need help with sorting an array

Question

Suppose I have the following array

1.0000    2.0000    0.4231
1.0000    3.0000    0.8050
1.0000    4.0000    0.7116
2.0000    4.0000    0.6682
2.0000    5.0000    0.4460
2.0000    7.0000    0.5818
3.0000    4.0000    0.0977
3.0000    6.0000    0.5989
3.0000    7.0000    0.3237
4.0000    7.0000    0.2882
5.0000    6.0000    0.1456
5.0000    7.0000    0.3168
6.0000    7.0000    0.2767

I want to sort rows according to the elements of column 3 in a descending order. So that the sorted array is like:

1.0000 3.0000 0.8050

1.0000 4.0000 0.7116

2.0000 4.0000 0.6682

3.0000 6.0000 0.5989

.......................................

Note that, if I use 'sortrows' then the array is sorted in a ascending order automatically which I could not change. If I use 'sort', each column is sorted individually which is not what I want. Any help would be highly appreciated.

-Faisal

How is this array stored? You could create a table out of it then using a data view you would be able to sort by any column you want... — G Berdal

kennytm kennytm · Accepted Answer · 2010-07-26T12:04:27

3

votes

To sort in descending order you need a negative column index.

sortrows(a, -3)

need help with sorting an array

3 Answers