Sort numbers with colons

user_1150092 0
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I have a list of Bible verses, times, or some other strings with numbers and colons. I would like those sorted into this:

1:5
2:1
2:8
2:14
11:36

How would I sort those numbers?

I assume I have to parse the string, separate on colon, and then sort. What I tried gives me things like this:

1:5
11:36
2:1
2:14
2:8
sorting ruby
2 Answers

Use Enumerable#sort_by

input = %w|1:5 11:36 2:1 2:14 2:8|
input.sort_by { |e| e.split(':').map(&:to_i) }
#⇒ ["1:5", "2:1", "2:8", "2:14", "11:36"]

map(&:to_i) part is needed to make integers out of strings, because 11 > 2 but "11" < "2".

user_20352620 
arr = %w| 1:5 11:36 2:1 2:14 2:8 |
  #=> ["1:5", "11:36", "2:1", "2:14", "2:8"]

arr.sort_by { |s| Gem::Version.new(s.tr(':', '.')) }
  #=> ["1:5", "2:1", "2:8", "2:14", "11:36"]

See Enumerable#sort_by, String#tr and Gem::Version::new. The latter is part of the standard Ruby library.

user_2569700
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