PHP - multisort on associative array

Question

Consider the following associative array:

$arrEmployees['marco polo'] = array(age => 40, service => 5);
$arrEmployees['jane austen'] = array(age => 30, service => 9);
$arrEmployees['carl marx'] = array(age => 30, service => 7);

how can I use array_multisort to order by age desc and service asc? Example #3 in php.net seems to work only with numeric indexes...

Answer 1

$arrEmployees['marco polo'] = array(age => 40, service => 5);
$arrEmployees['jane austen'] = array(age => 30, service => 9);
$arrEmployees['carl marx'] = array(age => 30, service => 7);

foreach ($arrEmployees as $key => $row) {
    $age[$key]  = $row['age'];
    $service[$key] = $row['service'];
}

array_multisort($age, SORT_DESC, $service, SORT_ASC, $arrEmployees);

var_dump($arrEmployees);

gives

array(3) {
  ["marco polo"]=>
  array(2) {
    ["age"]=>
    int(40)
    ["service"]=>
    int(5)
  }
  ["carl marx"]=>
  array(2) {
    ["age"]=>
    int(30)
    ["service"]=>
    int(7)
  }
  ["jane austen"]=>
  array(2) {
    ["age"]=>
    int(30)
    ["service"]=>
    int(9)
  }
}

which is correct, and all associative indexes are still intact