best way to sort?

[vito_huang]

i got a table with all the names in mysql, and i have use pear's DB to get all the names out

 

i want to sort all the names start with A in array_a,  names start with B in array_b, ETC

 

i just wondering what is the best way to sort my problem.

 

N.B don't want to use 26 sql to get all the names. or using 25 if statement to seperate them.

 

i am open minded and happen to know other people's idea

 

 

thanks in advance!

 

 

 

 

[mpharo]

Best way is probably the GROUP BY clause in your SELECT statement, you would just do

SELECT * FROM table GROUP BY field ASC

or something along that lines...

[genericnumber1]

You could adapt this foreach to your row looping ...

 

<?php
$testNames = array('joe', 'bob', 'jan', 'carl');
$splitArray = array();

foreach($testNames as $name)
{
$firstLetter = strtolower(substr($name, 0, 1));

// If the letter hasn't been used before create an empty array for the letter
if(!isset($splitArray['letter_' . $firstLetter]))
{
	$lettery['letter_' . $firstLetter] = array();
}
$letter['letter_' . $firstLetter][] = $name;
}
?>

 

with that

 

<?php
print_r($letter);
?>

 

Outputs...

 

Array
(
    [letter_j] => Array
        (
            [0] => joe
            [1] => jan
        )

    [letter_b] => Array
        (
            [0] => bob
        )

    [letter_c] => Array
        (
            [0] => carl
        )

)

 

or you could do

 

<?php
extract($letter);
print_r($letter_j);
print_r($letter_b);
print_r($letter_c);
?>

 

Outputs...

 

Array
(
    [0] => joe
    [1] => jan
)
Array
(
    [0] => bob
)
Array
(
    [0] => carl
)

[vito_huang]

thanks for this good idea

[vito_huang]

in the your code what does the following code does?

$splitArray = array();


// If the letter hasn't been used before create an empty array for the letter
if(!isset($splitArray['letter_' . $firstLetter]))
{
	$lettery['letter_' . $firstLetter] = array();
}

 

this is what i think since $splitArray is empty array at the begin so

$lettery['letter_' . $firstLetter] = array();

will got execute everytime.

and

$letter['letter_'.$firstLetter][] = $name 

will automatically create.

is my thinking right?

 

i have delete those line and the code still works

 

sorry to bored you, but i am just want to know.

 

 

[genericnumber1]

no, sorry... I was in a rush when I wrote the code....

 

<?php
$testNames = array('joe', 'bob', 'jan', 'carl');
$letters = array();

foreach($testNames as $name)
{
$firstLetter = strtolower(substr($name, 0, 1));

// If the letter hasn't been used before create an empty array for the letter
if(!isset($letters['letter_' . $firstLetter]))
{
	$letters['letter_' . $firstLetter] = array();
}
$letters['letter_' . $firstLetter][] = $name;
}
?>

 

this should be correct, sorry about that.

 

I had in the if() statement because I believe it might flag an undefined variable error (Under E_NOTICE) if I were to just do $letters['letter_' . $firstLetter][] without declaring $letters['letter_' . $firstLetter] an array first. I could be mistaken in this, but it's just a habit of mine to declare a variable an array before adding to it.

[vito_huang]

thanks, that's pretty good solution, cos before i was thinking to use recursive loop ( like binary search stuff ), but you solution is brilliant.