NAME
Sort::Array - This extended sorting algorithm allows you to
a) sort an array by ANY field number, not only the first. b) find
duplicates in your data-set and sort them out.
The function is case-sensitive. Future versions might come without this
limitation.
SYNOPSIS
use Sort::Array qw(
Sort_Table
Discard_Duplicates
);
@data = Sort_Table(
cols => '4',
field => '4',
sorting => 'descending',
structure => 'csv',
separator => '\*',
data => \@data,
);
@languages = Discard_Duplicates(
sorting => 'ascending',
empty_fields => 'delete',
data => \@languages,
);
DESCRIPTION
Sort_Table() is capable of sorting table-form arrays by a particular
value.
Discard_Duplicates() discards doubles from an array and returns the
sorted array.
Usage
@data = Sort_Table(
cols => '4',
field => '4',
sorting => 'descending',
structure => 'csv',
separator => '\*',
data => \@data,
);
@languages = Discard_Duplicates(
sorting => 'ascending',
empty_fields => 'delete',
data => \@languages,
);
cols
How many columns in a line. Integer beginning at
1 (not 0) (for better readability).
e.g.: '4' = Four fields at one line. ($array[0..3])
- Utilizable only in Sort_Table()
- Must be declared
field
Which column should be used for sorting. Integer
beginning at 1 (not 0).
e.g.: '4' = Sorting the fourth field. ($array[3])
- Utilizable only in Sort_Table()
- Must be declared
sorting
In which order should be sorted.
e.g.: 'ascending' or 'descending'
- Utilizable in Sort_Table()
- Must be declared
- Utilizable in Discard_Duplicates()
- Can be declared (if empty, it does not sort the array)
empty_fields
Should empty fields removed
e.g.: 'delete' or not specified
- Utilizable only in Discard_Duplicates()
- Can be declared
structure
Structure of that Array.
e.g.: 'csv' or 'single'
- Utilizable only in Sort_Table()
- Must be declared
separator
Which separator should be used? Only needed when
structure => 'csv' is set. If left empty default
is ";".
For ?+*{} as a separator you must mask it since
it is a RegEx.
e.g.: \? or \* ...
- Utilizable only in Sort_Table()
- Must be declared when using 'csv' or ';'
will be used.
data
Reference to the array that should be sorted.
- Utilizable in Sort_Table() and Discard_Duplicates()
- Must be declared
If everything went right, Sort_Table() returns an array containing your
sorted Array. The structure from the imput-array is kept although it's
sorted. ;)
Returncodes
If an error occurs, than will be returned an undefinied array and set
$Sort::Array::error with one of the following code. Normally
$Sort::Array::error is 0.
The following codes are returned, if an error occurs:
'100'
<cols> is empty or not set or contains wrong content.
'101'
<field> is emtpy or not set or contains wrong content.
'102'
<sorting> is empty or contains not 'ascending' or 'descending'.
'103'
<structure> is empty or contains not 'csv' or 'single'.
'104'
<data> is empty (your reference array).
EXAMPLES
Here are some short samples. These should help you getting used to
Sort::Array
Sorting CSV-Lines in an array
my @data = (
'00003*layout-3*19990803*0.30',
'00002*layout-2*19990802*0.20',
'00004*layout-4*19990804*0.40',
'00001*layout-1*19990801*0.10',
'00005*layout-5*19990805*0.50',
'00007*layout-7*19990807*0.70',
'00006*layout-6*19990806*0.60',
);
@data = Sort_Table(
cols => '4',
field => '4',
sorting => 'descending',
structure => 'csv',
separator => '\*',
data => \@data,
);
Returns an array (with CSV-Lines):
00007*layout-7*19990807*0.70
00006*layout-6*19990806*0.60
00005*layout-5*19990805*0.50
00004*layout-4*19990804*0.40
00003*layout-3*19990803*0.30
00002*layout-2*19990802*0.20
00001*layout-1*19990801*0.10
Sorting single-fields in an array
my @data = (
'00003', 'layout-3', '19990803', '0.30',
'00002', 'layout-2', '19990802', '0.20',
'00004', 'layout-4', '19990804', '0.40',
'00001', 'layout-1', '19990801', '0.10',
'00005', 'layout-5', '19990805', '0.50',
'00007', 'layout-7', '19990807', '0.70',
'00006', 'layout-6', '19990806', '0.60',
);
@data = Sort_Table(
cols => '4',
field => '4',
sorting => 'descending',
structure => 'single',
data => \@data,
);
Returns an array (with single fields)
00007 layout-7 19990807 0.70
00006 layout-6 19990806 0.60
00005 layout-5 19990805 0.50
00004 layout-4 19990804 0.40
00003 layout-3 19990803 0.30
00002 layout-2 19990802 0.20
00001 layout-1 19990801 0.10
Discard duplicates in an array:
my @languages = (
'',
'German',
'Dutch',
'English',
'Spanish',
'',
'German',
'Spanish',
'English',
'Dutch',
);
@languages = Discard_Duplicates(
sorting => 'ascending',
empty_fields => 'delete',
data => \@languages,
);
Returns an array (with single fields):
Dutch
English
German
Spanish
BUGS
No Bugs known for now. ;)
HISTORY
- 2001-08-25 / 0.26
File permission fixed, now anybody can extract the archive, not only the
user 'root'.
- 2001-08-23 / 0.25
Changed the Discard_Duplicates() function to discard duplicates and only
sort the array if wished. You can set <sorting> to 'asending',
'desending' or let them empty to disable sorting.
Some misspelling corrected.
- 2001-08-17 / 0.24
Error codes are no longer returned in an array (that array that contains
the sorted Data). $Sort::Array::error is used with the code instead.
- 2001-07-28 / 0.23
First beta-release, non-public
AUTHOR
Michael Diekmann, <
[email protected]>
THANKS
Rainer Luedtke, <
[email protected]>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2001 Michael Diekmann <
[email protected]>. All
rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it
and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
SEE ALSO
perl(1).
