NAME


sort - sort lines of text files

SYNOPSIS


sort [OPTION]... [FILE]... sort [OPTION]... --files0-from=F

DESCRIPTION


Write sorted concatenation of all FILE(s) to standard output.

Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too. Ordering options:
-b, --ignore-leading-blanks
 ignore leading blanks
-d, --dictionary-order
 consider only blanks and alphanumeric characters
-f, --ignore-case
 fold lower case to upper case characters
-g, --general-numeric-sort
 compare according to general numerical value
-i, --ignore-nonprinting
 consider only printable characters
-M, --month-sort
 compare (unknown) < ‘JAN’ < ... < ‘DEC’
-n, --numeric-sort
 compare according to string numerical value
-R, --random-sort
 sort by random hash of keys
--random-source=FILE
 get random bytes from FILE (default /dev/urandom)
-r, --reverse
 reverse the result of comparisons
--sort=WORD
 sort according to WORD: general-numeric -g, month -M, numeric -n, random -R, version -V
-V, --version-sort
 sort by numeric version
Other options:
--batch-size=NMERGE
 merge at most NMERGE inputs at once; for more use temp files
-c, --check, --check=diagnose-first
 check for sorted input; do not sort
-C, --check=quiet, --check=silent
 like -c, but do not report first bad line
--compress-program=PROG
 compress temporaries with PROG; decompress them with PROG -d
--files0-from=F
 read input from the files specified by NUL-terminated names in file F; If F is - then read names from standard input
-k, --key=POS1[,POS2]
 start a key at POS1 (origin 1), end it at POS2 (default end of line)
-m, --merge
 merge already sorted files; do not sort
-o, --output=FILE
 write result to FILE instead of standard output
-s, --stable
 stabilize sort by disabling last-resort comparison
-S, --buffer-size=SIZE
 use SIZE for main memory buffer
-t, --field-separator=SEP
 use SEP instead of non-blank to blank transition
-T, --temporary-directory=DIR
 use DIR for temporaries, not $TMPDIR or /tmp; multiple options specify multiple directories
-u, --unique
 with -c, check for strict ordering; without -c, output only the first of an equal run
-z, --zero-terminated
 end lines with 0 byte, not newline
--help display this help and exit
--version
 output version information and exit
POS is F[.C][OPTS], where F is the field number and C the character position in the field; both are origin 1. If neither -t nor -b is in effect, characters in a field are counted from the beginning of the preceding whitespace. OPTS is one or more single-letter ordering options, which override global ordering options for that key. If no key is given, use the entire line as the key.

SIZE may be followed by the following multiplicative suffixes: % 1% of memory, b 1, K 1024 (default), and so on for M, G, T, P, E, Z, Y.

With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.

*** WARNING *** The locale specified by the environment affects sort order. Set LC_ALL=C to get the traditional sort order that uses native byte values.

AUTHOR


Written by Mike Haertel and Paul Eggert.

REPORTING BUGS


Report sort bugs to bug-coreutils@gnu.org GNU coreutils home page: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/> General help using GNU software: <http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>

COPYRIGHT


Copyright © 2009 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO


The full documentation for sort is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and sort programs are properly installed at your site, the command
info coreutils 'sort invocation'
should give you access to the complete manual.

openSUSE Logo

Contents