Sorting a list by birthday

[Mark22957345xbiv]

Hi, 

I am using Acrobat Pro DC and have created a form where you can enter 

First Name (Name1), Last Name (NName1) and Birthday (B1)

To sort the list alphabetically (without birthday) I am using following code...

// Get the field values, as strings

var s1 = getField("Name1").valueAsString;

var l1 = getField("NName1").valueAsString;

var s2 = getField("Name2").valueAsString;

var l2 = getField("NName2").valueAsString;

var s3 = getField("Name3").valueAsString;

var l3 = getField("NName3").valueAsString;

// Combine values, separated by a space

event.target.value = s1 + " " + l1 + ",\n" + s2 + " " + l2 + ",\n" + s3 + " " + l3;

if(event.value!=""){ 

var names = event.value.split("\r");

names = names.sort(function(a,b){if(a<b)return -1; if(a>b)return 1; return0});

event.value=names.join("\r");

However, I would now like to incorparate the birthday and ideally put the list in order of the birthday from youngest to oldest or oldest to youngest. 

What would I need to change in my java script? I would very much appreciate any help. 

Thank you in advance.

[try67]

There are several ways to do this, but all would include adjusting the sort method to examine the DOB value, instead of the name. You can do it by combining the values to a single string and then split it in the sort method to extract the DOB, convert it to a Date object (using util.scand) and then compare them (using their getTime method), or you could use an array of literal objects with a name property and a DOB property, and then sort based on the latter. Then you recombine the array into a single string and apply it as the field's new value.

[Mark22957345xbiv]

Thank you very much try67. Unfortunately I am quite new to java script and find it difficult to write it from scratch. I managed to write the above with some help from this lovely community. Would it be difficult to give me script example which I can then adapt to my fields?

[try67]

Here you go:

var data = [];

var s1 = getField("Name1").valueAsString;
var l1 = getField("NName1").valueAsString;
var b1 = getField("B1").valueAsString;
data.push({name: s1 + " " + l1, dob: b1}); // repeat for other fields

data.sort(sortByDOB);
var s = "";
for (var i=0; i<data.length; i++) s+=data[i].name + ", " + data[i].dob;
event.value = s;

function sortByDOB(a,b) {
	if (a.dob=="" && b.dob=="") return 0;
	if (a.dob=="" && b.dob!="") return 1;
	if (a.dob!="" && b.dob=="") return -1;
	var d1 = util.scand("mm/dd/yyyy", a.dob);
	var d2 = util.scand("mm/dd/yyyy", b.dob);
	return (d1.getTime()-d2.getTime());
}

The sortByDOB function will return the values in ascending order, by the way, with any empty values appearing at the end.

[Mark22957345xbiv]

Thank you sooo much. I really appreciate your help. I tried to add the repetition for the other fields now but I am pretty sure I am doing something wrong 😔

var data = [];

var s1 = getField("Name1").valueAsString;

var l1 = getField("NName1").valueAsString;

var b1 = getField("Geb1").valueAsString;

var s2 = getField("Name2").valueAsString;

var l2 = getField("Nname2").valueAsString;

var b2 = getField("Geb2").valueAsString;

data.push({name: s1 + " " + l1, dob: b1});

data.push({name: s2 + " " + l2, dob: b2}); // repeat for other fields

data.sort(sortByDOB);

var s = "";

for (var i=0; i<data.length; i++) s+=data[i].name + ", " + data[i].dob;

event.value = s;

function sortByDOB(a,b) {

                       if (a.dob=="" && b.dob=="") return 0;

                       if (a.dob=="" && b.dob!="") return 1;

                       if (a.dob!="" && b.dob=="") return -1;

                       var d1 = util.scand("mm/dd/yyyy", a.dob);

                       var d2 = util.scand("mm/dd/yyyy", b.dob);

                       return (d1.getTime()-d2.getTime());

[try67]

The code looks fine to me (except it's missing the closing curly brackets for the function, but I assume you just didn't copy it). So what happens when you use it, exactly? Is there an output but it's incorrect? Or no output at all? And are there any error messages in the JS Console?

[manok_9788]

This setup works for alphabetical sorting, but for birthdays you’ll need to parse the B1, B2… fields as dates and sort accordingly. I recently adapted a traditional blessing for a family birthday and it felt sincere. Sorting by birthday wishes for mom in marathi can help you send timely greetings automatically.