Sort array - that specific values will be first - php

Question

I have a array. for example:
array("Apple", "Orange", "Banana", "Melon");
i want to sort the array that first will be "orange", "melon". and the array will be
array( "Orange" , "Melon","Apple","Banana");
i looked in PHP sort functions, didn't find a s sort function to do it.
what is the right way to do it.
thank you

Answer 1

What you looking for is usort, you can specify custom function to sort the array
example:
function cmp($a, $b)
{
if ($a == "Orange") {
return 1;
}
if ($b == "Orange") {
return -1;
}
return strcmp($a, $b);// or any other sort you want
}
$arr = array("Apple", "Orange", "Banana", "Melon");
usort($arr, "cmp");

Answer 2

Another solution; using a custom function to move an element to the beginning of an array
function __unshift(&$array, $value){
$key = array_search($value, $array);
if($key) unset($array[$key]);
array_unshift($array, $value);
return $array;
}
$a = array("Apple", "Orange", "Banana", "Melon");
__unshift($a, "Melon");
__unshift($a, "Orange");
print_r($a);
Output:
Array
(
[0] => Orange
[1] => Melon
[2] => Apple
[3] => Banana
)
Demo
Or you may use the following to reorder an array using another array having reordered index
function __reorder(&$a, &$b){
$c = array();
foreach($b as $index){
array_push($c, $a[$index]);
}
return $c;
}
// the original array
$a = array("Apple", "Orange", "Banana", "Melon");
// an array with reordered index
$b = array(1, 3, 0, 2);
$c = __reorder($a, $b);
print_r($c);
Demo

Answer 3

$paths = array_merge(
array_intersect(["Orange", "Melon"], ["Apple", "Orange", "Banana", "Melon"]),
array_diff(["Apple", "Orange", "Banana", "Melon"], ["Orange", "Melon"])
);

Answer 4

Here's a solution that's longer than the others provided, but more flexible. You can easily expand or change the array of items that you want sorted first.
$array = array("Apple", "Orange", "Banana", "Melon");
$sort_first = array("Orange", "Melon");
usort($array, function ($a, $b) use ($sort_first) {
$order_a = array_search( $a, $sort_first );
$order_b = array_search( $b, $sort_first );
if ($order_a === false && $order_b !== false) {
return 1;
} elseif ($order_b === false && $order_a !== false) {
return -1;
} elseif ($order_a === $order_b) {
return $a <=> $b;
} else {
return $order_a <=> $order_b;
}
});
// Result: $array = array("Orange", "Melon", "Apple", "Banana");
The function can also be easily altered if the items you're sorting aren't strings, such as arrays or objects. Here's an example that sorts an array of objects:
// Assuming $array is an array of users with a getName method
$sort_first = array("Sam", "Chris");
usort($array, function ($a, $b) use ($sort_first) {
$order_a = array_search( $a->getName(), $sort_first );
$order_b = array_search( $b->getName(), $sort_first );
if ($order_a === false && $order_b !== false) {
return 1;
} elseif ($order_b === false && $order_a !== false) {
return -1;
} elseif ($order_a === $order_b) {
return $a->getName() <=> $b->getName();
} else {
return $order_a <=> $order_b;
}
});
// $array will now have users Sam and Chris sorted first,
// and the rest in alphabetical order by name