table.sort(table [, comp])

Sort the elements of a table in-place (i.e. alter the table).

Code: (Lua) [Select]

> t = { 3,2,5,1,4 }
> table.sort(t)
> = table.concat(t, ", ")  -- display sorted values
1, 2, 3, 4, 5

If the table has a specified size only the range specified is sorted, e.g.,

Code: (Lua) [Select]

> t = { 3,2,5,1,4; n=3 }   -- construct a table with user size of 3
> table.sort(t)            -- sort will be limited by user size
> = table.concat(t, ", ")  -- only specified size is concatenated as well

2, 3, 5

A comparison function can be provided to customise the element sorting. The comparison function must return a boolean value specifying whether the first argument should be before the second argument in the sequence. The default behaviour is for the < comparison to be made. For example, the following behaves the same as no function being supplied:

Code: (Lua) [Select]

> t = { 3,2,5,1,4 }
> table.sort(t, function(a,b) return a<b end)
> = table.concat(t, ", ")
1, 2, 3, 4, 5        We can see if we reverse the comparison the sequence order is reversed.

Code: (Lua) [Select]

> table.sort(t, function(a,b) return a>b end)
> = table.concat(t, ", ")
5, 4, 3, 2, 1