# Sorting in ruby **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [June 30, 2008, 2:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sorting-in-ruby/141769 "2008-06-30T14:47:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![seb](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@seb](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/seb)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 2:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sorting-in-ruby/141769/1 "2008-06-30T14:47:09Z")
I am new in ruby.I want to know how sorting can be done in ruby based on some fields like customer name,location etc.what i meant is i have to sort the table based on some fields.how can i.?Can anybody help me. ---
**Author:** ![seb](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@seb](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/seb)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sorting-in-ruby/141769/2 "2008-06-30T16:16:53Z")
On Jun 30, 7:23 am, Seb [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > I am new in ruby.I want to know how sorting can be done in ruby based > on some fields like customer name,location etc.what i meant is i have > to sort the table based on some fields.how can i.?Can anybody help me. I’ll assume you’re asking about sorting models in Rails? Of course you can, and I’ll give you an example. (But good etiquette on this list (and any other) is to give more details about what you’re doing, and what you’ve tried so far, so that it’s evident you’ve tried something first. Please think about that for next time.) In any event, here’s how you typically select all your Customers sorted by name (I’m assuming you have a model named ‘Customer’ with an attribute called ‘name’): Customer.find :all, :order =\> :name # orders by name Also, if you haven’t already, I’d suggest you start with a good Rails primer like Agile Web D. with Rails, or look for the highest- rated Rails books on Amazon. Once you spend a little time with the basics, I think you’ll really enjoy using Rails. Jeff > **[Hey Daddio!](http://www.softiesonrails.com)** > > Home of Hey Daddio Software [www.purpleworkshops.com](http://www.purpleworkshops.com) ---
**Author:** ![seb](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@seb](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/seb)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sorting-in-ruby/141769/3 "2008-06-30T16:42:44Z")
Note Jeff’s way is better, sometimes you will need to use this way as well: @collection = Model.find(:all) (or whatever) @collection2 = Model.find(:all) or whatever @collection = [@collection, @collection2].flatten @collection.uniq! #which removes duplicates using the @collection array @collection.sort! {|a, b| a.name \<=\> b.name} This is helpful when you are making a larger collection out of two smaller ones and couldn’t get the correct .find statement. But go with Jeff’s way if at all possible. ---
**Author:** ![seb](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@seb](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/seb)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 2:00pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sorting-in-ruby/141769/4 "2008-07-07T14:00:28Z")
.now i have another problem .i want to sort my table based on customer name in my project listing.my customer name is in customer table not in my project table.Im my project table i have customer\_id .now i’m only able to sort it based on customer\_id.but i want to sort based on customer name. in my index file i hav \<%= link\_to “Customer” , :action =\> ‘sort’, :identity =\> ‘3’ in my controller i hav def sort id = params[:identity] if id == ‘1’ @projects = Project.find :all, :order =\> :customer\_id its working fine.but i want to sort it based on custmer name.can anybody help me. ---
**Author:** ![seb](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@seb](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/seb)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sorting-in-ruby/141769/5 "2008-07-07T14:05:44Z")
@projects = Project.find :all, :order =\> “customers.name”, :include =\> :customer the include will make this a “eager loading”, where projects & customers are joined Note the “customers.name” which is the table name and column name as in the database (so plural, not singular for customers) ---
**Author:** ![seb](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@seb](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/seb)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 11:02am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sorting-in-ruby/141769/6 "2008-07-08T11:02:44Z")
thanx…thorsten…now its working… ---
**Author:** ![seb](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@seb](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/seb)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2008, 9:02am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sorting-in-ruby/141769/7 "2008-07-15T09:02:32Z")
now i have another problem…i want too use some conditions with sorting…tried to add. but not working… in my index file i hav \<%= link\_to “Customer” , :action =\> ‘sort’, :identity =\> ‘3’%\> in my controller i hav def sort id = params[:identity] if id == ‘1’ @projects = Project.find (:all, :order =\> “customers.name”, :include =\> :customer) i want to add this query… @projects = Project.find\_by\_sql [“SELECT \* FROM projects p, memberships m WHERE p.id = m.project\_id AND m.user\_id =?”, mem\_id] along with the previuos sorting…That’s i want to display the fields which should satisfy this condition along with sorting …how can i? ---
**Author:** ![seb](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@seb](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/seb)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2008, 9:32am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/sorting-in-ruby/141769/8 "2008-07-15T09:32:25Z")
can you explain it a bit more…