Sorting Query Results both String and Numeric

azgis

I can sort the values of the returned fields in the QueryBuilder Widget from the new Sample Viewer if the value is a string by calling a sortByAttribute function (see code below), and I can sort field if the value is numeric by calling the sortNumeric function (see below). My problem is that I need to be able to do both. I can do one or the other, and I will get a debugging error if, say I use the sortByAttribute function and load values for a number field, and vice versa if I use the sortNumeric function and load values from a string field. I haven't been able to make the script work by calling both functions using various attempts with 'if else'. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

private function onFieldValuesRereivalsuccess(obj:Object):void{
   mqbMessage = "Values has been retreived."
   CursorManager.removeBusyCursor();
   var fset:FeatureSet = obj as FeatureSet;
   mqbMessage = "";
//   mFldValues = fset.features;
   mFldValues2 = fset.features;
   var fldname:String = fieldsLst.selectedItem.Name
   var contains:Boolean;
   mFldValues = new Array();
   for ( var i:Number = 0; i<mFldValues2.length; i++ )
   {
    contains = false;
    for ( var j:Number = 0; j<mFldValues.length; j++ )
    {
     var item1:String = mFldValues2.attributes[fieldsLst.selectedItem.Name];
     var item2:String = mFldValues.attributes[fieldsLst.selectedItem.Name];
     if (item1 == item2) contains = true;
    }
    if (!contains)
    {
     mFldValues.push(mFldValues2);
    }
   }
   mFldValues.sort(sortByAttribute);
  }
  
  //COMPARE FUNCTION
  private function sortByAttribute(a:Object, b:Object):Object
  {
   var x:String = a.attributes[fieldsLst.selectedItem.Name].toLowerCase();
   var y:String = b.attributes[fieldsLst.selectedItem.Name].toLowerCase();
   return ((x < y) ? -1 : ((x > y) ? 1 : 0));
  }
  private function sortNumeric(a:Object, b:Object):int
  {
   var value1:Number = a.attributes[fieldsLst.selectedItem.Name];
   var value2:Number = b.attributes[fieldsLst.selectedItem.Name];
   return ((value1 < value2) ? -1 : ((value1 > value2) ? 1 : 0));
  }

Thanks,

Jim Faron
Austin Independent School District
Austin, TX

azgis

Ken,

Thanks for the response. The QueryBuilderWidget was written with mFldValues as a bindable array, and the adaptation to eliminate the duplicate values, utilizing push() method.  I have tried to wrap the array into an arrayCollection, but in lieu of changing too much code that works, it would be great if there were a way to sort both numbers and text utilizing the compare functions. I may be out of luck here. I will look into modifying the code to work with replacing the Array with an ArrayCollection, but I don't know why the designer of the widget did not do that from the beginning, since it seems that there are better options working with ArrayCollection than Array.

Thanks,
Jim Faron