How to draw a character behind and in front of a building? (isometric map)

Question

how is it possible to draw the player behind and in front of some building in an isometric map : should I slice them, replace the number in the map (one number for a tile usually) by an array of number (each being a piece of a bigger tile), and somehow add a Z-order related to each small number (the pieces of building), something like this?

//replace :
var map = [
    [1,0,1],
    [0,1,1],
    [0,0,1],
    [0,0,1]
];

//by :
var map = [
    [["2-zOrder/1","3-zOrder/1"],0,1],
    [1,1,1],
    [1,0,1],
    [0,0,1]
];

Answer 1

I used a straight forward approach for this.

My map (not the end result!) is set up us horizontal lines, where i go from top to bottom, blitting everything from left to right. That way I automatically place everything in the correct order. My tiles (not walking sprites, they have their origin at (0,y) !) all have their origin in the left-middle, or (0,y/2) assuming (0,0) is in the top left.

If you struggle with height, then just blit the ground layers first, then add the top layers, also from top to bottom.

Did this make sense?