Objective-C Language NSArray Sorting array with custom objects
Example
Compare method
Either you implement a compare-method for your object:
- (NSComparisonResult)compare:(Person *)otherObject {
return [self.birthDate compare:otherObject.birthDate];
}
NSArray *sortedArray = [drinkDetails sortedArrayUsingSelector:@selector(compare:)];
NSSortDescriptor
NSSortDescriptor *sortDescriptor;
sortDescriptor = [[NSSortDescriptor alloc] initWithKey:@"birthDate"
ascending:YES];
NSArray *sortDescriptors = [NSArray arrayWithObject:sortDescriptor];
NSArray *sortedArray = [drinkDetails sortedArrayUsingDescriptors:sortDescriptors];
You can easily sort by multiple keys by adding more than one to the array. Using custom comparator-methods is possible as well. Have a look at the documentation.
Blocks
NSArray *sortedArray;
sortedArray = [drinkDetails sortedArrayUsingComparator:^NSComparisonResult(id a, id b) {
NSDate *first = [(Person*)a birthDate];
NSDate *second = [(Person*)b birthDate];
return [first compare:second];
}];
Performance
The -compare: and block-based methods will be quite a bit faster, in general, than using NSSortDescriptor as the latter relies on KVC. The primary advantage of the NSSortDescriptor method is that it provides a way to define your sort order using data, rather than code, which makes it easy to e.g. set things up so users can sort an NSTableView by clicking on the header row.
