Sort <div> elements using jQuery

Question

I have HTML like the following on my website:

<div class="groups">
  <div class="group">
    Group 1 priority:
    <select>
      <option value="1.0">1</option>
      <option value="2.0" selected="selected">2</option>
      <option value="3.0">3</option>
    </select>
  </div>
  <div class="group">
    Group 2 priority:
    <select>
      <option value="1.0">1</option>
      <option value="2.0">2</option>
      <option value="3.0" selected="selected">3</option>
    </select>
  </div>
  <div class="group">
    Group 3 priority:
    <select>
      <option value="1.0" selected="selected">1</option>
      <option value="2.0">2</option>
      <option value="3.0">3</option>
    </select>
  </div>
</div>

I am looking for a way to sort the order these groups appear in the browser using jQuery, based on the what is selected in the dropdown. It should resort when the user selects a new value in any of the dropdowns, or on page load.

What would be the easiest approach to this problem?

I have jQuery UI available, if the sortable thing can be used in any way. I couldn't not find a way to use that.

Update: There is other data in the <div class="group"> that should follow the dropdowns wherever they are moved. The number of groups varies from 0 to 20.

Answer 1

Edit: Here is some code which should do what you're after. Here select_1, select_2, etc should be the IDs of the dropdowns. getDropdown() should be a function that returns the selected value of the given dropdown ID using your choice of method (document.getElementById().options.selectedIndex,, jquery, etc)

<div id="parent">
    <div id="child1">
     ..content
     <select id="select_1">...content</select>
    </div>

    <div id="child2">
     ..content
     <select id="select_2">...content</select>
    </div>

    <div id="child3">
     ..content
     <select id="select_3">...content</select>
    </div>
</div>

---

 function sortValues()
    {
        /*Save the contents of each div in an array 
          so they can be looped through and 
          re inserted later*/
        var content=[$("#child1").html(),$("#child2").html,$("#child3").html()];

        //Get the value of all dropdowns and sort them
        var sortedArray=[getDropdown("select_3"),getDropdown("select_2"),getDropdown("select_3")];
        var sortedContent=new Array();
        sortedArray.sort();

        /*Loop through all the sorted values, 
         compare the value of each dropdown
         against the sorted value and use that 
         to determine the new arrangement of the divs
         */
        for (x=0; x< sortedArray.length; x++)
        {
         for (y=0; y<=content.length; y++)
         {
          if (getDropdown("dropdown_" + (y+1))==sortedArray[x])
          {
           sortedContent[x]=content[x];
                               //This will prevent the same div from being assigned again:
           $("#select_" + (y+1)).remove(); 
           break;
          }

         }

        }
        /* Empty the parent div so new divs can be inserted.
           You can also do a fadeout/fadeIn of the div here
         */


        $("#parent").empty();      

        for (x=0; x< sortedContent.length; x++)
        {
         $("#parent").append(sortedContent[x]);
        }
    }