Sort Array of numeric & alphabetical elements (Natural Sort)

Question

Suppose I have an array

var arr = [1,5,\"ahsldk\",10,55,3,2,7,8,1,2,75,\"abc\",\"huds\"];

and I try sorting it, I get something like ...

Answer 1

// Most natural sorts are for sorting strings, so file2 is sorted before file10.

If you are mixing in actual numbers you need to sort them to the front of the array, because negative numbers and digits separated by hyphens are a pain to interpret. Strings with leading zeroes need to be careful, so part002 will sort before part010.

var natSort=function(as, bs) {
    var a, b, a1, b1,
    rx=  /(\d+)|(\D+)/g, rd= /\d/, rz=/^0/;
    if(typeof as=='number' || typeof bs=='number'){
        if(isNaN(as))return 1;
        if(isNaN(bs))return -1;
        return as-bs;
    }
    a= String(as).toLowerCase();
    b= String(bs).toLowerCase();
    if(a=== b) return 0;
    if(!(rd.test(a) && rd.test(b))) return a> b? 1: -1;
    a= a.match(rx);
    b= b.match(rx);
    while(a.length && b.length){
        a1= a.shift();
        b1= b.shift();
        if(a1!== b1){
            if(rd.test(a1) && rd.test(b1)){
                return a1.replace(rz,'.0')- b1.replace(rz,'.0');
            }
            else return a1> b1? 1: -1;
        }
    }
    return a.length - b.length;
}

array.sort(natSort)