Asp Forum - Sorting Array Of Dates

Chandu Chandu

10/30/2008 1:28:00 AM

Hi, Everyone I am a newbie to ruby....

just started with some examples

i have array

date = ['12/09/2007','06/06/2004','10/06/2005']

i wanted to sort dates in ascending order i.e
['06/06/2004','10/06/2005','12/09/2007']

tried using

p data.sort

could any one explain me whether there is built in class or need to
break tha date string

yyyy mm dd and compare ..

regards
chandu
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8 Answers

Peña, Botp

10/30/2008 1:38:00 AM

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IHdoZXRoZXIgdGhlcmUgaXMgYnVpbHQgaW4gY2xhc3Mgb3IgbmVlZCB0bw0KIyBicmVhayB0aGEg
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MDUiLCAiMTIvMDkvMjAwNyJdDQo=

Craig Demyanovich

10/30/2008 1:46:00 AM

[Note: parts of this message were removed to make it a legal post.]

Works for me in IRB:

>> date = ['12/09/2007','06/06/2004','10/06/2005']
=> ["12/09/2007", "06/06/2004", "10/06/2005"]
>> p date.sort
["06/06/2004", "10/06/2005", "12/09/2007"]
=> nil

If it didn't work for you, could it be that you assigned to date but called
sort on data?

Regards,
Craig

Robert Klemme

10/30/2008 8:28:00 AM

2008/10/30 Chandu Chandu <chandu_750@yahoo.com>:
> Hi, Everyone I am a newbie to ruby....
>
> just started with some examples
>
> i have array
>
> date = ['12/09/2007','06/06/2004','10/06/2005']

This is not an array of dates - it's an array of strings.

> i wanted to sort dates in ascending order i.e
> ['06/06/2004','10/06/2005','12/09/2007']
>
> tried using
>
> p data.sort
>
> could any one explain me whether there is built in class or need to
> break tha date string

If these are dates you should use Date.

irb(main):005:0> date = ['12/09/2007','06/06/2004','10/06/2005']
=> ["12/09/2007", "06/06/2004", "10/06/2005"]
irb(main):006:0> real = date.map {|s| Date.parse s}
=> [#<Date: 4908887/2,0,2299161>, #<Date: 4906325/2,0,2299161>,
#<Date: 4907299/2,0,2299161>]
irb(main):007:0> puts real.sort
2004-06-06
2005-10-06
2007-12-09
=> nil

If for some serious reason you cannot use Date you should at least sort by Date:

irb(main):009:0> puts date.sort_by {|s| Date.parse s}
06/06/2004
10/06/2005
12/09/2007
=> nil
irb(main):010:0>

You need to require 'date' for this to work.

Kind regards

robert

--
remember.guy do |as, often| as.you_can - without end

Brian Candler

10/30/2008 9:14:00 AM

Chandu Chandu wrote:
> i have array
>
> date = ['12/09/2007','06/06/2004','10/06/2005']
>
> i wanted to sort dates in ascending order i.e
> ['06/06/2004','10/06/2005','12/09/2007']

Apart from the other solutions mentioned, you could also just use ISO
dates instead:

date = ['2007-09-12','2004-06-06','2005-06-10']

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601#Cale...

As well as sorting natively, this also has the advantage of being
absolutely clear which part is the month and which is the day. (In your
example, I can't tell whether you are using American middle-endian dates
or not)

Regards,

Brian.
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Josef 'Jupp' Schugt

10/30/2008 12:47:00 PM

On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:27:32 +0100, Chandu Chandu <chandu_750@yahoo.com>
wrote:

> Hi, Everyone I am a newbie to ruby....
>
> just started with some examples
>
> i have array
>
> date = ['12/09/2007','06/06/2004','10/06/2005']
>
> i wanted to sort dates in ascending order i.e
> ['06/06/2004','10/06/2005','12/09/2007']

you forgot to mention if the date format is reasonable (dd/mm/yyyy) or not
(mm/dd/yyyy) - reasonable in the sense that the parts have an ascending or
descending significance and not an arbitrary one.

Anyway, here's a solution for both cases:

def datecmp(a, b, reasonable = true)
arra, arrb = a.split('/'), b.split('/')
cmp = (arra[2] <=> arrb[2])
return cmp if (cmp = (arra[2] <=> arrb[2])) != 0
if reasonable
(cmp = (arra[0] <=> arrb[0])) != 0 ? cmp : (arra[1] <=> arrb[1])
else
(cmp = (arra[1] <=> arrb[1])) != 0 ? cmp : (arra[0] <=> arrb[0])
end
end

date = ['12/01/2007', '11/02/2007', '11/11/2005']
puts "reasonable date format"
puts date.sort { |a, b| datecmp(a, b) }
puts "\nno reasonable date format"
puts date.sort { |a, b| datecmp(a, b, false) }

that results in

reasonable date format
11/11/2005
11/02/2007
12/01/2007

no reasonable date format
11/11/2005
12/01/2007
11/02/2007

but besides that the normal date format is yyyy-mm-dd.

