Intl.collator.compare

The Intl.Collator.prototype.compare property returns a getter function that compares two strings according to the sort order of this Collator object.

Syntax

collator.compare(string1, string2)

Parameters

string1

string2

The strings to compare against each other.

Description

The function returned by the compare getter returns a number indicating how string1 and string2 compare to each other according to the sort order of this Collator object: a negative value if string1 comes before string2; a positive value if string1 comes after string2; 0 if they are considered equal.

Examples

Using compare for sort array

Use the function returned by the compare getter for sorting arrays. Note that the function is bound to the collator from which it was obtained, so it can be passed directly to Array.prototype.sort().

var a = ['Offenbach', 'Österreich', 'Odenwald'];
var collator = new Intl.Collator('de-u-co-phonebk');
a.sort(collator.compare);
console.log(a.join(', '));
// → "Odenwald, Österreich, Offenbach"

Using compare for search in array

Use the function returned by the compare getter for finding matching strings in arrays:

var a = ['Congrès', 'congres', 'Assemblée', 'poisson'];
var collator = new Intl.Collator('fr', { usage: 'search', sensitivity: 'base' });
var s = 'congres';
var matches = a.filter(function(v) {
  return collator.compare(v, s) === 0;
});
console.log(matches.join(', '));
// → "Congrès, congres"

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
ECMAScript Internationalization API 1.0 (ECMA-402) The definition of 'Intl.Collator.prototype.compare' in that specification.	Standard	Initial definition.
ECMAScript Internationalization API 2.0 (ECMA-402) The definition of 'Intl.Collator.prototype.compare' in that specification.	Standard
ECMAScript Internationalization API 4.0 (ECMA-402) The definition of 'Intl.Collator.prototype.compare' in that specification.	Draft

Browser compatibility

See also

• Intl.Collator
• String.prototype.localeCompare()