PHP array_multisort() Function

Example

Return a sorted array in ascending order:

<?php
$a=array("Dog","Cat","Horse","Bear","Zebra");
array_multisort($a);
print_r($a);
?>

Definition and Usage

The array_multisort() function returns a sorted array. You can assign one or more arrays. The function sorts the first array, and the other arrays follow, then, if two or more values are the same, it sorts the next array, and so on.

Note: String keys will be maintained, but numeric keys will be re-indexed, starting at 0 and increase by 1.

Note: You can assign the sortorder and the sorttype parameters after each array. If not specified, each array parameter uses the default values.

Syntax

array_multisort(array1, sortorder, sorttype, array2, array3, ...)

Parameter Values

Parameter	Description
array1	Required. Specifies an array
sortorder	Optional. Specifies the sorting order. Possible values: SORT_ASC - Default. Sort in ascending order (A-Z) SORT_DESC - Sort in descending order (Z-A)
sorttype	Optional. Specifies the type to use, when comparing elements. Possible values: SORT_REGULAR - Default. Compare elements normally (Standard ASCII) SORT_NUMERIC - Compare elements as numeric values SORT_STRING - Compare elements as string values SORT_LOCALE_STRING - Compare elements as string, based on the current locale (can be changed using setlocale()) SORT_NATURAL - Compare elements as strings using "natural ordering" like natsort() SORT_FLAG_CASE - Can be combined (bitwise OR) with SORT_STRING or SORT_NATURAL to sort strings case-insensitively
array2	Optional. Specifies an array
array3	Optional. Specifies an array

Technical Details

Return Value:	Returns TRUE on success or FALSE on failure
PHP Version:	4+
PHP Changelog:	PHP 5.4: Added sorting type SORT_NATURAL and SORT_FLAG_CASE PHP 5.3: Added sorting type SORT_LOCALE_STRING

More Examples

Example

Return a sorted array in ascending order:

<?php
$a1=array("Dog","Cat");
$a2=array("Fido","Missy");
array_multisort($a1,$a2);
print_r($a1);
print_r($a2);
?>

Try it Yourself »

Example

See how it sorts when two values are the same:

<?php
$a1=array("Dog","Dog","Cat");
$a2=array("Pluto","Fido","Missy");
array_multisort($a1,$a2);
print_r($a1);
print_r($a2);
?>

Try it Yourself »

Example

Using sorting parameters:

<?php
$a1=array("Dog","Dog","Cat");
$a2=array("Pluto","Fido","Missy");
array_multisort($a1,SORT_ASC,$a2,SORT_DESC);
print_r($a1);
print_r($a2);
?>

Try it Yourself »

Example

Merge two arrays and sort them as numbers, in descending order:

<?php
$a1=array(1,30,15,7,25);
$a2=array(4,30,20,41,66);
$num=array_merge($a1,$a2);
array_multisort($num,SORT_DESC,SORT_NUMERIC);
print_r($num);
?>

Try it Yourself »

❮ PHP Array Reference