yiisoft/yii2 · error · InvalidArgumentException

The length of $direction parameter must be the same as that

Error message

The length of $direction parameter must be the same as that of $keys.

What it means

Error "The length of $direction parameter must be the same as that of $keys." thrown in yiisoft/yii2.

Source

Thrown at framework/helpers/BaseArrayHelper.php:678

     * When sorting by multiple keys with different sorting directions, use an array of sorting directions.
     * @param int|array $sortFlag the PHP sort flag. Valid values include
     * `SORT_REGULAR`, `SORT_NUMERIC`, `SORT_STRING`, `SORT_LOCALE_STRING`, `SORT_NATURAL` and `SORT_FLAG_CASE`.
     * Please refer to [PHP manual](https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.sort.php)
     * for more details. When sorting by multiple keys with different sort flags, use an array of sort flags.
     * @throws InvalidArgumentException if the $direction or $sortFlag parameters do not have
     * correct number of elements as that of $key.
     */
    public static function multisort(&$array, $key, $direction = SORT_ASC, $sortFlag = SORT_REGULAR)
    {
        $keys = is_array($key) ? $key : [$key];
        if (empty($keys) || empty($array)) {
            return;
        }
        $n = count($keys);
        if (is_scalar($direction)) {
            $direction = array_fill(0, $n, $direction);
        } elseif (count($direction) !== $n) {
            throw new InvalidArgumentException('The length of $direction parameter must be the same as that of $keys.');
        }
        if (is_scalar($sortFlag)) {
            $sortFlag = array_fill(0, $n, $sortFlag);
        } elseif (count($sortFlag) !== $n) {
            throw new InvalidArgumentException('The length of $sortFlag parameter must be the same as that of $keys.');
        }
        $args = [];
        foreach ($keys as $i => $k) {
            $flag = $sortFlag[$i];
            $args[] = static::getColumn($array, $k);
            $args[] = $direction[$i];
            $args[] = $flag;
        }

        // This fix is used for cases when main sorting specified by columns has equal values
        // Without it it will lead to Fatal Error: Nesting level too deep - recursive dependency?
        $args[] = range(1, count($array));
        $args[] = SORT_ASC;

View on GitHub (pinned to 66f00d18a2)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at framework/helpers/BaseArrayHelper.php:678 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of yiisoft/yii2@66f00d18a2 (2026-08-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/87fe9c18fc694d78. Report an issue: GitHub.