How do I sort an NSMutableArray with custom objects in it?

I did this in iOS 4 using a block. Had to cast the elements of my array from id to my class type. In this case it was a class called Score with a property called points.

Also you need to decide what to do if the elements of your array are not the right type, for this example I just returned NSOrderedSame, however in my code I though an exception.

NSArray *sorted = [_scores sortedArrayUsingComparator:^(id obj1, id obj2){
    if ([obj1 isKindOfClass:[Score class]] && [obj2 isKindOfClass:[Score class]]) {
        Score *s1 = obj1;
        Score *s2 = obj2;

        if (s1.points > s2.points) {
            return (NSComparisonResult)NSOrderedAscending;
        } else if (s1.points < s2.points) {
            return (NSComparisonResult)NSOrderedDescending;
        }
    }

    // TODO: default is the same?
    return (NSComparisonResult)NSOrderedSame;
}];

return sorted;

PS: This is sorting in descending order.

NSSortDescriptor *sortDescriptor;
sortDescriptor = [[[NSSortDescriptor alloc] initWithKey:@"birthDate" ascending:YES] autorelease];
NSArray *sortDescriptors = [NSArray arrayWithObject:sortDescriptor];
NSArray *sortedArray;
sortedArray = [drinkDetails sortedArrayUsingDescriptors:sortDescriptors];

Thanks, it's working fine...

I've used sortUsingFunction:: in some of my projects:

int SortPlays(id a, id b, void* context)
{
    Play* p1 = a;
    Play* p2 = b;
    if (p1.score<p2.score) 
        return NSOrderedDescending;
    else if (p1.score>p2.score) 
        return NSOrderedAscending;
    return NSOrderedSame;
}

...
[validPlays sortUsingFunction:SortPlays context:nil];

I have created a small library of category methods, called Linq to ObjectiveC, that makes this sort of thing more easy. Using the sort method with a key selector, you can sort by birthDate as follows:

NSArray* sortedByBirthDate = [input sort:^id(id person) {
    return [person birthDate];
}]

I just done multi level sorting based on custom requirement.

//sort the values

    [arrItem sortUsingComparator:^NSComparisonResult (id a, id b){

    ItemDetail * itemA = (ItemDetail*)a;
    ItemDetail* itemB =(ItemDetail*)b;

    //item price are same
    if (itemA.m_price.m_selling== itemB.m_price.m_selling) {

        NSComparisonResult result=  [itemA.m_itemName compare:itemB.m_itemName];

        //if item names are same, then monogramminginfo has to come before the non monograme item
        if (result==NSOrderedSame) {

            if (itemA.m_monogrammingInfo) {
                return NSOrderedAscending;
            }else{
                return NSOrderedDescending;
            }
        }
        return result;
    }

    //asscending order
    return itemA.m_price.m_selling > itemB.m_price.m_selling;
}];

https://sites.google.com/site/greateindiaclub/mobil-apps/ios/multilevelsortinginiosobjectivec