ActionScript for Flash MX: The Definitive Guide, Second Edition

Array.sortOn() Method

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ActionScript Language Reference

var clips = [clip1, clip2, clip3, clip4];

function compareXposition (element1, element2) {

if (element1._x < element2._x) {

return -1;

} else if (element1._x > element2._x) {

return 1;

} else {

return 0; // The clips have the same x position

}

}

clips.sort(compareXposition);

See Also

Array.reverse(), Array.sortOn(); “The sort() and onsort() Methods,” in Chapter 11

Array.sortOn() Method

sort an array of objects by the specified property

Flash 6

array.sortOn(key)

Arguments

key A mandatory string specifying which property should be used to sort the

objects in

array.

Description

The sortOn() method is used to sort an array of objects according to the value of a speci-

fied property. The elements of

array are expected to be objects. Each object is expected to

have a property, specified by the string

key, that will be used to sort the object. If key is not

provided, sortOn() silently fails and no sort is performed.

The following code populates a three-element array with object literals that define

fruit

and meat properties:

var shoppingList = new Array();

shoppingList[0] = {fruit:"mango", meat:"beef"};

shoppingList[1] = {fruit:"orange", meat:"pork"};

shoppingList[2] = {fruit:"apple", meat:"chicken"};

To sort the shoppingList array by the fruit property, ...