NSMutableArray sorting - objective-c

Question

I have 5 NSMutableArrays in cell. I need to sort cells by one value.
Example I need to sort cell by time.
[MyArray1 sortUsingSelector:#selector(compare:)];
but how I will be with other 4 NSMutableArray in cell?

Answer 1

It's not a good idea to store data for your cells in 5 arrays, don't separate them; create a data container class, store all values for each cell inside one data container object and then you can sort your array with data containers by one of the values.
e.g.:
DataContainer.h:
#interface DataContainer : NSObject
{
NSDate *date1;
NSDate *date2;
NSString *upperTitle;
NSString *mainTitle;
NSString *subtitle;
}
#property (nonatomic, strong) NSDate *date1;
#property (nonatomic, strong) NSDate *date2;
#property (nonatomic, strong) NSString *upperTitle;
#property (nonatomic, strong) NSString *mainTitle;
#property (nonatomic, strong) NSString *subtitle;
#end
DataContainer.m:
#implementation DataContainer
#synthesize date1, date2, upperTitle, mainTitle, subtitle;
#end
Then you can create your DataContainer's (one for each cell) and store them in one NSMutableArray.
e.g.:
DataContainer *container = [[DataContainer alloc] init];
[container setDate1:[NSDate date]];
[container setMainTitle:#"blahblah"];
///...
[cellArr addObject:container];
To sort this array, use:
cellArr = [cellArr sortedArrayUsingComparator:^(id cont1, id cont2) {
return [[(DataContainer *) cont1 date1] compare:[(DataContainer *) cont2 date1]];
}];
and then use them in your cellForRowAtIndexPath:
DataContainer *container = [cellArr objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
//container.date1, container.date2, container.upperTitle, container.mainTitle and container.subtitle are the values that you need for your cell.
Notice that this code is suitable if you're using ARC (Automatic Reference Counting) for your project; if you're not using ARC, then you need to change strong to retain in property definitions and add release's to needed places to avoid memory leaks.

Answer 2

I agree with Andrey. You stick everything from your arrays in containers and then you sort the containers.
Your container should have as members everything you store in one cell (date, time, text, text2, Englis/mathematic, etc).
And then you sort the cell container array.
cellArr = [cellArr sortedArrayUsingComparator:^(id cont1, id cont2) {
// if date in container 1 is earlier than in container 2
return (NSComparisonResult)NSOrderedDescending;
// if date is later
return (NSComparisonResult)NSOrderedAscending;
// if none of the above
return (NSComparisonResult)NSOrderedSame;
}];