sort - Unix, Linux Command

NAME

sort - sort lines of text files

SYNOPSIS

sort [OPTION]... [FILE]...

DESCRIPTION

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

Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too. Ordering options:

Tag	Description
-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, --reverse
	reverse the result of comparisons
Other options:
-c, --check
	check whether input is sorted; do not sort
-k, --key=POS1[,POS2]
	start a key at POS1, end it at POS2 (origin 1)
-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. 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 bugs to <bug-coreutils@gnu.org>.

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software. You may redistribute copies of it under the terms of the GNU General Public License <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.