How do I Sort a Multidimensional Array in PHP [duplicate]

Answer 1

I tried several popular array_multisort() and usort() answers and none of them worked for me. The data just gets jumbled and the code is unreadable. Here's a quick a dirty solution. WARNING: Only use this if you're sure a rogue delimiter won't come back to haunt you later!

Let's say each row in your multi array looks like: name, stuff1, stuff2:

// Sort by name, pull the other stuff along for the ride
foreach ($names_stuff as $name_stuff) {
    // To sort by stuff1, that would be first in the contatenation
    $sorted_names[] = $name_stuff[0] .','. name_stuff[1] .','. $name_stuff[2];
}
sort($sorted_names, SORT_STRING);

Need your stuff back in alphabetical order?

foreach ($sorted_names as $sorted_name) {
    $name_stuff = explode(',',$sorted_name);
    // use your $name_stuff[0] 
    // use your $name_stuff[1] 
    // ... 
}

Yeah, it's dirty. But super easy, won't make your head explode.