Intl.Collator

The Intl.Collator object enables language-sensitive string comparison.

Constructor

Intl.Collator()

Creates a new Collator object.

Static methods

Intl.Collator.supportedLocalesOf()

Returns an array containing those of the provided locales that are supported without having to fall back to the runtime's default locale.

Instance methods

Intl.Collator.prototype.compare

Getter function that compares two strings according to the sort order of this Intl.Collator object.

Intl.Collator.prototype.resolvedOptions()

Returns a new object with properties reflecting the locale and collation options computed during initialization of the object.

Examples

Using Collator

The following example demonstrates the different potential results for a string occurring before, after, or at the same level as another:

console.log(new Intl.Collator().compare('a', 'c')); // → a negative value
console.log(new Intl.Collator().compare('c', 'a')); // → a positive value
console.log(new Intl.Collator().compare('a', 'a')); // → 0

Note that the results shown in the code above can vary between browsers and browser versions. This is because the values are implementation-specific. That is, the specification requires only that the before and after values are negative and positive.

Using locales

The results provided by Intl/Collator/compare vary between languages. In order to get the sort order of the language used in the user interface of your application, make sure to specify that language (and possibly some fallback languages) using the locales argument:

// in German, ä sorts with a
console.log(new Intl.Collator('de').compare('ä', 'z'));
// → a negative value

// in Swedish, ä sorts after z
console.log(new Intl.Collator('sv').compare('ä', 'z'));
// → a positive value

Using options

The results provided by Intl/Collator/compare can be customized using the options argument:

// in German, ä has a as the base letter
console.log(new Intl.Collator('de', { sensitivity: 'base' }).compare('ä', 'a'));
// → 0

// in Swedish, ä and a are separate base letters
console.log(new Intl.Collator('sv', { sensitivity: 'base' }).compare('ä', 'a'));
// → a positive value

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript Internationalization API Specification
# collator-objects

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also