Sorting object array

facebook json data converted to php object, trying to sort results

[frankstuner]

I'm getting an events json feed from facebook, converting that to an object with php so i can display on my site. But i need to sort the data and i'm stuck, apparently i can use usort() but i'm really confused with how to implement it. The data is being converted to an object with json_decode() i think.

This is the code I've got to retrieve, decode and display the facebook events json data.

$FBpage = file_get_contents('https://graph.facebook.com/demo/events?access_token=17097252363624|vNXbO1MPwpvP56jU625tR2526wU');
$FBdata = json_decode($FBpage);
foreach ($FBdata->data as $events )
{
$x_sdt = explode("T",$events->start_time);
$x_sd = explode("-",$x_sdt[0]);
if($x_sdt[0] > date("Y-m-d"))
{
$StatusID = explode("_", $events->id);
echo '<ul class="shows">';
echo '<li class="date">';
echo $x_sd[2]."/".$x_sd[1]."/".$x_sd[0];
echo '</li>';
echo '<li class="title"><a href="'.get_bloginfo('url').'/shows/#'.$events->id.'">'.maxTruncate($events->name, 62).'</a></li>';
echo '</ul>';
}
}

If anyone can point me in the right direction to get the results sorting the object contents via the $events->start_time value I'd be greatly appreciative.

Questions:
- is usort() correct for this situation?
- how to implement (obviously)

Thanks
Frank

[eelixduppy]

>> is usort correct for this situation

It can be used for sure.

>> how to implement

Here's some pseudo code to get you started:

/** 
 * Compare function for two FB data objects 
 * where comparison occurs by date in ASC order 
 */ 
function cmpByDate($a, $b) { 
 
  $aUnix = <extract timestamp from $a, convert to Unix ts> 
  $bUnix = <extra timestamp from $b, convert to Unix ts> 
 
  if($aUnix == $bUnix) return 0; 
 
  // switch 1 and -1 around if you want descending order 
  return $aUnix > $bUnix ? 1 : -1; 
} 

Then to sort, you'd call the usort method as you suggested:

usort(fbevents, "cmpByDate"); 

[frankstuner]

Hi, thanks for your help dude, I got it working in the end with the below. couldn't have done it without your help, thanks heaps.

function cmpByDate($a, $b) 
{ 
 $aUnix = strtotime($events->start_time);
 $bUnix = strtotime($events->start_time);
 if($aUnix == $bUnix) return 0; 
 return $aUnix > $bUnix ? 1 : -1; 
}

Frank