How to sort an array with multiple dictionaries and arrays

Question

Im trying to sort the following array by "likes" count. For example "likes" should be sorted 86, 30, 12 along with all its associated content. Thanks!

[  

   [

     location: "Zoo Miami",   
     attribution: https://instagram.com,   
     tags: [    
             zoomiami,  
             iphone6plus,  
             catfish  
            ],   
     likes: [  
              count: 86;  
              data:  [  
                       full_name: "Followers 2015",
                       id: 1570,
                       profile_picture: "https://igcdn-photos.com,
                       username: "followers_2015_new",
                      ],
              ],
      ],

   [

     location: "California",   
     attribution: https://instagram.com,   
     tags: [    
             California,  
             iphone,  
             cat  
            ],   
     likes: [  
              count: 12;  
              data:  [  
                       full_name: "Jake Smith",
                       id: 1450,
                       profile_picture: "https://igcdn-photos.com,
                       username: "Jake_Smith",
                      ],
              ],
      ],

   [

     location: "Philadelphia",   
     attribution: https://instagram.com,   
     tags: [    
             philly,  
             skateboard,  
             vans  
           ],   
     likes: [  
              count: 30;  
              data:  [  
                       full_name: "John Jones",
                       id: 1210,
                       profile_picture: "https://igcdn-photos.com,
                       username: "John Jones",
                      ],
              ],
      ],
]

I apologize in advance if the brackets are hard to read.

Doublequotes closing URLs in profile_picture attributes are missing... — CiaPan
– CiaPan, Commented Jul 9, 2015 at 9:10

Sandeep · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-09 09:40:49Z

1

I have refined your array such that it makes sense to use in playground.

var a = [
            [
                "location": "Zoo Miami",
                "attribution": "https://instagram.com",
                "tags": [
                    "zoomiami",
                    "iphone6plus",
                    "catfish"
                ],

                "likes": [
                    "count": 86,
                    "data":  [
                        "full_name": "Followers 2015",
                        "id": 1570,
                        "profile_picture": "https://igcdn-photos.com",
                        "username": "followers_2015_new",
                    ],
                ],
            ],

            [
                "location": "Philadelphia",
                "attribution": "https://instagram.com",
                "tags": [
                    "Philly",
                    "iphone",
                    "newData"
                ],

                "likes": [
                    "count": 12,
                    "data":  [
                        "full_name": "Jake 2015",
                        "id": 1850,
                        "profile_picture": "https://igcdn-photos.com",
                        "username": "Jake 2015_new",
                    ],
                ],
            ],

        [
            "location": "California",
            "attribution": "https://instagram.com",
            "tags": [
                "California",
                "skateboard",
                "vans"
            ],

            "likes": [
                "count": 30,
                "data":  [

                    "full_name": "John Jones",
                    "id": 1450,
                    "profile_picture": "https://igcdn-photos.com",
                    "username": "John Jones",
                ],
            ],
    ],
]

You can either use Objective C syntax and sort using NSSortDescriptor which in this particular case seems to be easier.

let sortDescriptor = NSSortDescriptor(key: "likes.count", ascending: true)
var newArray = (a  as NSArray).sortedArrayUsingDescriptors([sortDescriptor])

Or, you could also use plain Swift approach to sort array using sort block. The downside of this is you would need to cast the value to certain type until you reach the nested dictionary "likes"

let sortedArray = a.sort { a, b in
    guard let aLikes = a["likes"] as? [String: AnyObject], bLikes = b["likes"] as? [String: AnyObject] else {
        return false
    }
    guard let aLikesCount = aLikes["count"] as? Int, bLikesCount = bLikes["count"] as? Int  else {
        return false
    }
   return aLikesCount < bLikesCount
}

answered Jul 9, 2015 at 9:40

Sandeep

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3 Comments

JideO Over a year ago

Thank you for refining my array, i'll make sure i do that next time before I post. Now pertaining to the code, the first approached worked using objective-c syntax but the second approach had an error stating "Consecutive statements on a line must be separated by';'". Like i said the first one worked for me and I'm rolling with it :-) but might want to edit the second one incase someone else needs it. Anyway thanks much, greatly appreciated!

Sandeep Over a year ago

Where exacttly do you have that error ? Are you not using Swift 2 ?

JideO Over a year ago

No I'm not, I'm using Xcode version 6.4, i believe that one has Swift 1.2.

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:21:49Z

0

If you call array.sort this excepts a closure which expects you to return true or false wether the left item is "higher" than the right one. all you have to do is compare the likes. You should take a look at this SO Swift how to sort array of custom objects by property value

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:21

CommunityBot

11 silver badge

answered Jul 9, 2015 at 9:37

Yoav Schwartz

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