Wordpress sql, re-ordering array based on meta value - php

Question

In my wordpress functions file, I'm getting sql query results of only post IDs, then taking those IDs to create an array that I send to my page.
This works perfectly but I want to re-order it based on one of the values I generate in the array process. I have a value of 'featured' and I want to make it so that any results where featured = 1 are first in the array.
$myresults = $wpdb->get_results( $sqlStatement );
$ress = array();
$cnt = 0;
$imgpath = '';
if(count($myresults)>0){
foreach ($myresults as $key => $value) {
$id = $value->ID;
if(get_post_meta($id,'_awpcp_extra_field[36]',true) !='' && get_post_meta($id,'_awpcp_extra_field[37]',true) != ''){
$ress[$cnt]['featured'] = get_post_meta($id,'_awpcp_is_featured',true);
$imgpath = get_the_post_thumbnail_url($id,'dailymag-featured');
if($imgpath){
$ress[$cnt]['imgs'] = $imgpath;
}else{
$ress[$cnt]['imgs'] = '/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/fairfax-4670d9c9.jpeg';
}
$cnt++;
}
}
echo json_encode($ress);
}
Is there a way to simply use conditions in order to put those values first in the array?

Answer 1

Using a function get_post_meta in an array is bad practice. I would advise first querying the database to extract data from custom fields.
However, I think there are two ways to answer your question:
Use 2 arrays and merge them together after iteration:
$myresults = $wpdb->get_results( $sqlStatement );
$ress1 = $ress2 = array();
$cnt = 0;
$imgpath = '';
if(count($myresults)>0){
foreach ($myresults as $key => $value) {
$id = $value->ID;
if(get_post_meta($id,'_awpcp_extra_field[36]',true) !='' && get_post_meta($id,'_awpcp_extra_field[37]',true) != ''){
$is_featured = get_post_meta($id,'_awpcp_is_featured',true);
$imgpath = get_the_post_thumbnail_url($id,'dailymag-featured');
$array_name = !empty($is_featured) ? 'ress1' : 'ress2';
$$array_name[$cnt]['featured'] = $is_featured;
if($imgpath){
$$array_name[$cnt]['imgs'] = $imgpath;
}else{
$$array_name[$cnt]['imgs'] = '/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/fairfax-4670d9c9.jpeg';
}
$cnt++;
}
}
$ress = array_merge($ress1, $ress2);
echo json_encode($ress);
}
Use 2 counters:
$myresults = $wpdb->get_results( $sqlStatement );
$ress = array();
$cnt1 = 0;
$cnt2 = 1000000;
$imgpath = '';
if(count($myresults)>0){
foreach ($myresults as $key => $value) {
$id = $value->ID;
if(get_post_meta($id,'_awpcp_extra_field[36]',true) !='' && get_post_meta($id,'_awpcp_extra_field[37]',true) != ''){
$is_featured = get_post_meta($id,'_awpcp_is_featured',true);
$imgpath = get_the_post_thumbnail_url($id,'dailymag-featured');
$counter_name = !empty($is_featured) ? 'cnt1' : 'cnt2';
$ress[$$counter_name]['featured'] = get_post_meta($id,'_awpcp_is_featured',true);
$imgpath = get_the_post_thumbnail_url($id,'dailymag-featured');
if($imgpath){
$ress[$$counter_name]['imgs'] = $imgpath;
}else{
$ress[$$counter_name]['imgs'] = '/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/fairfax-4670d9c9.jpeg';
}
$$counter_name++;
}
}
$ress = array_values( $ress );
echo json_encode($ress);
}