ArrayObject::natsort

(PHP 5 >= 5.2.0)

ArrayObject::natsort — Sort entries using a "natural order" algorithm

Description

void ArrayObject::natsort ( void )

This method 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 ArrayObject::asort) method can be seen in the example below.

Parameters

This function has no parameters.

Return Values

No value is returned.

Examples

Example #1 ArrayObject::natsort() example

<?php
$array = array("img12.png", "img10.png", "img2.png", "img1.png");

$arr1 = new ArrayObject($array);
$arr2 = clone $arr1;

$arr1->asort();
echo "Standard sorting\n";
print_r($arr1);

$arr2->natsort();
echo "\nNatural order sorting\n";
print_r($arr2);
?>

The above example will output:

Standard sorting
ArrayObject Object
(
    [3] => img1.png
    [1] => img10.png
    [0] => img12.png
    [2] => img2.png
)

Natural order sorting
ArrayObject Object
(
    [3] => img1.png
    [2] => img2.png
    [1] => img10.png
    [0] => img12.png
)

For more information see: Martin Pool's » Natural Order String Comparison page.