JavaScript: How do I pass a string argument to a function to use to sort an array of objects by the value of that string argument?

Question

I am also working in React. I am trying to build a reusable sorting component, which sorts an array of objects by a property field. For example with an array of objects with properties like so:

let seed = [
    {
        name: 'John', age: '35', cars : '4', income: '35000'
   },
   {
        name: 'Johnnny', age: '15', cars : '0', income: '100'
   },
    {
        name: 'Mary', age: '45', cars : '41', income: '350000'
   },
]

I can write it like this to sort the array by the name property:

let sortedData = [...seed].sort((a, b) => (a.name > b.name ? 1 : -1));

What I would like to do is something like this:

function sortData(array, field) {
  array.sort((a, b) => (a.[field] > b.[field] ? 1 : -1))
}

But it doesn't look like this is valid syntax. How can I do this without writing a different sort of each property like:

let sortedData = [...seed].sort((a, b) => (a.age > b.age ? 1 : -1));

cars
income
and so on

You are using wrong syntax. instead of a.[field] use a[field]. — Rinkesh Golwala
– Rinkesh Golwala, Commented Jul 22, 2019 at 5:20

Jack Bashford · Accepted Answer · 2019-07-22 05:22:01Z

1

Remove the dot from your accessor. You can use either bracket notation or dot notation for each key, not both.

let seed = [
    {
        name: 'John', age: '35', cars : '4', income: '35000'
   },
   {
        name: 'Johnnny', age: '15', cars : '0', income: '100'
   },
    {
        name: 'Mary', age: '45', cars : '41', income: '350000'
   },
]

function sortData(array, field) {
  return array.sort((a, b) => (a[field] > b[field] ? 1 : -1))
}

let sortedData = sortData([...seed], "cars");

console.log(sortedData);

.as-console-wrapper { max-height: 100% !important; top: auto; }

answered Jul 22, 2019 at 5:22

Jack Bashford

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