2D array sorting by priority

[Coestar]

Hello everyone.

 

I haven't read much of the forums, so I'm not sure if this has been posted here before. Recently I started coding a small project and there is one thing I'm stuck on.

 

Say all the inputs from the user look like that (grade, branch, name, surname):

[4][A][John][Smith]
[6][B][John][Doe]
[4][B][Steve][Dennis]
[7][A][James][Lee]

I need them to be sorted first by grade (ascendingly), then by branch (alphabetically), then by name (alphabetically again) and lastly by surname (alphabetically once more). So after sorting the array should look like that:

[4][A][John][Smith]
[4][B][Steve][Dennis]
[6][B][John][Doe]
[7][A][James][Lee]

If you could help me with this function, I'd be very grateful.

[jdelaney]

Where $a is your array:

#include <Array.au3>
Local $a[4][4]=[[4,"A","",""],[6,"B","",""],[4,"B","",""],[7,"A","",""]]
_ArraySort($a,1,0,0,1)
_ArraySort($a,0,0,0,0)
_ArrayDisplay($a)

output:

[0]|4|A||
[1]|4|B||
[2]|6|B||
[3]|7|A||
 

[Melba23]

Coestar,

You might find this UDF useful - it does exactly what you want.

M23

P.S. You and MrHudson use the same IP and joined within minutes of each other earlier this evening - you would not be one and the same person by any chance? We do not permit multiple accounts here.

[UEZ]

Here another link: >_ArraySort_MultiColumn

Br,

UEZ

[Gianni]

another way could be as this:
I had an idea to use sql to manage the array (with this little array is a little inappropriate), but with big arrays and if complex manipulations are needed then SQL is very powerful.
Here a simple "experiment" that transform an array to a temporary sql table
allows you to use sql query on that table
and at the end returns back data again into an array
Just an attempt without pretensions, but I found it interesting to make practice with SQL on big arrays (also with good performances)

expandcollapse popup

#include <Array.au3>
#include <SQLite.au3>
#include <SQLite.dll.au3>
Global $aResult, $iRows, $iColumns, $iRval
; ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local $Array[4][4] = [[4, "A", "John", "Smith"],[6, "B", "John", "Doe"],[4, "B", "Steve", "Dennis"],[7, "A", "James", "Lee"]]
; ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_SQLite_Startup()
_SQLite_Open()

_ArrayToSqlTable($Array) ; clone array to a temporary sql db

$iRval = _SQLite_GetTable2d(-1, "SELECT * FROM array;", $aResult, $iRows, $iColumns)
If $iRval = $SQLITE_OK Then
    ; _SQLite_Display2DResult($aResult)
    _ArrayDisplay($aResult, "Before sort")
Else
    MsgBox(16, "SQLite Error: " & $iRval, _SQLite_ErrMsg())
EndIf
; --- use sql to manage the array ------------------------------------------------------------------------
$iRval = _SQLite_GetTable2d(-1, "SELECT * FROM array order by field0,field1,field2;", $aResult, $iRows, $iColumns)
; --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If $iRval = $SQLITE_OK Then
    ; _SQLite_Display2DResult($aResult)
    _ArrayDisplay($aResult, "After sort")
Else
    MsgBox(16, "SQLite Error: " & $iRval, _SQLite_ErrMsg())
EndIf

_SQLite_Close()
_SQLite_Shutdown()
; -- the end --

Func _ArrayToSqlTable($Array) ; Pass an array to a temporary SQL table
    If Not IsArray($Array) Then Return SetError(1, 0, 0)
    Local $DBfields = ""
    Local $DBvalues = ""
    Local $records = UBound($Array, 1) - 1
    Local $fields = UBound($Array, 2) - 1
    For $x = 0 To $fields
        $DBfields &= "field" & String($x) & ","
    Next
    $DBfields = StringTrimRight($DBfields, 1) ; remove the last comma

