Best way to put array elements in custom order in Javascript

Question

I am receiving an array of objects from a server but they are not in the order I want to spit them back out. Unfortunately, the order I want is not alphabetical either. I am wondering what the best way to re-order the array elements is. Also, if there is a way I can leverage array.sort. How I have it working now:

function arraySort(array) {
  let orderedArray = new Array();
  array.map(item => (
    item.key === 'Person' ? orderedArray[0] = item : null,
    item.key === 'Place' ? orderedArray[1] = item : null,
    item.key === 'Thing' ? orderedArray[2] = item : null
  ));
  return orderedArray;
}

Did you know that you can pass a custom comparison function to sort? — Mike Cluck
– Mike Cluck, Commented Aug 11, 2016 at 21:02
Possible duplicate of How to define custom sort function in javascript? — Danny Buonocore
– Danny Buonocore, Commented Aug 11, 2016 at 21:02
I don't think this is a duplicate. OP is asking how to implement an arbitrary sort — Mulan
– Mulan, Commented Aug 11, 2016 at 21:03
@JLegendre, are there multiple Person, Place, or Thing results in the input array? Can you also paste a sample input and expected output? — Mulan
– Mulan, Commented Aug 11, 2016 at 21:05
For a longer array you might want to first group the items by key, and then iterate over the order-array and concat the groups (in the right order) — Thomas
– Thomas, Commented Aug 11, 2016 at 22:21

Sebastian Sebald · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-11 21:09:29Z

2

Here you go.

var order = ['Person', 'Place', 'Thing'];
var a = [
  { key: 'Place' },
  { key: 'Thing' },  
  { key: 'Place' },  
  { key: 'Person' },
  { key: 'Place' },
  { key: 'Thing' },
  { key: 'Person' }  
];

var b = a.sort(function(a,b) {
  return order.indexOf(a.key) - order.indexOf(b.key);
});

console.log(b);

answered Aug 11, 2016 at 21:09

Sebastian Sebald

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3 Comments

Mulan Over a year ago

Nice work. This is probably the best answer you can give without knowing more from the OP.

Jlegend Over a year ago

Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for!

Mulan Over a year ago

@JLegendre next time post a sample input and expected output with your question.

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