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:
Example 1. natsort() example
The code above will generate the following output:
For more information see: Martin Pool's Natural Order String Comparison page. |
Note: If you're wanting to maintain index/value associations, consider using uasort($arr, 'strnatcmp').
See also natcasesort(), strnatcmp(), and strnatcasecmp().