How to sort an array of objects with multiple field values in JavaScript

Question

I found a great method to sort an array of objects based on one of the properties as defined at:

Sort array of objects by string property value in JavaScript

Using that function works perfectly for a single sort (on all browsers), and even a sort within another sort EXCEPT using Google Chrome! Here is Ege Özcan's great sort routine for arrays of objects

function dynamicSort(property) { 
    return function (a,b) {
        return (a[property] < b[property]) ? -1 : (a[property] > b[property]) ? 1 : 0;
    }
}

Using an array named "Data" (of course, my array has many more object pairs)...

var Data = [{Category: "Business", Value: "ABC"},{Category:"Personal", Value:"XYZ"}];

I can get a proper sort where the order is listed as all the values within each category by doing this...

Data.sort(dynamicSort("Value"));
Data.sort(dynamicSort("Category"));

By first sorting on Value, and then by Category, my array puts all values in sorted order with all the Business-base values listed first and then all the Personal-based values. Perfect! Except in Chrome where the data is sorted properly by category, but the order of the values within each category seems rather random.

Does any one know of a better way to do a sort within a sort that would also work in Chrome?

Answer 1

I created a multi-parameter version of that dynamicSort function:

function dynamicSort(property) { 
    return function (obj1,obj2) {
        return obj1[property] > obj2[property] ? 1
            : obj1[property] < obj2[property] ? -1 : 0;
    }
}

function dynamicSortMultiple() {
    /*
     * save the arguments object as it will be overwritten
     * note that arguments object is an array-like object
     * consisting of the names of the properties to sort by
     */
    var props = arguments;
    return function (obj1, obj2) {
        var i = 0, result = 0, numberOfProperties = props.length;
        /* try getting a different result from 0 (equal)
         * as long as we have extra properties to compare
         */
        while(result === 0 && i < numberOfProperties) {
            result = dynamicSort(props[i])(obj1, obj2);
            i++;
        }
        return result;
    }
}

I created an array as follows:

var arr = [
    {a:"a",b:"a",c:"a"},
    {a:"b",b:"a",c:"b"},
    {a:"b",b:"a",c:"a"},
    {a:"b",b:"a",c:"b"},
    {a:"b",b:"b",c:"a"},
    {a:"b",b:"b",c:"b"},
    {a:"b",b:"b",c:"a"},
    {a:"b",b:"b",c:"b"},
    {a:"b",b:"b",c:"a"},
    {a:"b",b:"b",c:"b"},
    {a:"b",b:"b",c:"a"},
    {a:"c",b:"b",c:"b"},
    {a:"c",b:"c",c:"a"}
];

and it worked when I did,

arr.sort(dynamicSortMultiple("c","b","a"));

And here is a working example: http://jsfiddle.net/ZXedp/

Answer 2

The easiest way to perform a Javascript Multi-Criteria Sort (or Multi-Parameter Sort), is to use .sort, concatenate the multiple parameters together, and compare the two stings.

For example:

data.sort(function (a, b) {

  var aConcat = a["property1"] + a["property2"];
  var bConcat = b["property1"] + b["property2"];

  if (aConcat > bConcat) {
    return 1;
  } else if (aConcat < bConcat) {
    return -1;
  } else {
    return 0;
  }

});

I've included a JsFiddle Script here: http://jsfiddle.net/oahxg4u3/6/

Answer 3

You may also want to have a look at thenBy.js: https://github.com/Teun/thenBy.js

It allows you to use the standard Array.sort, but with firstBy().thenBy().thenBy() style.

Answer 4

I now this post is quite old, anyway I found it today and quoting Ege Özcan, I improved his excellent solution implementing DESC-ASC SQL-Like functionality for anyone interested (http://jsfiddle.net/ZXedp/65/):

function dynamicSortMultiple() {
    var props=[];
    /*Let's separate property name from ascendant or descendant keyword*/
    for(var i=0; i < arguments.length; i++){
        var splittedArg=arguments[i].split(/ +/);
        props[props.length]=[splittedArg[0], (splittedArg[1] ? splittedArg[1].toUpperCase() : "ASC")];
    }
    return function (obj1, obj2) {
        var i = 0, result = 0, numberOfProperties = props.length ;
        /*Cycle on values until find a difference!*/
        while(result === 0 && i < numberOfProperties) {
            result = dynamicSort(props[i][0], props[i][1])(obj1, obj2);
            i++;
        }
        return result;
    }
}

/*Base function returning -1,1,0 for custom sorting*/
function dynamicSort(property, isAscDesc) { 
    return function (obj1,obj2) {
        if(isAscDesc==="DESC"){
            return ((obj1[property] > obj2[property]) ? (-1) : ((obj1[property] < obj2[property]) ? (1) : (0)));
        }
        /*else, if isAscDesc==="ASC"*/
        return ((obj1[property] > obj2[property]) ? (1) : ((obj1[property] < obj2[property]) ? (-1) : (0)));
    }
}

call the function by something like this:

arr.sort(dynamicSortMultiple("c DESC","b Asc","a"));

Answer 5

Here is my solution. It faster than lodash's _.sortBy() multi-column sort function in about two times (see http://jsperf.com/multi-column-sort. I generate text of sorting function, then use it in standard .sort(). It works in Chrome and Firefox as well.

function multiColumnSort(arr,sf) {
    var s = '';
    sf.forEach(function(f,idx) {
        s += 'if(arguments[0].'+f+'>arguments[1].'+f+')return 1;';
        s += 'else if(arguments[0].'+f+'==arguments[1].'+f+')';
        s += (idx < sf.length-1)? '{' : 'return 0';
    });
    s += Array(sf.length).join('}')+';return -1';
    return arr.sort(new Function(s));
};