Question

I have an array of structs in ColdFusion. I’d like to sort this array based on one of the attributes in the structs. How can I achieve this? I’ve found the StructSort function, but it takes a structure and I have an array.

If this is not possible purely in ColdFusion, is it possible in Java somehow (maybe using Arrays.sort(Object[], Comparator))?

Answer 1

As usual, CFLib.org has exactly what you want.

http://cflib.org/udf/ArrayOfStructsSort

/**
* Sorts an array of structures based on a key in the structures.
*
* @param aofS      Array of structures.
* @param key      Key to sort by.
* @param sortOrder      Order to sort by, asc or desc.
* @param sortType      Text, textnocase, or numeric.
* @param delim      Delimiter used for temporary data storage. Must not exist in data. Defaults to a period.
* @return Returns a sorted array.
* @author Nathan Dintenfass ([e-mail])
* @version 1, December 10, 2001
*/
function arrayOfStructsSort(aOfS,key){
        //by default we'll use an ascending sort
        var sortOrder = "asc";        
        //by default, we'll use a textnocase sort
        var sortType = "textnocase";
        //by default, use ascii character 30 as the delim
        var delim = ".";
        //make an array to hold the sort stuff
        var sortArray = arraynew(1);
        //make an array to return
        var returnArray = arraynew(1);
        //grab the number of elements in the array (used in the loops)
        var count = arrayLen(aOfS);
        //make a variable to use in the loop
        var ii = 1;
        //if there is a 3rd argument, set the sortOrder
        if(arraylen(arguments) GT 2)
            sortOrder = arguments[3];
        //if there is a 4th argument, set the sortType
        if(arraylen(arguments) GT 3)
            sortType = arguments[4];
        //if there is a 5th argument, set the delim
        if(arraylen(arguments) GT 4)
            delim = arguments[5];
        //loop over the array of structs, building the sortArray
        for(ii = 1; ii lte count; ii = ii + 1)
            sortArray[ii] = aOfS[ii][key] & delim & ii;
        //now sort the array
        arraySort(sortArray,sortType,sortOrder);
        //now build the return array
        for(ii = 1; ii lte count; ii = ii + 1)
            returnArray[ii] = aOfS[listLast(sortArray[ii],delim)];
        //return the array
        return returnArray;
}