C++ Sort based on other int array - c++

Question

suppose i have two vector
std::vector<int>vec_int = {4,3,2,1,5};
std::vector<Obj*>vec_obj = {obj1,obj2,obj3,obj4,obj5};
How do we sort vec_obj in regard of sorted vec_int position?
So the goal may look like this:
std::vector<int>vec_int = {1,2,3,4,5};
std::vector<Obj*>vec_obj = {obj4,obj3,obj2,obj1,obj5};
I've been trying create new vec_array:
for (int i = 0; i < vec_int.size(); i++) {
new_vec.push_back(vec_obj[vec_int[i]]);
}
But i think it's not the correct solution. How do we do this? thanks
std library may be the best solution,but i can't find the correct solution to implement std::sort

Answer 1

You don't have to call std::sort, what you need can be done in linear time (provided the indices are from 1 to N and not repeating)
std::vector<Obj*> new_vec(vec_obj.size());
for (size_t i = 0; i < vec_int.size(); ++i) {
new_vec[i] = vec_obj[vec_int[i] - 1];
}
But of course for this solution you need the additional new_vec vector.
If the indices are arbitrary and/or you don't want to allocate another vector, you have to use a different data structure:
typedef pair<int, Obj*> Item;
vector<Item> vec = {{4, obj1}, {3, obj2}, {2, obj3}, {1, obj4}, {5, obj5}};
std::sort(vec.begin(), vec.end(), [](const Item& l, const Item& r) -> bool {return l.first < r.first;});

Answer 2

Maybe there is a better solution, but personally I would use the fact that items in a std::map are automatically sorted by key. This gives the following possibility (untested!)
// The vectors have to be the same size for this to work!
if( vec_int.size() != vec_obj.size() ) { return 0; }
std::vector<int>::const_iterator intIt = vec_int.cbegin();
std::vector<Obj*>::const_iterator objIt = vec_obj.cbegin();
// Create a temporary map
std::map< int, Obj* > sorted_objects;
for(; intIt != vec_int.cend(); ++intIt, ++objIt )
{
sorted_objects[ *intIt ] = *objIt;
}
// Iterating through map will be in order of key
// so this adds the items to the vector in the desired order.
std::vector<Obj*> vec_obj_sorted;
for( std::map< int, Obj* >::const_iterator sortedIt = sorted_objects.cbegin();
sortedIt != sorted_objects.cend(); ++sortedIt )
{
vec_obj_sorted.push_back( sortedIt->second );
}

Answer 3

[Not sure this fits your usecase, but putting the elements into a map will store the elements sorted by key by default.]
Coming to your precise solution if creation of the new vector is the issue you can avoid this using a simple swap trick (like selection sort)
//Place ith element in its place, while swapping to its position the current element.
for (int i = 0; i < vec_int.size(); i++) {
if (vec_obj[i] != vec_obj[vec_int[i])
swap_elements(i,vec_obj[i],vec_obj[vec_int[i]])
}

Answer 4

The generic form of this is known as "reorder according to", which is a variation of cycle sort. Unlike your example, the index vector needs to have the values 0 through size-1, instead of {4,3,2,1,5} it would need to be {3,2,1,0,4} (or else you have to adjust the example code below). The reordering is done by rotating groups of elements according to the "cycles" in the index vector or array. (In my adjusted example there are 3 "cycles", 1st cycle: index[0] = 3, index[3] = 0. 2nd cycle: index[1] = 2, index[2] = 1. 3rd cycle index[4] = 4). The index vector or array is also sorted in the process. A copy of the original index vector or array can be saved if you want to keep the original index vector or array. Example code for reordering vA according to vI in template form:
template <class T>
void reorder(vector<T>& vA, vector<size_t>& vI)
{
size_t i, j, k;
T t;
for(i = 0; i < vA.size(); i++){
if(i != vI[i]){
t = vA[i];
k = i;
while(i != (j = vI[k])){
// every move places a value in it's final location
vA[k] = vA[j];
vI[k] = k;
k = j;
}
vA[k] = t;
vI[k] = k;
}
}
}
Simple still would be to copy vA to another vector vB according to vI:
for(i = 0; i < vA.size(); i++){
vB[i] = vA[vI[i]];