Javascript sorting of multiple digit numbers

Question

I have a ul that I'm trying to sort using javascript (or jQuery if easier or necessary):

<ul>
  <li>1 - 5 days</li>
  <li>11 - 15 days</li>
  <li>16 - 20 days</li>
  <li>6 days - 10 days</li>
</ul>

The order I'm hoping for is: 1 - 5 days, 6 days - 10 days, 11 - 15 days, 16 - 20 days.

Now, I could always change the single digit items so that 1 - 5 is 01 - 05, but aesthetically I'm hoping theres a way around that!

I've tried the process described in What is the easiest way to order a <UL>/<OL> in jQuery?, but it doesn't apply for this case where I have multiple digits mixed in with text.

If it helps as a starting point: http://jsfiddle.net/5gHet/

Thanks so much! Would really appreciate any ideas.

the system · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-23 23:00:27Z

3

Use parseInt to convert the string to the the first number that appears.

items.sort(function(a,b){
  var keyA = parseInt($(a).text(), 10);
  var keyB = parseInt($(b).text(), 10);

  if (keyA < keyB) return -1;
  if (keyA > keyB) return 1;
  return 0;
});

FYI, if there were non-numeric/whitespace characters that came before the first number, parseInt() would return NaN, so you'd need to extract the number manually.

answered Feb 23, 2013 at 23:00

the system

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2 Comments

Bergi Over a year ago

Just return keyA - keyB;

the system Over a year ago

@Bergi: Yes, this is OP's code, so I kept the changes minimal, but that would be nicer.

David Kiger · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-23 23:02:34Z

0

Split the string on spaces, and then get the first number.

var items = $('ul li').get();
items.sort(function(a,b){
  var strA = $(a).text().split(' ');
  var strB = $(b).text().split(' ');

  if (parseInt(strA[0]) < parseInt(strB[0])) return -1;
  if (parseInt(strA[0]) > parseInt(strB[0])) return 1;
  return 0;
});
var ul = $('ul');
$.each(items, function(i, li){
  ul.append(li);
});

Demo at: http://jsfiddle.net/5gHet/1/

answered Feb 23, 2013 at 23:02

David Kiger

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2 Comments

Bergi Over a year ago

This would fail horribly if he really used 08 - 11 days

David Kiger Over a year ago

Not in the latest JS: developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/JavaScript/Reference/…, but point taken.

Community · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-20 09:12:55Z

0

Fiddle

In addition to parseInt you can do a little regex:

var $items = $('ul li');
var regex_first_num = /(\d+)/;

$items.sort(function(a,b){
  var keyA = $(a).text().match(regex_first_num)[0] *1;
  var keyB = $(b).text().match(regex_first_num)[0] *1;
  return keyA > keyB;
});

$('#newlist').append($items.clone());

edited Jun 20, 2020 at 9:12

CommunityBot

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answered Feb 23, 2013 at 23:35

vol7ron

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