Data Ordering in Pipelines

In this section, we’ll explore how to order your data in Pipeline. We’ll use items model for this example.

GML

var schema = {
    id: {
        type: NIMBUSDB_DATA_TYPE.INTEGER,
        const: NIMBUSDB_CONSTRAINT.PRIMARY_KEY
    },
    name: NIMBUSDB_DATA_TYPE.STRING,
    price: {
        type: NIMBUSDB_DATA_TYPE.NUMBER,
        validator: function(data, value) {
            return value >= 0;
        },
        default_value: 0
    },
    is_locked: {
        type: NIMBUSDB_DATA_TYPE.BOOLEAN,
        const: NIMBUSDB_CONSTRAINT.OPTIONAL,
        default_value: false
    }
};

items = new NimbusDBModel("global", "items", schema, [
    { id: 1, name: "Apple", price: 5 },
    { id: 2, name: "Banana", price: 7.2 },
    { id: 3, name: "Cherry", price: 15 },
    { id: 4, name: "Date", price: 12.5 },
    { id: 5, name: "Elderberry", price: 8 },
    { id: 6, name: "Fig", price: 10 },
    { id: 7, name: "Grape", price: 6 },
    { id: 8, name: "Honeydew", price: 9 },
    { id: 9, name: "Kiwi", price: 4 },
    { id: 10, name: "Lemon", price: 3 }
]);

Ordering Data

You can order the data in Pipeline using the .sort() method.

On Flat Values

GML

// (1) ascending sort
var items_pl = items.pipe()         // create an `items` pipeline
    // let's say you have this data in your pipeline:
    // [ 5, 7.2, 15, 12.5, 8, 10, 6, 9, 4, 3 ]
    .sort();            // sort the data (ascending)

// result:
// [ 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.2, 8, 9, 10, 12.5, 15 ]

// (2) descending sort
var items_pl = items.pipe()         // create an `items` pipeline
    // let's say you have this data in your pipeline:
    // [ 5, 7.2, 15, 12.5, 8, 10, 6, 9, 4, 3 ]
    .sort(false);       // sort the data (descending)

// result:
// [ 15, 12.5, 10, 9, 8, 7.2, 6, 5, 4, 3 ]

On Array of Objects

GML

// (1) sort by a column (ascending)
var items_pl = items.pipe()         // create an `items` pipeline
    // let's say you have this data in your pipeline:
    // [
    //     { id: 1, name: "Apple", price: 5 },
    //     { id: 2, name: "Banana", price: 7.2 },
    //     { id: 3, name: "Cherry", price: 15 },
    //     { id: 4, name: "Date", price: 12.5 }
    // ]
    .sort("price");     // sort the data by the `price` column (ascending)

// result (inherited data):
// [
//     { id: 1, name: "Apple", price: 5 },
//     { id: 2, name: "Banana", price: 7.2 },
//     { id: 4, name: "Date", price: 12.5 },
//     { id: 3, name: "Cherry", price: 15 }
// ]

// (2) sort by a column (descending)
var items_pl = items.pipe()         // create an `items` pipeline
    // let's say you have this data in your pipeline:
    // [
    //     { id: 3, name: "Cherry", price: 15 },
    //     { id: 4, name: "Date", price: 12.5 },
    //     { id: 2, name: "Banana", price: 7.2 },
    //     { id: 1, name: "Apple", price: 5 }
    // ]
    .sort("price", false);     // sort the data by the `price` column (descending)

Using Comparator Function

GML

// (1) flat values
var items_pl = items.pipe()         // create an `items` pipeline
    // let's say you have this data in your pipeline:
    // [ 5, 7.2, 15, 12.5, 8, 10, 6, 9, 4, 3 ]
    .sort(function(a, b) {
        return a - b;               // return the difference between `a` and `b`
    });

// result:
// [ 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.2, 8, 9, 10, 12.5, 15 ]

// (2) array of objects
var items_pl = items.pipe()         // create an `items` pipeline
    // let's say you have this data in your pipeline:
    // [
    //     { id: 1, name: "Apple", price: 5 },
    //     { id: 2, name: "Banana", price: 7.2 },
    //     { id: 3, name: "Cherry", price: 15 },
    //     { id: 4, name: "Date", price: 12.5 }
    // ]
    .sort(function(a, b) {
        return b.price - a.price;   // return the difference between `b.price` and `a.price`
    });

// result (inherited data):
// [
//     { id: 3, name: "Cherry", price: 15 },
//     { id: 4, name: "Date", price: 12.5 },
//     { id: 2, name: "Banana", price: 7.2 },
//     { id: 1, name: "Apple", price: 5 }
// ]

Tip

It’s recommended to return -1, 0, or 1 from the comparator function to indicate the sort order, though you can return any numeric value.

---

References

Pipeline.sort()

Sorts the pipeline data using an optional column name or a custom comparator function.

Overload 1

Signature

pipeline.d.ts

class NimbusDBPipeline {
    // ... other methods and properties ...
    static sort(
        _ascending?: boolean
    ): NimbusDBPipeline;
}

Caution

Only use this overload if the array contains only flat values.

Parameters

_ascending

• Type: boolean
• Default: true
• Optional sort direction (ascending = true, descending = false).

Returns

• Type: NimbusDBPipeline
• A new NimbusDBPipeline instance (mutable = false) or the current pipeline instance (mutable = true).

Overload 2

Signature

pipeline.d.ts

class NimbusDBPipeline {
    // ... other methods and properties ...
    static sort(
        _column: string,
        _ascending?: boolean
    ): NimbusDBPipeline;
}

Caution

Only use this overload if the array is array of objects.

Parameters

_column

• Type: string
• The column name to sort by.

_ascending

• Type: boolean
• Default: true
• Optional sort direction (ascending = true, descending = false).

Returns

• Type: NimbusDBPipeline
• A new NimbusDBPipeline instance (mutable = false) or the current pipeline instance (mutable = true).

Overload 3

Signature

pipeline.d.ts

class NimbusDBPipeline {
    // ... other methods and properties ...
    static sort(
        _func: (current: any, next: any) => number
    ): NimbusDBPipeline;
}

Parameters

_func

• Type: (current: any, next: any) => number
• The comparator function to use for sorting.

Returns

• Type: NimbusDBPipeline
• A new NimbusDBPipeline instance (mutable = false) or the current pipeline instance (mutable = true).