sort elements

jQuery.sortElements.js

/**
 * jQuery.fn.sortElements
 * --------------
 * @author James Padolsey (http://james.padolsey.com)
 * @version 0.11
 * @updated 18-MAR-2010
 * --------------
 * @param Function comparator:
 *   Exactly the same behaviour as [1,2,3].sort(comparator)
 *   
 * @param Function getSortable
 *   A function that should return the element that is
 *   to be sorted. The comparator will run on the
 *   current collection, but you may want the actual
 *   resulting sort to occur on a parent or another
 *   associated element.
 *   
 *   E.g. $('td').sortElements(comparator, function(){
 *      return this.parentNode; 
 *   })
 *   
 *   The <td>'s parent (<tr>) will be sorted instead
 *   of the <td> itself.
 */

jQuery.fn.sortElements = (function(){
    
    var sort = [].sort;
    
    return function(comparator, getSortable) {
        
        getSortable = getSortable || function(){return this;};
        
        var placements = this.map(function(){
            
            var sortElement = getSortable.call(this),
                parentNode = sortElement.parentNode,
                
                // Since the element itself will change position, we have
                // to have some way of storing it's original position in
                // the DOM. The easiest way is to have a 'flag' node:
                nextSibling = parentNode.insertBefore(
                    document.createTextNode(''),
                    sortElement.nextSibling
                );
            
            return function() {
                
                if (parentNode === this) {
                    throw new Error(
                        "You can't sort elements if any one is a descendant of another."
                    );
                }
                
                // Insert before flag:
                parentNode.insertBefore(this, nextSibling);
                // Remove flag:
                parentNode.removeChild(nextSibling);
                
            };
            
        });
       
        return sort.call(this, comparator).each(function(i){
            placements[i].call(getSortable.call(this));
        });
        
    };
    
})();

Thanks for this. I'm having an issue where what should be the top result ends up at the bottom of my table after sorting using your code. Any ideas? Thanks for your time.

I figured this out. I was using a that was messing up the sort.