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# dbx_compare

(PHP 4 >= 4.1.0)

dbx_compare -- Compare two rows for sorting purposes

## Description

``int dbx_compare` (array row_a, array row_b, string columnname_or_index [, int flags])`

Warning
This function is EXPERIMENTAL. The behaviour of this function, the name of this function, and anything else documented about this function may change in a future release of PHP without notice. Be warned and use this function at your own risk.

Returns 0 if row_a[$columnname_or_index] is equal to row_b[$columnname_or_index], 1 if it is greater and -1 if it is smaller (or vice versa if the DBX_CMP_DESC flag is set).

The `flags` can be set to specify comparison direction (whether sorting is ascending or descending) and comparison type (force string or numeric compare by converting the data). The constants for direction are DBX_CMP_ASC and DBX_CMP_DESC. The constants for comparison type are DBX_CMP_NATIVE (no conversion), DBX_CMP_TEXT and DBX_CMP_NUMBER. These constants can be OR-ed together. The default value for the `flags` parameter is DBX_CMP_ASC | DBX_CMP_NATIVE.

Example 1. dbx_compare() example
    <?php
    function user_re_order ($a, $b) {
        $rv = dbx_compare ($a, $b, "parentid", DBX_CMP_DESC);
        if (!$rv) {
            $rv = dbx_compare ($a, $b, "id");
            return $rv;
        }
    }

    $link = dbx_connect ("odbc", "", "db", "username", "password")
        or die ("Could not connect");
    $result = dbx_query ($link, "SELECT id, parentid, description FROM tbl ORDER BY id");
    echo "resulting data is now ordered by id<br>";
    dbx_sort ($result, "user_re_order");
    echo "resulting data is now ordered by parentid (descending), then by id<br>";
    dbx_close ($link);
    ?>

See also dbx_sort().

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