I have something like this that I need to figure out how to sort:

111.23 store A
10.3 store b
15.76 store c
120.3 store d
5.7 store z

I need to sort them based on the first number, lowest one first. I'm new to working with arrays in PHP is that the best way to do it? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!
Justin

I guess I should add some more to clear up something.. I have this:

111.23 store A
10.3 store b
15.76 store c
120.3 store d
5.7 store z

The numbers are say the miles to that store, say store a. What I need to do is print out the array in order of closest to farthest in distance.

Thanks,
Justin

how is the array structured?

$list = array( '111.23' => 'store A',
'10.3' => 'store b' ); // Like this?

// or like this

$list = array( '111.23 store A', '10.3 store b');

Actually it's a while loop that flows like this:

1. get users zip & query database for users latitude and longitude
2. mysql query to get all stores latitude and longitude
while ($stores) {
$mileage = getdistance ($lat_a, $long_a, $lat_b, $long_b);
right now I just print out the store name and distance. I need to somehow sort the output based on the closest store.
}

Justin

Hmm.. Having a hard time understanding your sample code but basically you want to build an associative array:

while ($stores) {
$mileage = getdistance ($lat_a, $long_a, $lat_b, $long_b);
$mixed{$mileage} = $store;
}


// Example of showing the difference in the array
echo "<pre>" . print_r($mixed, TRUE) . "</pre>";

ksort($mixed); //sort the array by key which is the mileage

echo "<pre>" . print_r($mixed, TRUE) . "</pre>";

Sorting some list of objects is just a better of using something like bubble sort of merge sort.

Write yourself a comparison function like:

function compare_locations($a, $b)
{
if ($a['miles'] > $b['miles'])
return 1;
else if ($a['miles'] < $b['miles'])
return -1;
else
return 0;
}


Make the conditions as complicated as you like. Then use the usort() function to sort your array:

usort($data_array, 'compare_locations');

while ($stores) {
$mileage = getdistance ($lat_a, $long_a, $lat_b, $long_b);
$results[$mileage] = $store_name; //not sure if $stores is the name or an array, etc
}

ksort($results);

foreach ($results as $k=>$v)
print $v . 'is ' . $k . ' miles away';

Deuce,

What about 2 stores with the same mileage?

Justin

well then save it the other way and sort not by key

So change to:
while ($stores) {
$mileage = getdistance ($lat_a, $long_a, $lat_b, $long_b);
$results[$store_name] = $milage; //not sure if $stores is the name or an array, etc
}

sort($results);

foreach ($results as $k=>$v)
print $k . 'is ' . $v . ' miles away';

What do you want to do when the stores are the same distance? You can run the $results array through a function to check if the first elements share the same distance and just return once you get to a distance that is different.