SortByDateOfObjectInArrayCollection.mxml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:Application xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009" 
               xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark" 
               creationComplete="init()"
               
               xmlns:mx="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/mx" minWidth="955" minHeight="600">

    <fx:Script>
        <![CDATA[
            protected function button1_clickHandler(event:MouseEvent):void
            {
                // TODO Auto-generated method stub
            }
        ]]>
    </fx:Script>

    <fx:Declarations>
        <!-- Place non-visual elements (e.g., services, value objects) here -->
    </fx:Declarations>
    <fx:Script>
        <![CDATA[
            import com.adobe.ps.mobius.documents.model.Document;
            import com.adobe.ps.mobius.documents.model.MiniDocument;
            
            import mx.collections.ArrayCollection;
            import mx.collections.Sort;
            import mx.collections.SortField;
            import mx.controls.dataGridClasses.DataGridColumn;
            import mx.events.DataGridEvent;
            
            [Bindable]
            private var collection:ArrayCollection = new ArrayCollection();
            
            private var dates:Array = [ new Date(2010, 5, 1), new Date(2010, 4, 2), new Date(2010, 5, 3) ];
            
            private var labels:Array = [ "Apple", "Banana", "Carrot", "Grape", "Orange" ];
            
            
            private var tabNames:Array = [ "Correspondance", "A and E" ];
            
            protected function datagrid1_headerReleaseHandler(event:DataGridEvent):void
            {
            }
            
            private function createDocument(counter:int):MiniDocument
            {
                var mini:MiniDocument = new MiniDocument();
                mini.startDate = dates[counter % dates.length];
                mini.tabName = tabNames[counter % tabNames.length];
                mini.label = labels[counter % labels.length];
                return mini;
            }
            
            private function init():void
            {
                for (var i:int = 0; i < 10; i++)
                {
                    collection.addItem(createDocument(i));
                }
            }
            
            private function printCollection(collection:ArrayCollection):void
            {
                textArea.text = "";
                for each (var doc:MiniDocument in collection)
                {
                    textArea.text += (doc + "\n");
                }
            }
            
            private function sortAsc() : void
            {
              setSort(false);  
            }
            
            private function sortDesc() : void
            {
             setSort(true);
            }
            
            private function setSort( isDescending: Boolean = false ) : void
            {
                collection.sort = new Sort();
                var startDateField : SortField = new SortField("startDate",true,isDescending);
                startDateField.compareFunction = compareStartDate;
                collection.sort.fields = [ startDateField ];
                
                collection.refresh();
                
                printCollection(collection);
            }
            
            private function compareStartDate(obj1:Object,obj2:Object, fields : Array = null) : int
            {
                return compareDates(obj1.startDate,obj2.startDate);
            }
            
            public static function compareDates(d1:Date, d2:Date):int
            {
                var d1ms:Number = d1.getTime();
                var d2ms:Number = d2.getTime();
                
                if (d1ms > d2ms)
                {
                    return -1;
                }
                else if (d1ms < d2ms)
                {
                    return 1;
                }
                else
                {
                    return 0;
                }
            }

        ]]>
    </fx:Script>
    <s:layout>
        <s:VerticalLayout/>
    </s:layout>
    <s:Button label="sort by date ASC" click="sortAsc()"/>
    <s:Button label="sort by date DESC" click="sortDesc()"/>
    <s:TextArea id="textArea" width="500" height="500">
        
        
    </s:TextArea>
</s:Application>