Sort the rows of a table based on row entries in two columns of another table

I've the following tables

Tleft>

     EndNodes_1    EndNodes_2
    __________    __________

    {'1'     }    {'Node9' }
    {'2'     }    {'Node10'}
    {'2'     }    {'Node11'}
    {'3'     }    {'Node12'}
    {'3'     }    {'Node13'}
    {'4'     }    {'Node14'}
    {'4'     }    {'Node15'}
    {'5'     }    {'Node16'}
    {'6'     }    {'Node17'}
    {'7'     }    {'Node18'}
    {'Node9' }    {'2'     }
    {'Node10'}    {'3'     }
    {'Node11'}    {'4'     }
    {'Node12'}    {'5'     }
    {'Node13'}    {'5'     }
    {'Node14'}    {'6'     }
    {'Node15'}    {'6'     }
    {'Node16'}    {'7'     }
    {'Node17'}    {'7'     }
    {'Node18'}    {'8'     }

Tright =

  20×3 table

    EndNodes_1    EndNodes_2     value 
    __________    __________    _______

    {'1'     }    {'Node9' }    {[5.2]}
    {'Node9' }    {'2'     }    {[5.2]}
    {'2'     }    {'Node10'}    {[2.6]}
    {'Node10'}    {'3'     }    {[2.6]}
    {'2'     }    {'Node11'}    {[2.6]}
    {'Node11'}    {'4'     }    {[2.6]}
    {'3'     }    {'Node12'}    {[1.3]}
    {'Node12'}    {'5'     }    {[1.3]}
    {'3'     }    {'Node13'}    {[1.3]}
    {'Node13'}    {'5'     }    {[1.3]}
    {'4'     }    {'Node14'}    {[1.3]}
    {'Node14'}    {'6'     }    {[1.3]}
    {'4'     }    {'Node15'}    {[1.3]}
    {'Node15'}    {'6'     }    {[1.3]}
    {'5'     }    {'Node16'}    {[2.6]}
    {'Node16'}    {'7'     }    {[2.6]}
    {'6'     }    {'Node17'}    {[2.6]}
    {'Node17'}    {'7'     }    {[2.6]}
    {'7'     }    {'Node18'}    {[5.2]}
    {'Node18'}    {'8'     }    {[5.2]}

Result obtained after using

T = innerjoin(Tleft,Tright)

T =

  20×3 table

    EndNodes_1    EndNodes_2     value 
    __________    __________    _______

    {'1'     }    {'Node9' }    {[5.2]}
    {'2'     }    {'Node10'}    {[2.6]}
    {'2'     }    {'Node11'}    {[2.6]}
    {'3'     }    {'Node12'}    {[1.3]}
    {'3'     }    {'Node13'}    {[1.3]}
    {'4'     }    {'Node14'}    {[1.3]}
    {'4'     }    {'Node15'}    {[1.3]}
    {'5'     }    {'Node16'}    {[2.6]}
    {'6'     }    {'Node17'}    {[2.6]}
    {'7'     }    {'Node18'}    {[5.2]}
    {'Node10'}    {'3'     }    {[2.6]}
    {'Node11'}    {'4'     }    {[2.6]}
    {'Node12'}    {'5'     }    {[1.3]}
    {'Node13'}    {'5'     }    {[1.3]}
    {'Node14'}    {'6'     }    {[1.3]}
    {'Node15'}    {'6'     }    {[1.3]}
    {'Node16'}    {'7'     }    {[2.6]}
    {'Node17'}    {'7'     }    {[2.6]}
    {'Node18'}    {'8'     }    {[5.2]}
    {'Node9' }    {'2'     }    {[5.2]}

Expected result: Rows to be in the sam eorder of rows of Tleft in T

T =

  20×3 table

    EndNodes_1    EndNodes_2     value 
    __________    __________    _______

    {'1'     }    {'Node9' }    {[5.2]}
    {'2'     }    {'Node10'}    {[2.6]}
    {'2'     }    {'Node11'}    {[2.6]}
    {'3'     }    {'Node12'}    {[1.3]}
    {'3'     }    {'Node13'}    {[1.3]}
    {'4'     }    {'Node14'}    {[1.3]}
    {'4'     }    {'Node15'}    {[1.3]}
    {'5'     }    {'Node16'}    {[2.6]}
    {'6'     }    {'Node17'}    {[2.6]}
    {'7'     }    {'Node18'}    {[5.2]}
    {'Node9' }    {'2'     }    {[5.2]}
    {'Node10'}    {'3'     }    {[2.6]}
    {'Node11'}    {'4'     }    {[2.6]}
    {'Node12'}    {'5'     }    {[1.3]}
    {'Node13'}    {'5'     }    {[1.3]}
    {'Node14'}    {'6'     }    {[1.3]}
    {'Node15'}    {'6'     }    {[1.3]}
    {'Node16'}    {'7'     }    {[2.6]}
    {'Node17'}    {'7'     }    {[2.6]}
    {'Node18'}    {'8'     }    {[5.2]}

Note: The entries are strings and cell arrays since the table is created from a graph object

[dpb]

First column is sorted lexically and since there aren't two digits in the node number string, 'Node9' sorts behind 'NodeN' for N<9. You'll have the same problem if your numeric values pass single digits anywhere in the real data set.

There's a FEX submission, whether it'll be smart enough for this case or not, I don't know.

Probably the easiest workaround if you can't fix the data format to be consistent is the list starts in order is to augment with an index vector of 1:size(Tleft,1) and then resort the final result by it.

Alternatively, fix the naming to be consistent for desired sort order.

Oh...you might look to see if there's anything like an optional parameter in innerjoin like 'stable' to preserve existing order.

[Deepa Maheshvare]

Could you please share the link to the FEX submission? Unfortunately, I couldn't find the optional parameter 'stable'.

Answer 1

[Mohammad Sami]

inner join will return a second optional output, ileft

ileft = Index to Tleft, returned as a column vector. Each element of ileft identifies the row in Tleft that corresponds to that row in the output table or timetable, T.

You can potentially use this to resort the output in the order of tleft.

[T,ileft] = innerjoin(Tleft,Tright);
[~,iileft] = sort(ileft); % use the optional output of sort to get the correct sorting order
T = T(iileft,:);