Question

I have an array similar to this

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [showname] => White Collar
            [air_time] => 1310590800
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [showname] => Chopped
            [air_time] => 1310590800
        )

    [2] => Array
        (
            [showname] => Covert Affairs
            [air_time] => 1310587200
        )
    } ... etc

I want to crete a new array that is sorted by air_time. for example all shows containing the same air_time should be in [0] then [1] then [2] etc..

An example of the output i would like is this:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [time] => 1310590800
            [shows] => Array
                (
                    [name] => White Collar
                    [name] => Chopped
                )

        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [time] => 1310587200
            [shows] => Array
                (
                    [name] => Covert Affairs
                )

        )
}

I’ve been looking at different array methods like multisort but i wasn’t able to figure it out.

Could you point me in the right direction? thanks

update i know how to sort the array normally by time, i just dont know how can i separate and group elements that have the same time

Answer 1

It’s not that hard if you wrap your head around it. By the way, you can’t have multiple array elements with the same key name.

$shows = array(
    array(
        'showname' => 'White Collar',
        'air_time' => 1310590800
    ),
    array(
        'showname' => 'Covert Affairs',
        'air_time' => 1310587200
    ),
    array(
        'showname' => 'Chopped',
        'air_time' => 1310590800
    )
);

/* Sort by air_time (descending) */
usort($shows, function ($a, $b) {
    return ($b['air_time'] - $a['air_time']);
});


/* Regroup array (utilizing the fact that the array is ordered) */
$regrouped = array();
$c = 0;
foreach ($shows as $show) {
    if ($c > 0 && $regrouped[$c - 1]['time'] === $show['air_time']) {
        $regrouped[$c - 1]['shows'][] = $show['showname'];
    } else {
        $regrouped[] = array('time'  => $show['air_time'],
                             'shows' => array($show['showname']));
        $c++;
    }
}

print_r($regrouped);