I don't know about the situation in other countries but in Germany the
date format you SHOULD use (in an RFC sense, the DIN standard says so) is
that ISO standard form. Other formats are only tolerable but not
desireable. Which does not mean that many Germans use that format. You
hear me frequently protest against forms that still use antiquated date
formats :)

Josef 'Jupp' Schugt
--
Blog: http://penpen.gooda...
PGP key (id 6CC6574F): http://wwwkeys.d...
Jabber - http://www.j... - contact information on request

Brian Candler

10/30/2008 3:01:00 PM

Josef 'Jupp' Schugt wrote:
> def datecmp(a, b, reasonable = true)
> arra, arrb = a.split('/'), b.split('/')
> cmp = (arra[2] <=> arrb[2])
> return cmp if (cmp = (arra[2] <=> arrb[2])) != 0
> if reasonable
> (cmp = (arra[0] <=> arrb[0])) != 0 ? cmp : (arra[1] <=> arrb[1])
> else
> (cmp = (arra[1] <=> arrb[1])) != 0 ? cmp : (arra[0] <=> arrb[0])
> end
> end
>
> date = ['12/01/2007', '11/02/2007', '11/11/2005']
> puts "reasonable date format"
> puts date.sort { |a, b| datecmp(a, b) }
> puts "\nno reasonable date format"
> puts date.sort { |a, b| datecmp(a, b, false) }

I think you got "reasonable" and "unreasonable" reversed (unless you are
American :-)

Here is a shorter solution:

MapR = lambda { |x| x.split('/').values_at(2,1,0) }
MapU = lambda { |x| x.split('/').values_at(2,0,1) }

date = ['12/01/2007', '11/02/2007', '11/11/2005']
puts "reasonable date format"
puts date.sort_by(&MapR)
puts "\nno reasonable date format"
puts date.sort_by(&MapU)
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William James

10/30/2008 5:03:00 PM

On Oct 30, 10:00 am, Brian Candler <b.cand...@pobox.com> wrote:
> Josef 'Jupp' Schugt wrote:
> > def datecmp(a, b, reasonable = true)
> > arra, arrb = a.split('/'), b.split('/')
> > cmp = (arra[2] <=> arrb[2])
> > return cmp if (cmp = (arra[2] <=> arrb[2])) != 0
> > if reasonable
> > (cmp = (arra[0] <=> arrb[0])) != 0 ? cmp : (arra[1] <=> arrb[1])
> > else
> > (cmp = (arra[1] <=> arrb[1])) != 0 ? cmp : (arra[0] <=> arrb[0])
> > end
> > end
>
> > date = ['12/01/2007', '11/02/2007', '11/11/2005']
> > puts "reasonable date format"
> > puts date.sort { |a, b| datecmp(a, b) }
> > puts "\nno reasonable date format"
> > puts date.sort { |a, b| datecmp(a, b, false) }
>
> I think you got "reasonable" and "unreasonable" reversed (unless you are
> American :-)
>
> Here is a shorter solution:
>
> MapR = lambda { |x| x.split('/').values_at(2,1,0) }
> MapU = lambda { |x| x.split('/').values_at(2,0,1) }
>
> date = ['12/01/2007', '11/02/2007', '11/11/2005']
> puts "reasonable date format"
> puts date.sort_by(&MapR)
> puts "\nno reasonable date format"
> puts date.sort_by(&MapU)

MAP_R = proc{|x| x.split('/').reverse }
MAP_U = proc{|x| y=x.split('/'); [y.pop,y] }

dates = %w(12/01/2007 11/02/2007 11/11/2005)
puts "reasonable date format"
puts dates.sort_by(&MAP_R)
puts "unreasonable date format"
puts dates.sort_by(&MAP_U)

Josef 'Jupp' Schugt

10/30/2008 6:38:00 PM

On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:00:56 +0100, Brian Candler <b.candler@pobox.com>
wrote:

> I think you got "reasonable" and "unreasonable" reversed (unless you are
> American :-)

oops, you are right :) That much on quick hacks... ^^

Josef 'Jupp' Schugt
--
Blog: http://penpen.gooda...
PGP key (id 6CC6574F): http://wwwkeys.d...
Jabber - http://www.j... - contact information on request

comp.lang.ruby

Sorting Array Of Dates

Chandu Chandu

Peña, Botp

Craig Demyanovich

Robert Klemme

Brian Candler

Josef 'Jupp' Schugt

Brian Candler

William James

Josef 'Jupp' Schugt

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