Sort modifier
Learn how to to sort the items of a collection.
This modifier sorts the elements of a collection based on a specified order and mode.
When sorting, this modifier uses the same comparison rules as the relational operators to ensure consistency in how it determines the order of two items. And, as with comparisons, attempting to sort a collection that contains elements that are not comparable will result in an error.
You can also use this modifier to sort maps. Although the keys are not used for sorting, they are preserved in the resulting map.
Syntax
The basic syntax for this modifier is as follows:
/*<collection>*/ sorted
You can optionally specify an order and/or mode for sorting:
/*<collection>*/ sorted /*<order>*/ /*<mode>*/
Note that both /*<order>*/ and /*<mode>*/ are literal words and cannot be specified dynamically using expressions.
The following table describes the supported orders:
| Order | Description |
|---|---|
| ascending | Sort the elements in ascending order (e.g., from the smallest to the largest). This is the default order. |
| descending | Sort the elements in descending order (e.g., from the largest to the smallest). |
And these are the supported modes and the types they support:
| Mode | Supported type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| alphabetical | String | Sort the elements alphabetically. |
| alphanumerical | String | Sort the elements alphanumerically, also known as natural sorting. This mode differs from alphabetical because numbers are sorted numerically rather than lexicographically. For example, 10 sorts after 2 in alphabetical mode but before 2 in alphanumerical mode. |
| numerical | Number or string | Sort the elements numerically. This mode differs from alphanumerical in that it supports comparing numeric strings, integers, decimals, and floats — not just numbers. |
By default, the modifier uses the ascending order and the natural sorting mode, which follows the same comparison rules as the relational operators.
Parameters
These are the supported parameters:
- collection
The collection to sort.
Examples
Here is a basic example of using this modifier with a list:
[3, 1, 2] sorted // [1, 2, 3]
You can also use this modifier to sort a map:
["a": 3, "b": 1, "c": 2] sorted // ["b": 1, "c": 2, "a": 3]
To sort a collection in a different order, you can specify the direction:
[1, 3, 2] sorted descending // [3, 2, 1]
And to sort a collection in a specific way, you can specify the mode:
["a", "10", "2"] sorted numerical // ["2", "10", "a"]