PHP Associative array sort - php

Question

I have an array like one below.
Currently it is sorted alphabetically by the OwnerNickName field.
Now i want to brig the array entry with OwnerNickName 'My House' as the first entry of the array and rest sorted alphabetically by OwnerNickName.
Any idea?
Array
(
[0318B69D-5DEB-11DF-9D7E-0026B9481364] => Array
(
[OwnerNickName] => andy
[Rooms] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[Label] => Living Room
[RoomKey] => FC795A73-695E-11DF-9D7E-0026B9481364
)
)
)
[286C29DE-A9BE-102D-9C16-00163EEDFCFC] => Array
(
[OwnerNickName] => anton
[Rooms] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[Label] => KidsRoom
[RoomKey] => E79D7991-64DC-11DF-9D7E-0026B9481364
)
[1] => Array
(
[Label] => Basement
[RoomKey] => CC12C0C4-68AA-11DF-9D7E-0026B9481364
)
[2] => Array
(
[Label] => Family Room
[RoomKey] => 67A280D4-64D9-11DF-9D7E-0026B9481364
)
)
)
[8BE18F84-AC22-102D-9C16-00163EEDFCFC] => Array
(
[OwnerNickName] => mike
[Rooms] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[Label] => Family Room
[RoomKey] => 1C6AFB39-6835-11DF-9D7E-0026B9481364
)
)
)
[29B455DE-A9BC-102D-9C16-00163EEDFCFC] => Array
(
[OwnerNickName] => My House
[Rooms] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[Label] => Basement
[RoomKey] => 61ECFAB2-6376-11DF-9D7E-0026B9481364
)
[1] => Array
(
[Label] => Rec Room
[RoomKey] => 52B8B781-6376-11DF-9D7E-0026B9481364
)
[2] => Array
(
[Label] => Deck
[RoomKey] => FFEB4102-64DE-11DF-9D7E-0026B9481364
)
[3] => Array
(
[Label] => My Room2
[RoomKey] => 112473E4-64DF-11DF-9D7E-0026B9481364
)
[4] => Array
(
[Label] => Bar Room
[RoomKey] => F82C47A8-64DE-11DF-9D7E-0026B9481364
)
)
)
)

Answer 1

You may want to implement your own sorting function, e.g.:
function cmp($a, $b)
{
if ($a['OwnerNickName'] == $b['OwnerNickName']) {
return 0;
}
if ($a['OwnerNickName'] == 'My House') {
return -1;
} else if ($b['OwnerNickName'] == 'My House') {
return 1;
}
return ($a['OwnerNickName'] < $b['OwnerNickName']) ? -1 : 1;
}
usort($array, 'cmp');

Answer 2

If you want to change your mind about which index to sort on or which value should be special, something like this might suit:
function specialSort(array &$array, $index, $specialvalue){
$callback = function($a,$b) use ($index, $specialvalue) { //closure
if ($a[$index] == $b[$index]) return 0;
if ($a[$index] == $specialvalue) return -1;
if ($b[$index] == $specialvalue) return 1;
return ($a[$index] < $b[$index]) ? -1 : 1;
} ;
uasort($array, $callback);
}
$arr=array(
'a'=>array('thing'=>'yay','who'=>'owee'),
'foo'=>array('thing'=>'boo','who'=>'wik'),
'd'=>array('thing'=>'kil','who'=>'ilo'),
'b'=>array('thing'=>'ser','who'=>'uyt'),
'zed'=>array('thing'=>'efv','who'=>'qet')
);
specialSort($arr,'who','ilo');
print_r($arr);
Gives the result:
Array
(
[d] => Array
(
[thing] => kil
[who] => ilo //special value
)
[a] => Array
(
[thing] => yay
[who] => owee
)
[zed] => Array
(
[thing] => efv
[who] => qet
)
[b] => Array
(
[thing] => ser
[who] => uyt
)
[foo] => Array
(
[thing] => boo
[who] => wik
)
)