This function implements a sort algorithm that orders alphanumeric strings in the way a human being would. This is described as a "natural ordering". An example of the difference between this algorithm and the regular computer string sorting algorithms (used in sort()) can be seen below:
The code above will generate the following output:
Standard sorting Array ( [0] => img1.png [1] => img10.png [2] => img12.png [3] => img2.png ) Natural order sorting Array ( [3] => img1.png [2] => img2.png [1] => img10.png [0] => img12.png ) |
Nota: If you're wanting to maintain index/value associations, consider using usort($arr, 'strnatcmp').
See also natcasesort(), strnatcmp(), and strnatcasecmp().