How to sort the Array that contains date in strings in descending order? [duplicate]

Answer 1

Well, first off, you're not actually sorting anything in your code...

You should do something like this...

// create the string array
NSArray *dateArray = @[@"01/12/2012", @"01/26/2011", @"02/09/2005", @"02/24/2006", @"03/19/2007", @"07/14/2011", @"08/17/2007", @"10/04/2007", @"10/31/2006", @"12/05/2012", @"12/06/2006", @"12/23/2008"];

// create the date formatter with the correct format
NSDateFormatter *formatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
[formatter setDateFormat:@"MM/dd/yyyy"];

NSMutableArray *tempArray = [NSMutableArray array];

// fast enumeration of the array
for (NSString *dateString in dateArray) {
    NSDate *date = [formatter dateFromString:dateString];
    [tempArray addObject:date];
}

// sort the array of dates
[tempArray sortUsingComparator:^NSComparisonResult(NSDate *date1, NSDate *date2) {
    // return date2 compare date1 for descending. Or reverse the call for ascending.
    return [date2 compare:date1];
}];

NSLog(@"%@", tempArray);

EDIT TO PUT INTO STRING ARRAY

NSMutableArray *correctOrderStringArray = [NSMutableArray array];

for (NSDate *date in tempArray) {
    NSString *dateString = [formatter stringFromDate:date];
    [correctOrderStringArray addObject:dateString];
}

NSLog(@"%@", correctOrderStringArray);

Also, read up more about NSDate, NSString and NSDateFormatter. Especially how they interact with each other.

NSDate is a point in time. It does not (and never does) contain any formatting information.

NSDateFormatter doesn't hold any information about a specific date (i.e. point in time). It is used to take a date and produce a string based on the NSDate and the format that you give it.

https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Cocoa/Reference/Foundation/Classes/NSDate_Class/Reference/Reference.html

https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Cocoa/Reference/Foundation/Classes/NSDateFormatter_Class/Reference/Reference.html