Sort an html list with javascript
I have a set of three list items that I would like to automatically display from high to low on page load. Ideally using jquery or javascript.
<ul class="list">
<li id="alpha">32</li>
<li id="beta">170</li>
<li id="delta">28</li>
</ul>
Each list item needs its own ID because they each have individual background images. The numbers must text nodes so that a user can edit them.
Answers:
This will probably be the fastest way to do it, since it doesn't use jQuery:
function sortList(ul){
var new_ul = ul.cloneNode(false);
// Add all lis to an array
var lis = [];
for(var i = ul.childNodes.length; i--;){
if(ul.childNodes[i].nodeName === 'LI')
lis.push(ul.childNodes[i]);
}
// Sort the lis in descending order
lis.sort(function(a, b){
return parseInt(b.childNodes[0].data , 10) -
parseInt(a.childNodes[0].data , 10);
});
// Add them into the ul in order
for(var i = 0; i < lis.length; i++)
new_ul.appendChild(lis[i]);
ul.parentNode.replaceChild(new_ul, ul);
}
Call the function like:
sortList(document.getElementsByClassName('list')[0]);
You can sort other lists the same way, and if you have other elements on the same page with the list class you should give your ul an id and pass it in using that instead.
Edit
Since you mentioned that you want it to happen on pageLoad, I'm assuming you want it to happen ASAP after the ul is in the DOM which means you should add the function sortList to the head of your page and use it immediately after your list like this:
<head>
...
<script type="text/javascript">
function sortList(ul){
var new_ul = ul.cloneNode(false);
var lis = [];
for(var i = ul.childNodes.length; i--;){
if(ul.childNodes[i].nodeName === 'LI')
lis.push(ul.childNodes[i]);
}
lis.sort(function(a, b){
return parseInt(b.childNodes[0].data , 10) - parseInt(a.childNodes[0].data , 10);
});
for(var i = 0; i < lis.length; i++)
new_ul.appendChild(lis[i]);
ul.parentNode.replaceChild(new_ul, ul);
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
...
<ul class="list">
<li id="alpha">32</li>
<li id="beta">170</li>
<li id="delta">28</li>
</ul>
<script type="text/javascript">
!function(){
var uls = document.getElementsByTagName('ul');
sortList( uls[uls.length - 1] );
}();
</script>
...
</body>
you can use this lightweight jquery plugin List.js cause
- it's lightweight [only 3K script]
- easy to implement in your existing HTML table using class
- searchable, sortable and filterable
HTML
<div id="my-list">
<ul class="list">
<li>
<h3 class="name">Luke</h3>
</li>
<li>
<h3 class="name">John</h3>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
Javascript
var options = {
valueNames: ['name']
};
var myList = new List('my-list', options);
This code will sort that list assuming there is only one .list item:
function sortList(selector) {
var parent$ = $(selector);
parent$.find("li").detach().sort(function(a, b) {
return(Number(a.innerHTML) - Number(b.innerHTML));
}).each(function(index, el) {
parent$.append(el);
});
}
sortList(".list");
You can see it work here: http://jsfiddle.net/jfriend00/FjuMB/
To explain how it works:
- It gets the .list parent object.
- It finds all the
<li>child objects. - It removes all the
<li>child objects from the DOM, but preserves their data - It sorts the li objects using a custom sort function
- The custom sort function gets the HTML in the li tag and converts it to a number
- Then, traversing the array in the newly sorted order, each li tag is appended back onto the original parent.
The result is that they are displayed in sorted order.
Edit:
This improved version will even sort multiple list objects at once:
function sortList(selector) {
$(selector).find("li").sort(function(a, b) {
return(Number(a.innerHTML) - Number(b.innerHTML));
}).each(function(index, el) {
$(el).parent().append(el);
});
}
sortList(".list");
There's also this small jQuery plugin. Which would make your sort nothing more than:
$('.list>li').tsort({attr:'id'});
Non jquery version (vanilla javascript)
Benefits: the list is sorted in place, which doesn't destroy the LI's nor remove any events that may be associated with them. It just shuffles things around
Added an id to the UL:
<ul id="myList" class="list">
<li id="alpha">32</li>
<li id="beta">170</li>
<li id="delta">28</li>
</ul>
and the vanilla javascript (no jquery)
// Grab a reference to the UL
var container = document.getElementById("myList");
// Gather all the LI's from the container
var contents = container.querySelectorAll("li");
// The querySelector doesn't return a traditional array
// that we can sort, so we'll need to convert the contents
// to a normal array.
var list = [];
for(var i=0; i<contents.length; i++){
list.push(contents[i]);
}
// Sort based on innerHTML (sorts "in place")
list.sort(function(a, b){
var aa = parseInt(a.innerHTML);
var bb = parseInt(b.innerHTML);
return aa < bb ? -1 : (aa > bb ? 1 : 0);
});
// We'll reverse the array because our shuffle runs backwards
list.reverse();
// Shuffle the order based on the order of our list array.
for(var i=0; i<list.length; i++){
console.log(list[i].innerHTML);
container.insertBefore(list[i], container.firstChild);
}
And the fiddle proof: https://jsfiddle.net/L27gpnh6/1/
One method could be to sort an array (well, a jQuery object) of the li elements and replace the contents (using the html method) of the ul with the sorted array of elements:
$(".list").html($(".list li").sort(function(a, b) {
return parseInt($(b).text(), 10) - parseInt($(a).text(), 10);
}));
Here's a working example.
You can use this method:
var mylist = $('ul');
var listitems = mylist.children('li').get();
listitems.sort(function(a, b) {
var compA = $(a).text().toUpperCase();
var compB = $(b).text().toUpperCase();
return (compA < compB) ? -1 : (compA > compB) ? 1 : 0;
})
$.each(listitems, function(idx, itm) { mylist.append(itm); });
Check the article here: http://www.onemoretake.com/2009/02/25/sorting-elements-with-jquery/
Edit: There is a very cool jquery plugin that does that : http://tinysort.sjeiti.com/
using jQuery for help:
var sortFunction = function(a, b) {
return (+($(b).text())) - (+($(a).text()));
}
var lis = $('ul.list li');
lis = Array.prototype.sort.call(lis, sortFunction);
for (var i = 0; i < lis.length; i++) {
$('ul.list').append(lis[i]);
}
Sort jQuery collection as usual array and then append each element back in correct order.
$(".list li").sort(function(a, b) {
return parseInt($(b).text(), 10) - parseInt($(a).text(), 10);
}).appendTo('.list');
You can try this
var ul = $(".list:first");
var arr = $.makeArray(ul.children("li"));
arr.sort(function(a, b) {
var textA = +$(a).text();
var textB = +$(b).text();
if (textA < textB) return -1;
if (textA > textB) return 1;
return 0;
});
ul.empty();
$.each(arr, function() {
ul.append(this);
});
Live example : http://jsfiddle.net/B7hdx/1
Something like this should help:
var $parent = $(".list");
$(".list li").sort(function (a, b) {
return window.parseInt($(a).text(), 10) - window.parseInt($(b).text(), 10);
}).remove().each(function () {
$parent.append($(this));
});