Anyone know how .sort() method does it’s thing?

I just finished writing my own sort routine for some arrays in my web page because I couldn’t get the .sort() method to work.

Having never used the method before this, I used an example from Danny Goodman’s [U]JavaScript Bible[/U] to code the following snippets:

[code]
function compare(a, b) {

return (a.cmd < b.cmd) ? -1 : 1;

}

for (indx = 0; indx < nodeTbl.length; indx++) {
tblObj = eval(nodeTbl[indx] + “Cmds”);
tblObj.sort(compare);
}
[/code]

The result was arrays with elements in the reverse order. I’ve probably missed something, but I don’t see it. I added a [b]debugger;[/b] line before the return in the compare function to see what was being passed as [b]a[/b] and [b]b[/b] but it was never envoked. Another mystery? So, my question is this: Does anyone have a good understanding of what this method is actually doing?

Perhaps it was due to the fact that the arrays were being reversed rather than sorted, but my sort routine actually seems to be a bit faster so I’m not unhappy with the results. However, the .sort() method may be useful sometime in the future, if I can figure out how to make it work. ?

Should it have some bearing on the problem, my arrays are created with the following server side generated code:

[code]
var nodeTbl = new Array(‘DEVEL’,’IBAT’,’IOMH’,’ISAT’,’OSAT’,’PRDA’,’PRDB’,’WESTP’);
var DEVELCmds = new Array();
var IBATCmds = new Array();
var IOMHCmds = new Array();
var ISATCmds = new Array();
var OSATCmds = new Array();
var PRDACmds = new Array();
var PRDBCmds = new Array();
var WESTPCmds = new Array();
DEVELCmds[0] = new cmdData(‘PATHCOM $PCOM;STATUS SERVER’,’S PW ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
IBATCmds[0] = new cmdData(‘PATHCOM $PCOM;STATUS SERVER’,’S PW ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
IOMHCmds[0] = new cmdData(‘PATHCOM $PCOM;STATUS SERVER’,’S PW ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
ISATCmds[0] = new cmdData(‘PATHCOM $PCOM;STATUS SERVER’,’S PW ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
OSATCmds[0] = new cmdData(‘PATHCOM $PCOM;STATUS SERVER’,’S PW ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
PRDACmds[0] = new cmdData(‘PATHCOM $PCOM;STATUS SERVER’,’S PW ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
PRDBCmds[0] = new cmdData(‘PATHCOM $PCOM;STATUS SERVER’,’S PW ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
WESTPCmds[0] = new cmdData(‘PATHCOM $PCOM;STATUS SERVER’,’S PW ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
DEVELCmds[1] = new cmdData(‘STATUS’,’TR ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
IBATCmds[1] = new cmdData(‘STATUS’,’TR ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
IOMHCmds[1] = new cmdData(‘STATUS’,’TR ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
ISATCmds[1] = new cmdData(‘STATUS’,’TR ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
OSATCmds[1] = new cmdData(‘STATUS’,’TR ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
PRDACmds[1] = new cmdData(‘STATUS’,’TR ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
PRDBCmds[1] = new cmdData(‘STATUS’,’TR ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
WESTPCmds[1] = new cmdData(‘STATUS’,’TR ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
IBATCmds[2] = new cmdData(‘GOUMP’,’TO ‘,’N’,’SUPERSUPP’);
IBATCmds[3] = new cmdData(‘PATHCOM $IBPD;ABORT TERM’,’S PW ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
IBATCmds[4] = new cmdData(‘PATHCOM $IBPD;START TERM’,’S PW ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
IBATCmds[5] = new cmdData(‘PATHCOM $IBTR;ABORT TERM’,’S PW ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
IBATCmds[6] = new cmdData(‘PATHCOM $IBTR;START TERM’,’S PW ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
IBATCmds[7] = new cmdData(‘PATHCOM $IVPD;ABORT TERM’,’S PW ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
IBATCmds[8] = new cmdData(‘PATHCOM $IVPD;START TERM’,’S PW ‘,’Y’,’SUPERSUPP’);
IBATCmds[9] = new cmdData(‘RESETCAM’,’TR ‘,’N’,’SUPERSUPP’);
IBATCmds[10] = new cmdData(‘RSTRTCAM’,’TR ‘,’N’,’SUPERSUPP’);
// etc., etc. ….
[/code]

and this function from my .js file.

[code]
function cmdData(cmd, cmdcode, preq, svr) {
// custom object constructor
this.cmd = cmd;
this.cmdcode = cmdcode;
this.preq = preq;
this.svr = svr;

return;

}
[/code]

Also in #JavaScript _↴