chainsort

Sort arrays of javascript objects in ways that make sense.

Why is chainsort needed?

Chainsort provides a simple way to sort objects in complex ways.

Data return from APIs is often complex, and displaying this data to users in a consistent, organized way calls for sorting. Objects returned can't always be sorted by one single property - sometimes they must be sorted by conditionA, then by conditionB, etc.

Features

Chained sorting algorithms

Adds the ability to sort the same array of objects by multiple conditions. Conditions earlier in the array have higher priority. Conditions later in the array are only called if the earlier criteria matched exactly.

import chainsort from 'chainsort'

const todos = [
  { userId: 2, id: 1, title: 'todo number 1', completed: true },
  { userId: 1, id: 2, title: 'todo number 2', completed: false },
  { userId: 1, id: 3, title: 'todo number 3', completed: true },
  { userId: 2, id: 4, title: 'todo number 4', completed: false },
  { userId: 2, id: 5, title: 'atodo', completed: true }
];

// sort so completed todos are at the front, and then ordered by title
chainsort.sort(todos, ['completed', 'title']);
// [
//   { userId: 2, id: 5, title: 'atodo', completed: true }
//   { userId: 2, id: 1, title: 'todo number 1', completed: true },
//   { userId: 1, id: 3, title: 'todo number 3', completed: true },
//   { userId: 1, id: 2, title: 'todo number 2', completed: false },
//   { userId: 2, id: 4, title: 'todo number 4', completed: false },
// ];

// sort so each user's todos are grouped, then by if completed, then by title
chainsort.sort(todos, ['userId', 'completed', 'title']);
// [
//   { userId: 1, id: 3, title: 'todo number 3', completed: true },
//   { userId: 1, id: 2, title: 'todo number 2', completed: false },
//   { userId: 2, id: 5, title: 'atodo', completed: true }
//   { userId: 2, id: 1, title: 'todo number 1', completed: true },
//   { userId: 2, id: 4, title: 'todo number 4', completed: false },
// ];

Custom sorting functions

Does a naive a > b algorithm not work for your data? chainsort accepts callback functions to be passed at any point in the array of sorting conditions.

const sortByCreatedAt = (a, b) => {
  const dA = new Date(a.created_at).getTime();
  const dB = new Date(b.created_at).getTime();
  return dA - dB;
};
// sort first by item's name, and then by the created_at timestamp
chainsort(items, ['name', sortByCreatedAt]);

Sorting based on conditions of nested objects

Data returned from a server often contains nested objects. chainsort accounts for this and allows you to specify a nested keys to sort by. You can accessed nested objects no matter how deep they are nested! Note that if at any point a nested property doesnt exist in the object, the sorting function will push the item back, as value we attempted access is considered undefined.

const users = [
  { id: 12, name: 'alex', account: { id: 7, isActive: true } },
  { id: 15, name: 'bill', account: { id: 9, isActive: false } }
]

// sort by the user's account's isActive status
chainsort(users, ['name', 'account.isActive']);

chainsort API

Importand Concepts

Sort Conditions

An array of sort conditions are passed into the sort function as the second argument. Sort Conditions can be structured a few different ways. In the following situations, a Sort Condition can take these forms

Custom sort function

If you need to sort using a more complex sorting function, pass it in the conditions array. Note that sorting functions must follow the format specified in the link - taking two items as arguments, and returning a Number.

Access a property of each object

A string that will be used to access the value at a specific key of the object, for example 'firstName'

Access a nested property in the object

Pass in a string using dot-seperated keys. An example is given above with more context, but it should like 'rootKey.level1Key.level2Key'.

Accessing properties with options When sorting based off of properties or nested properties, you'd may wish to pass in options to the sort condition. When Chainsort sees that a sorting condition is an Array, it will consider the first element as the property to access, and the second element to be an object of options.

chainsort.sort(items, [
  'firstName', // no options obviously
  ['lastName', { order: 'desc' }]
])

API

chainsort.sort(items, conditions)

Sort items synchronously. conditions should be an array of functions, strings, or Arrays as described above.

chainsort.sortAsync(items, conditions)

Accepts the same arguments as .sort(), but returns a Promise which resolves with the sorted data.

Sort Condition Options

order: enum of 'asc' or 'desc', which indicates the direction that a sort should go.

Development

Chainsort is still under development and I'd love some help if you'd like to contribute!

Future Features

• [] allow users to specificy whether null values should go forwards or backwards
• [] allow users to reverse the sorting of a particular sort conditiong