    If Not _SQLite_Exec(-1, "CREATE TEMP TABLE array (" & $DBfields & ");") = $SQLITE_OK Then
        MsgBox(16, "SQLite Error", _SQLite_ErrMsg())
    Else
        ; fill table with array's values
        For $x = 0 To $records
            For $y = 0 To $fields
                If IsNumber($Array[$x][$y]) Then
                    $DBvalues &= $Array[$x][$y] & ","
                Else
                    ; $DBvalues &= "'" & $Array[$x][$y] & "'" & ","
                    $DBvalues &= _SQLite_FastEscape($Array[$x][$y]) & ","
                EndIf
            Next
            $DBvalues = StringTrimRight($DBvalues, 1)
            ; insert row to table
            If Not _SQLite_Exec(-1, "INSERT INTO array VALUES (" & $DBvalues & ");") = $SQLITE_OK Then MsgBox(16, "SQLite insert Error", _SQLite_ErrMsg())
            $DBvalues = ""
        Next
    EndIf
EndFunc   ;==>_ArrayToSqlTable

P.S.

(I hope jchd will not laugh too much for my primitive attempt...... )

Edited April 1, 2014 by PincoPanco

[jchd]

I always smile but never sneer when SQLite is put at use. Congrats!

[Gianni]

tks

[Coestar]

Where $a is your array:

#include <Array.au3>
Local $a[4][4]=[[4,"A","",""],[6,"B","",""],[4,"B","",""],[7,"A","",""]]
_ArraySort($a,1,0,0,1)
_ArraySort($a,0,0,0,0)
_ArrayDisplay($a)

output:

[0]|4|A||

[1]|4|B||

[2]|6|B||

[3]|7|A||

Thanks a lot, that looks like the best and most lightweight solution, I will try to input it into the code and tell you if it worked.

P.S. You and MrHudson use the same IP and joined within minutes of each other earlier this evening - you would not be one and the same person by any chance? We do not permit multiple accounts here.

Hudson's my neighbor and we decided to both register while tinkering with this project when I was at his place.

[Melba23]

Coestar,

 

Hudson's my neighbor and we decided to both register while tinkering with this project when I was at his place

Then welcome to you both.

M23

[Coestar]

OK, so I've taken a look at this UDF you posted but I don't really understand this, could you please elaborate?

$aSortData - 2D array holding details of the sort format;

Format: [Column to be sorted, Sort order];

Sort order can be either numeric (0/1 = ascending/descending) or a ordered string of items;

Any elements not matched in string are left unsorted after all sorted elements

Edited April 2, 2014 by Coestar

[Melba23]

Coestar,

 

could you please elaborate?

Of course.

You need the the columns to be sorted in ascending order - so you need to set the sort mode for each column to 0. You do this in the $aSortData array as you can see in this example:

#include <Array.au3>
#include "ArrayMultiColSort.au3"

; Here is the data to sort
Global $aArray[4][4] = [[4, "A", "John", "Smith"], _
                        [6, "B", "John", "Doe"], _
                        [4, "B", "Steve", "Dennis"], _
                        [7, "A", "James", "Lee"]]

; And here we set the sort order for each column - all the same in this case
Global $aSortData[4][2] = [ _
        [0, 0], _
        [1, 0], _
        [2, 0], _
        [3, 0]]

; Now we sort the array
_ArrayMultiColSort($aArray, $aSortData)

; And display the result - which is what you wanted
_ArrayDisplay($aArray, "Sorted")

Clearer? Try it with more lines of data and see if you get what you expect.

M23

[Coestar]

Oh, I get it, thanks a lot! Also, is there a way to use it on an already existing ListView?

[Melba23]

Coestar,

You would need to extract the data from the ListView into an array, sort the array and then rewrite the ListView.

If, as a new coder, the thought of doing that fills you with dread I just happen to have a UDF that could help you. Look at the GUIListViewEx UDF in my sig and play with the examples. Let me know if you think it could be useful (you do not have to utilise all the available functionality) and we can work on getting to play nicely with your script.

M23