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Natural Sort

naturalSort​

The naturalSort function compares two strings using a natural sorting order (e.g., "file2" < "file10"). It optionally supports case-insensitive and locale-aware string chunk comparisons.

  • Though it compares strings, it was mainly developed for array sorting.

Function Signature​

naturalSort(a: string, b: string, options?: SortNature): number;

Parameters​

  • a: The first string to compare.
  • b: The second string to compare.
  • options: Optional settings to configure comparison behavior:
    • caseInsensitive (default: true): If true, compares string chunks without case sensitivity.
    • localeAware (default: false): If true, uses localeCompare for string chunk comparisons.

Return Value​

  • A negative number if a comes before b.
  • A positive number if a comes after b.
  • 0 if the strings are equal.

Aliases​

  • compareNaturally, naturalSortForString, compareSorter

Example Usage​

import { naturalSort } from 'nhb-toolbox';

const result = naturalSort("file2", "file10");
console.log(result); // Output: -1

Notes​

  • The function uses chunking to break strings into numeric and non-numeric parts and compares those parts.
  • Supports case-insensitive and locale-aware comparison based on the provided options.

Types​

SortNature​

interface SortNature {
  caseInsensitive?: boolean;
  localeAware?: boolean;
}