Overview

Cordial provides two ways to sort an array of data:

• Using the "sort" parameter when retrieving data with a supported "get" method
• Using the sortArray utility to sort an array within the message

Use the "sort" parameter when retrieving data with a supported "get" method

The getOrders and getEventRecords methods provide parameters to sort the data available to use in a message. More methods will be supported with upcoming releases.

You can select the column to be sorted as well as the direction (ascending or descending).

• Learn more about sorting data with the getOrders method.
• Learn more about sorting data with the getEventRecords method.

Use the sortArray utility to sort an array within the message

Cordial provides a custom Smarty utility to sort an array of data in a message.

{$sorted_array = $utils->sortArray($arrayName, 'column_name', 'asc')}

This is useful if you need to sort an array of data after it is retrieved using a "get" method.

The example below shows the sortArray utility in conjunction with the getJson method to sort the list of cars by "price".

• Used in: Message automations and data automations
• Syntax: {$utils->sortArray($arrayName, $column_name, $sort)}

• {$json_feed.data = $utils->getJson('http://p5.zdassets.com/hc/theme_assets/656597/200049057/automobiles.json')}
  
  {$sorted = $utils->sortArray($json_feed.data, 'price', 'asc')}
  
  {foreach $sorted as $car}  
  <strong>{$car.brand|capitalize} {$car.model|capitalize}</strong>
    ${$car.price}<br>
    Mileage: {$car.mileage}<br>
    ID: {$car.id}<br><br>
  {/foreach}

• [
    {
      "model": "prius",
      "brand": "toyota",
      "price": 27000,
      "mileage": 66000,
      "id": "03"
    },
    {
      "model": "versa",
      "brand": "nissan",
      "price": 16000,
      "mileage": 94000,
      "id": "05"
    },
    {
      "model": "accord",
      "brand": "honda",
      "price": 24000,
      "mileage": 49000,
      "id": "07"
    }
  ]

• Nissan Versa
  $16000
  Mileage: 94000
  ID: 05
  
  Honda Accord
  $24000
  Mileage: 49000
  ID: 07
  
  Toyota Prius
  $27000
  Mileage: 66000
  ID: 03

• Parameter	Description	Required	Expected	Default
  arrayName	Name of the array to be sorted.	required	String	NA
  column_name	Data column name by which to sort.	required	String	NA
  sort	Sort the order of the records returned. ASC (ascending) or DESC (descending).	optional	Sort direction	ASC

In the example above, we're getting the automobile data using the getJson method. You can use this same data in your account for testing.

{$cars=$supplements->getJson('http://p5.zdassets.com/hc/theme_assets/656597/200049057/automobiles.json')} 

We then loop through the data and create a new temporary array.

{foreach $cars as $car}  
{$tempArray[] = [
        'model' => {$car.model},
        'brand' => {$car.brand},
        'price' => {$car.price},
        'mileage' => {$car.mileage},
        'id' => {$car.id}
      ]}
 {/foreach}  

Now we add the sortArray utility to sort the data by the desired column. Is this example we are sorting by price in an ascending (asc) order. We could also sort in a descending order (desc).

{$sorted = $utils->sortArray($tempArray, 'price', 'asc')}

Finally we loop through the sorted array and render the results in the message.

{foreach $sorted as $car}  
 <strong>{$car.brand|capitalize} {$car.model|capitalize}</strong><br>
   ${$car.price}<br> 
  Mileage: {$car.mileage}<br>
  ID: {$car.id}<br> <br> 
{/foreach}

In the next article, you can learn about the "string contains" utility.