Sorting an array of integers, strings and intergers with alpanumerics in JavaScript

Question

I am trying to sort an array of strings. However some are numbers, some numbers with letters appended, some are letters with numbers appended, and some are purely text. For example:

array = ["100", "2A", "25", "Blue", "1", "X2", "X1", "Yellow", "2"]

I would like the sort the list so it displays the numbers and number-strings in together (1, 2, 2A), then the string-numbers (X1, X2), then finally the strings at the end (Blue, Yellow).

I have tried using array.sort() but this has not worked. What I would like to get returned would be:

["1","2","2A","25","100","X1","X2","Blue","Yellow"]

But instead this would sort lexicographically:

["1","100","2","25,"2A","Blue","X1","X2","Yellow"]

I have also tried splitting into integers and strings, sorting then combining after. But this does not take into account the numbers-string and string-number elements.

Is there any way to make this work?

Well the basic thing is to come up with a comparator function that implements your ordering rules. It should take two parameters (two elements of the array) and return a negative number when the first parameter should go before the second, a positive number when the second one should go first, and 0 if the two parameters have the same ranking. — Pointy
– Pointy, Commented Mar 22, 2023 at 14:23
You would get a pretty accurate result using .sort((a,b) => a.localeCompare(b)) — somethinghere
– somethinghere, Commented Mar 22, 2023 at 14:23
You'll need to provide a specific condition for 'numbers with letters appended' — pilchard
– pilchard, Commented Mar 22, 2023 at 14:26
Also note that your ordering rules are fairly complicated. When the sort compares "2" and "Yellow" it's got to figure out that the first one is a number and the second one isn't. For "X2" it's got to find the digits embedded in the string. If you have "AA22B" and "b10a", well, you have to figure that out too. — Pointy
– Pointy, Commented Mar 22, 2023 at 14:27

Nina Scholz · Accepted Answer · 2023-03-22 14:33:44Z

4

You could move strings with no digits to end and sort the rest by string with options.

const
    noDigits = /^\D+$/g,
    array = ["100", "2A", "25", "Blue", "1", "X2", "X1", "Yellow", "2"]

array.sort((a, b) =>
    noDigits.test(a) - noDigits.test(b) ||
    a.localeCompare(b, undefined, { numeric: true, sensitivity: 'base' })
);

console.log(...array);

answered Mar 22, 2023 at 14:33

Nina Scholz

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