sorting objects in arraylist in java

[shahidasalavoodeen]

How can I sort objects in an arraylist based on a particular field of the object.
my arraylist has a collection of objects. each object has one of the fields as name. now i want to sort the objects in alphabetical order of names. how do i do dat

[r035198x]

How can I sort objects in an arraylist based on a particular field of the object.
my arraylist has a collection of objects. each object has one of the fields as name. now i want to sort the objects in alphabetical order of names. how do i do dat

If you can control how objects get into the list, you can make sure that the objects get in sorted(insertion sort). If you already have an unsorted list, then you need to write the sort function to sort that. Are you asking for the sort function?

[r035198x]

This will allow you as many sorts as are compare methods defined for your object:

import java.util.*;
class Church {
    private String name;
    private String pastor;
    public Church(String name, String pastor) {
        this.name = name;
        this.pastor = pastor;
    }
    public String getPastor() {
        return pastor;
    }
    public String getName() {
        return name;
    }
    public void setPastor(String pastor) {
        this.pastor = pastor;
    }
    public String toString() {
        return getName() + " is Pastored by "+getPastor();
    }
    public int compareByPastor(Church c) {
        int x = pastor.compareTo(c.getPastor());
        return x;
    }
    public int compareByName(Church c) {
        int x = name.compareTo(c.getName());
        return x;
    }
}
 
class Churches {
    private final List<Church> churches;
 
    public Churches() {
        churches = new ArrayList<Church>();
    }
    public void addWithoutSorting(Church c) {
        churches.add(c);
    }
 
    //You could always add using this method
    public void addWithSorting(Church c) {
 
    }
    public void display() {
        for(int j = 0; j < churches.size(); j++) {
            System.out.print(churches.get(j).toString());
            System.out.println("");
        }
   }
   public List<Church> getChurches() {
       return churches;
   }
   public void sortBy(String s) {
       for (int i = 1; i < churches.size(); i++) {
           int j;
           Church val = churches.get(i);
           for (j = i-1; j > -1; j--) {
               Church temp = churches.get(j);
               if(s.equals("Pastor")) {
                   if (temp.compareByPastor(val) <= 0) {
                       break;
                   }
               }
               else if(s.equals("Name")) {
                   if (temp.compareByName(val) <= 0) {
                          break;
                   }
               }
               churches.set(j+1, temp);
            }
            churches.set(j+1, val);
       }
     }
 
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Churches baptists = new Churches();
        baptists.addWithoutSorting(new Church("Pac", "Pastor G"));
        baptists.addWithoutSorting(new Church("New Life", "Tudor"));
        baptists.addWithoutSorting(new Church("My Church", "r035198x"));
        baptists.addWithoutSorting(new Church("AFM", "Cathy"));
        System.out.println("**********************Before Sorting***********************");
        baptists.display();
        baptists.sortBy("Pastor");
        System.out.println("**********************After sorting by Pastor**************");
        baptists.display();
        baptists.sortBy("Name");
        System.out.println("**********************After sorting by Name****************");
        baptists.display();
 
    }
 
  }