Sort an associative array with custom order

Question

How can we sort an associative array with custom order? My array look like this

Array
(
    [pa_color] => Array
        (
            [name] => pa_color
            [value] => 
            [position] => 0
            [is_visible] => 1
            [is_variation] => 1
            [is_taxonomy] => 1
        )

    [pa_dimension] => Array
        (
            [name] => pa_dimension
            [value] => 
            [position] => 1
            [is_visible] => 1
            [is_variation] => 0
            [is_taxonomy] => 1
        )

    [pa_travel-duration] => Array
        (
            [name] => pa_travel-duration
            [value] => 
            [position] => 2
            [is_visible] => 1
            [is_variation] => 0
            [is_taxonomy] => 1
        )

    [pa_travel-type] => Array
        (
            [name] => pa_travel-type
            [value] => 
            [position] => 3
            [is_visible] => 1
            [is_variation] => 0
            [is_taxonomy] => 1
        )

    [pa_travelling-with] => Array
        (
            [name] => pa_travelling-with
            [value] => 
            [position] => 4
            [is_visible] => 1
            [is_variation] => 0
            [is_taxonomy] => 1
        )

    [pa_volume] => Array
        (
            [name] => pa_volume
            [value] => 
            [position] => 5
            [is_visible] => 1
            [is_variation] => 0
            [is_taxonomy] => 1
        )

    [pa_weight] => Array
        (
            [name] => pa_weight
            [value] => 
            [position] => 6
            [is_visible] => 1
            [is_variation] => 0
            [is_taxonomy] => 1
        )

)

and i want this array is like pa_travel-duration first pa_volume second ?? I know there is a native php function usort but i could not understand this.

I want to sort by array key like `[pa_dimension]` 1st which is 2nd right now and `[pa_color]` 2nd which is 1st — Salman Patni, Jul 03 '17 at 07:25

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 03 '17 at 07:26

This will do the work, but im pretty sure there's much better ways to do it:

Code:

$array = array("pa_color" => "color",  
              "pa_dimension" => "dimension", 
              "pa_travel-duration" => "Random Stuff: " . rand(100,999),
              "pa_volume" => "volumen"
              );
$tmp = array("pa_travel-duration" =>  $array["pa_travel-duration"],  
            "pa_volume" =>  $array["pa_volume"], 
);

unset($array["pa_travel-duration"], $array["pa_volume"]);
$array = array_merge($tmp,$array);


print_r($array);

Result:

Array
(
    [pa_travel-duration] => Random Stuff: 127
    [pa_volume] => volumen
    [pa_color] => color
    [pa_dimension] => dimension
)

Take care because if the array doesn't have the proper key it will throw an error, you need to add few checks there.

What if, if array is coming from the database? – Salman Patni Jul 03 '17 at 07:43 — Salman Patni, Jul 03 '17 at 07:43

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 03 '17 at 07:32

$sort_by = array('pa_travel-duration', 'pa_volume', 'pa_color','pa_dimension','pa_travel-type','pa_travelling-with','pa_weight');
$temp_arr = array();
foreach ($sort_by as $key) {
    $temp_arr[$key] = $data[$key];
}
$data = $temp_arr;

echo '<pre>'; print_r($data);

Define your order in $sort_by array

Sort an associative array with custom order

2 Answers2