosts" [63]=> string(12) "Gnade, Adam " [64]=> string(5) "Grace" [65]=> string(10) "Great Bear" [66]=> string(13) "Guildean Gang" [67]=> string(9) "Hadouken!" [68]=> string(8) "Harrison" [69]=> string(9) "Harrisons" [70]=> string(12) "Heights, The" [71]=> string(19) "Help She Can't Swim" [72]=> string(23) "Hicks Milligan-Prophecy" [73]=> string(23) "Home Wreckers Club, The" [74]=> string(13) "Hoosiers, The" [75]=> string(24) "Hornblower Brothers, The" [76]=> string(12) "I Say Marvin" [77]=> string(17) "I Was A Cub Scout" [78]=> string(16) "Ice Cold In Alex" [79]=> string(27) "If Sharks Were Land Mammals" [80]=> string(7) "InFocus" [81]=> string(16) "Jackson Analogue" [82]=> string(12) "Jakobinarina" [83]=> string(13) "Jones, Jamie " [84]=> string(8) "KBC, The" [85]=> string(8) "Kapowski" [86]=> string(10) "Kid A (DJ)" [87]=> string(11) "Kid Captain" [88]=> string(11) "Kill Keneda" [89]=> string(19) "Killing For Company" [90]=> string(8) "Kingsize" [91]=> string(8) "Komakino" [92]=> string(8) "Kowalski" [93]=> string(10) "LR RocKeTs" [94]=> string(12) "Lady Fortune" [95]=> string(9) "Last Gang" [96]=> string(16) "Late Of The Pier" [97]=> string(12) "Lauries, The" [98]=> string(18) "Lets Bitter Cinema" [99]=> string(9) "Letter 27" [100]=> string(18) "Little Flames, The" [101]=> string(16) "Little Victories" [102]=> string(14) "Look At It Go!" [103]=> string(14) "Look See Proof" [104]=> string(10) "Lost Alone" [105]=> string(19) "Lucida Console, The" [106]=> string(14) "Maccabees, The" [107]=> string(10) "Magic, The" [108]=> string(10) "Magna Saga" [109]=> string(21) "Make Good Your Escape" [110]=> string(15) "Marling, Laura " [111]=> string(11) "Maths Class" [112]=> string(19) "McGuinness, Eugene " [113]=> string(16) "McSweeney, Neil " [114]=> string(13) "Members Of Me" [115]=> string(15) "Mescalitas, The" [116]=> string(6) "Mexico" [117]=> string(4) "Miko" [118]=> string(12) "Model Horror" [119]=> string(7) "Moondog" [120]=> string(19) "Mourning After, The" [121]=> string(7) "Mumm-Ra" [122]=> string(13) "My Architects" [123]=> string(14) "My Dear Juliet" [124]=> string(10) "My Passion" [125]=> string(5) "Natty" [126]=> string(20) "Negative For Francis" [127]=> string(7) "Nemaste" [128]=> string(15) "New Shapes, The" [129]=> string(17) "New Town Pioneers" [130]=> string(7) "Oakwood" [131]=> string(9) "Oceansize" [132]=> string(17) "October Game, The" [133]=> string(9) "Overdrawn" [134]=> string(18) "Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man." [135]=> string(9) "Palladium" [136]=> string(9) "Papercuts" [137]=> string(8) "Parisman" [138]=> string(16) "People In Planes" [139]=> string(13) "Peñate, Jack " [140]=> string(22) "Pigeon Detectives, The" [141]=> string(13) "Pistolas, The" [142]=> string(15) "Plastic Passion" [143]=> string(10) "Point Four" [144]=> string(18) "Polka Fervour, The" [145]=> string(16) "Popular Workshop" [146]=> string(16) "Pringle, George " [147]=> string(22) "Pure Reason Revolution" [148]=> string(9) "Race, The" [149]=> string(9) "Raid, The" [150]=> string(5) "Raiku" [151]=> string(11) "Rat:Att:Agg" [152]=> string(17) "Red Light Control" [153]=> string(9) "Redjetson" [154]=> string(9) "Reys, The" [155]=> string(11) "Rifles, The" [156]=> string(6) "Rivals" [157]=> string(15) "Rocketeers, The" [158]=> string(8) "Rosemary" [159]=> string(10) "Rotary Ten" [160]=> string(15) "Rotating Leslie" [161]=> string(12) "Runners, The" [162]=> string(14) "Screening, The" [163]=> string(19) "See Through This..." [164]=> string(14) "Seeing Scarlet" [165]=> string(10) "Sigma, The" [166]=> string(18) "Silent Parade, The" [167]=> string(12) "Silver Blaze" [168]=> string(12) "Silver Sided" [169]=> string(15) "Singletons, The" [170]=> string(4) "Sion" [171]=> string(13) "Situationists" [172]=> string(28) "Snowfight In The City Centre" [173]=> string(9) "Some Body" [174]=> string(13) "Sound Ex, The" [175]=> string(15) "Sparrow, Steve " [176]=> string(11) "Spiral Soul" [177]=> string(9) "Splitfire" [178]=> string(16) "Stolen Coda, The" [179]=> string(37) "Strange Death Of Liberal England, The" [180]=> string(11) "Stubbs, The" [181]=> string(14) "Sub Pop Sunday" [182]=> string(8) "Switches" [183]=> string(15) "Talk Show Hosts" [184]=> string(10) "Talk Taxis" [185]=> string(12) "Teflon Child" [186]=> string(6) "Temple" [187]=> string(10) "This Et Al" [188]=> string(23) "Thousand Natural Shocks" [189]=> string(11) "Time To Run" [190]=> string(10) "Tinseltown" [191]=> string(12) "Tiny Dancers" [192]=> string(9) "To My Boy" [193]=> string(8) "Touriste" [194]=> string(14) "Trailing Laces" [195]=> string(11) "Tricks, The" [196]=> string(10) "Tymes, The" [197]=> string(20) "Union Street Runners" [198]=> string(14) "Van Cools, The" [199]=> string(13) "Video Nasties" [200]=> string(11) "Vinny Vinny" [201]=> string(20) "Wallis, Christopher " [202]=> string(35) "Wave, Spectrum, Modulation, Attack!" [203]=> string(7) "Waylaid" [204]=> string(9) "Whip, The" [205]=> string(10) "WinterKids" [206]=> string(12) "Wombats, The" [207]=> string(16) "Worldonfire, The" [208]=> string(9) "You Slut!" [209]=> string(11) "Youthmovies" [210]=> string(3) "ddd" [211]=> string(11) "iLiKETRAiNS" }

The last two are the ones that don't want to get into alphabetical order:
[210]=> string(3) "ddd"
[211]=> string(11) "iLiKETRAiNS"

Any thoughts?

jmack159

the last two array elements are the only elements that start with a lowercase character. i believe this is what is throwing off the sort. from the manual:

strings starting with a capital letter will come before strings starting with a lowercase letter.

i think this example of case insensitive array sorting from the same manual page will be helpful:

<?php
$array = array('Alpha', 'atomic', 'Beta', 'bank');
$array_lowercase = array_map('strtolower', $array);

array_multisort($array_lowercase, SORT_ASC, SORT_STRING, $array);

print_r($array);
?>

Hope this helps!

middleman666

$BandNameArray = array_map('strtolower', $BandNameArray); 
$BandIDArray = array_map('strtolower', $BandIDArray); 

array_multisort($BandNameArray, $BandIDArray);

That worked like a charm 🙂

Thanks for your help.

-resolved-