|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | [Build]:    http://img.shields.io/travis/litejs/natural-compare-lite.png
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | [Coverage]: http://img.shields.io/coveralls/litejs/natural-compare-lite.png
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | [1]: https://travis-ci.org/litejs/natural-compare-lite
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | [2]: https://coveralls.io/r/litejs/natural-compare-lite
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | [npm package]: https://npmjs.org/package/natural-compare-lite
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | [GitHub repo]: https://github.com/litejs/natural-compare-lite
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  |     @version    1.4.0
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  |     @date       2015-10-26
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  |     @stability  3 - Stable
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | Natural Compare – [![Build][]][1] [![Coverage][]][2]
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | ===============
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | Compare strings containing a mix of letters and numbers
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | in the way a human being would in sort order.
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | This is described as a "natural ordering".
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | ```text
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | Standard sorting:   Natural order sorting:
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  |     img1.png            img1.png
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  |     img10.png           img2.png
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  |     img12.png           img10.png
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  |     img2.png            img12.png
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | ```
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | String.naturalCompare returns a number indicating
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | whether a reference string comes before or after or is the same
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | as the given string in sort order.
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | Use it with builtin sort() function.
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | ### Installation
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | - In browser
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | ```html
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | <script src=min.natural-compare.js></script>
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | ```
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | - In node.js: `npm install natural-compare-lite`
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | ```javascript
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | require("natural-compare-lite")
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | ```
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | ### Usage
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | ```javascript
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | // Simple case sensitive example
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | var a = ["z1.doc", "z10.doc", "z17.doc", "z2.doc", "z23.doc", "z3.doc"];
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | a.sort(String.naturalCompare);
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | // ["z1.doc", "z2.doc", "z3.doc", "z10.doc", "z17.doc", "z23.doc"]
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | // Use wrapper function for case insensitivity
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | a.sort(function(a, b){
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  |   return String.naturalCompare(a.toLowerCase(), b.toLowerCase());
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | })
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | // In most cases we want to sort an array of objects
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | var a = [ {"street":"350 5th Ave", "room":"A-1021"}
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  |         , {"street":"350 5th Ave", "room":"A-21046-b"} ];
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | // sort by street, then by room
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | a.sort(function(a, b){
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  |   return String.naturalCompare(a.street, b.street) || String.naturalCompare(a.room, b.room);
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | })
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | // When text transformation is needed (eg toLowerCase()),
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | // it is best for performance to keep
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | // transformed key in that object.
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | // There are no need to do text transformation
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | // on each comparision when sorting.
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | var a = [ {"make":"Audi", "model":"A6"}
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  |         , {"make":"Kia",  "model":"Rio"} ];
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | // sort by make, then by model
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | a.map(function(car){
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  |   car.sort_key = (car.make + " " + car.model).toLowerCase();
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | })
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | a.sort(function(a, b){
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  |   return String.naturalCompare(a.sort_key, b.sort_key);
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | })
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | ```
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | - Works well with dates in ISO format eg "Rev 2012-07-26.doc".
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | ### Custom alphabet
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | It is possible to configure a custom alphabet
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | to achieve a desired order.
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | ```javascript
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | // Estonian alphabet
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | String.alphabet = "ABDEFGHIJKLMNOPRSŠZŽTUVÕÄÖÜXYabdefghijklmnoprsšzžtuvõäöüxy"
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | ["t", "z", "x", "õ"].sort(String.naturalCompare)
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | // ["z", "t", "õ", "x"]
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | // Russian alphabet
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | String.alphabet = "АБВГДЕЁЖЗИЙКЛМНОПРСТУФХЦЧШЩЪЫЬЭЮЯабвгдеёжзийклмнопрстуфхцчшщъыьэюя"
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | ["Ё", "А", "Б"].sort(String.naturalCompare)
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | // ["А", "Б", "Ё"]
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | ```
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | External links
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | --------------
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | -   [GitHub repo][https://github.com/litejs/natural-compare-lite]
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | -   [jsperf test](http://jsperf.com/natural-sort-2/12)
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | Licence
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | -------
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | Copyright (c) 2012-2015 Lauri Rooden <lauri@rooden.ee>  
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | [The MIT License](http://lauri.rooden.ee/mit-license.txt)
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 | 
						
						
						
							|  |  | 
 |