Question

I have combined two arrays using array_merge, and now need to sort them alphabetically. Problem is I need to compare two different keys,

e.g.

[0] => stdClass Object
(
[id] => 16
[title] => Oranges
)

[1] => stdClass Object
(
[id] => 23
[title] => Apples
)

[2] => stdClass Object
(
[id] => 16
[name] => Bananas
)

I need to compare ‘name’ properties with each other, as well as with ‘title’ properties, then sort those alphabetically, (ignoring the id) so that my result would be:

Apples
Bananas
Oranges

However, the function I have here:

function compareItems($a, $b)
{
if ( $a->title < $b->title ) return -1;
if ( $a->title > $b->title ) return 1;
if ( $a->name < $b->name ) return -1;
if ( $a->name > $b->name ) return 1;
return 0;
}

usort($array, "compareItems");

…doesn’t combine, but sorts one set of properties (title) then the other (name), thus giving me:

Apples
Oranges
Bananas

I’m hoping I can amend this function to merge the two together – I’m not really a PHP programmer, so any help is much appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

The comparison function I have below should work for you:

function compareItems($a, $b)
{
    $x = isset($a->title) ? $a->title : $a->name;
    $y = isset($b->title) ? $b->title : $b->name;
    return strcmp($x, $y);
}