The array_multisort Function

The array_multisort function allows you to sort several arrays simultaneously or perform complex sorting of multidimensional arrays by one or more criteria.

Syntax

phparray_multisort(
  array1, 
  [sorting_order = SORT_ASC], 
  [sorting_type = SORT_REGULAR], 
  array2, 
  array3, 
  ...
);

sorting_order Parameter

The sorting_order parameter sets the sorting direction. Here are its values:

sorting_type Parameter

The sorting_type parameter sets the type of element comparison. Here are its values:

Example

Sorting two arrays with specified parameters:

php<?php
  $numbers = [10, 2, 15, 4];
  $letters = ['b', 'a', 'd', 'c'];
  array_multisort(
    $numbers, SORT_DESC, SORT_NUMERIC,
    $letters, SORT_ASC, SORT_STRING
  );
  print_r($numbers);
  print_r($letters);
?>

Code execution result:

php[15, 10, 4, 2]
['d', 'b', 'c', 'a']

Example

Sorting a multidimensional array by a specified field:

php<?php
  $data = [
    ['name' => 'John', 'age' => 25],
    ['name' => 'Alice', 'age' => 22],
    ['name' => 'Bob', 'age' => 30]
  ];
  
  $ages = array_column($data, 'age');
  array_multisort($ages, SORT_ASC, $data);
  print_r($data);
?>

Code execution result:

php[
  ['name' => 'Alice', 'age' => 22],
  ['name' => 'John', 'age' => 25],
  ['name' => 'Bob', 'age' => 30]
]

Example

Sorting a multidimensional array by two specified fields:

php<?php
  $data = [
    ['name' => 'John', 'age' => 25],
    ['name' => 'alice', 'age' => 22],
    ['name' => 'Bob', 'age' => 30]
  ];
  
  $names = array_column($data, 'name');
  $ages = array_column($data, 'age');
  array_multisort(
    $names, SORT_ASC, SORT_STRING | SORT_FLAG_CASE,
    $ages, SORT_DESC,
    $data
  );
  print_r($data);
?>

Code execution result:

php[
  ['name' => 'alice', 'age' => 22],
  ['name' => 'Bob', 'age' => 30],
  ['name' => 'John', 'age' => 25]
]

Example

Natural order string sorting:

php<?php
  $files = ['file1.txt', 'file10.txt', 'file2.txt'];
  array_multisort($files, SORT_ASC, SORT_NATURAL);
  print_r($files);
?>

Code execution result:

php['file1.txt', 'file2.txt', 'file10.txt']

Example

Case-insensitive sorting:

php<?php
  $words = ['Apple', 'banana', 'cherry', 'apricot'];
  array_multisort($words, SORT_ASC, SORT_STRING | SORT_FLAG_CASE);
  print_r($words);
?>

Code execution result:

php['Apple', 'apricot', 'banana', 'cherry']

See Also