Question

I have a 2D array to sort as a whole using Java.

I have looked at the various links
How to sort a two-dimension ArrayList using comparators.

But it always sorts on a specific element. I want to able to sort for the whole 2d array.
For eg,

int[][] r = {{1,7,5},{1,3,5},{1,3,6}, {2,3,1}};

on sorting should give me

{1,2,3},{1,3,5},{1,3,6},{1,5,7}.

Thanks!

Answer 1

This will suit your needs:

Arrays.sort(array, new Comparator<int[]>() {
    @Override
    public int compare(int[] o1, int[] o2) {
        Arrays.sort(o1);
        Arrays.sort(o2);
        for (int i = 0; i < o1.length && i < o2.length; i++) {
            if (o1[i] != o2[i]) {
                return o1[i] < o2[i] ? -1 : 1;
            }
        }
        if (o1.length != o2.length) {
            return o1.length < o2.length ? -1 : 1;
        }
        return 0;
    }
});