How do I sort a Laravel Collection by multiple properties with both asc and desc?

Question

If I have an Illuminate\Support\Collection, how do I sort by multiple properties with both asc and desc? (This is a simple hypothetical - not at all looking for tips on query building.)

$collection = User::all(); // not looking for User::orderBy()->get() solutions.  Read the question.
$sorting_insructions = [
    ['column'=>'first_name', 'order'=>'asc'],
    ['column'=>'date_of_birth', 'order'=>'desc'],
];
$collection->sort(function($a,$b) use ($sorting_instructions){
    // something...
});

Answer 1

I know this question is from a while back, but in case anyone stumbles across it, Laravel does provide this functionality now (v8.x at the time of writing).

See the official docs for more detail. (4th code block example in the sort-by section) https://laravel.com/docs/8.x/collections#method-sortby

---

From the docs:

If you would like to sort your collection by multiple attributes, you may pass an array of sort operations to the sortBy method. Each sort operation should be an array consisting of the attribute that you wish to sort by and the direction of the desired sort:

$collection = collect([
    ['name' => 'Taylor Otwell', 'age' => 34],
    ['name' => 'Abigail Otwell', 'age' => 30],
    ['name' => 'Taylor Otwell', 'age' => 36],
    ['name' => 'Abigail Otwell', 'age' => 32],
]);

$sorted = $collection->sortBy([
    ['name', 'asc'],
    ['age', 'desc'],
]);

$sorted->values()->all();

/*
    [
        ['name' => 'Abigail Otwell', 'age' => 32],
        ['name' => 'Abigail Otwell', 'age' => 30],
        ['name' => 'Taylor Otwell', 'age' => 36],
        ['name' => 'Taylor Otwell', 'age' => 34],
    ]
*/

---

Applied to the example from the question:

/*
$sorting_instructions = [
    ['column'=>'first_name', 'order'=>'asc'],
    ['column'=>'date_of_birth', 'order'=>'desc'],
];
*/

$collection = User::all(); 

$sortedCollection = $collection->sortBy([
    ['first_name','asc'],
    ['date_of_birth','desc'],
])