1SORT(1)                          User Commands                         SORT(1)
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NAME

6       sort - sort lines of text files
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SYNOPSIS

9       sort [OPTION]... [FILE]...
10       sort [OPTION]... --files0-from=F
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DESCRIPTION

13       Write sorted concatenation of all FILE(s) to standard output.
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15       With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
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17       Mandatory  arguments  to  long  options are mandatory for short options
18       too.  Ordering options:
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20       -b, --ignore-leading-blanks
21              ignore leading blanks
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23       -d, --dictionary-order
24              consider only blanks and alphanumeric characters
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26       -f, --ignore-case
27              fold lower case to upper case characters
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29       -g, --general-numeric-sort
30              compare according to general numerical value
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32       -i, --ignore-nonprinting
33              consider only printable characters
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35       -M, --month-sort
36              compare (unknown) < 'JAN' < ... < 'DEC'
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38       -h, --human-numeric-sort
39              compare human readable numbers (e.g., 2K 1G)
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41       -n, --numeric-sort
42              compare according to string numerical value
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44       -R, --random-sort
45              shuffle, but group identical keys.  See shuf(1)
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47       --random-source=FILE
48              get random bytes from FILE
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50       -r, --reverse
51              reverse the result of comparisons
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53       --sort=WORD
54              sort according to WORD: general-numeric  -g,  human-numeric  -h,
55              month -M, numeric -n, random -R, version -V
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57       -V, --version-sort
58              natural sort of (version) numbers within text
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60       Other options:
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62       --batch-size=NMERGE
63              merge at most NMERGE inputs at once; for more use temp files
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65       -c, --check, --check=diagnose-first
66              check for sorted input; do not sort
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68       -C, --check=quiet, --check=silent
69              like -c, but do not report first bad line
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71       --compress-program=PROG
72              compress temporaries with PROG; decompress them with PROG -d
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74       --debug
75              annotate the part of the line used to sort, and warn about ques‐
76              tionable usage to stderr
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78       --files0-from=F
79              read input from the files specified by NUL-terminated  names  in
80              file F; If F is - then read names from standard input
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82       -k, --key=KEYDEF
83              sort via a key; KEYDEF gives location and type
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85       -m, --merge
86              merge already sorted files; do not sort
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88       -o, --output=FILE
89              write result to FILE instead of standard output
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91       -s, --stable
92              stabilize sort by disabling last-resort comparison
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94       -S, --buffer-size=SIZE
95              use SIZE for main memory buffer
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97       -t, --field-separator=SEP
98              use SEP instead of non-blank to blank transition
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100       -T, --temporary-directory=DIR
101              use  DIR  for temporaries, not $TMPDIR or /tmp; multiple options
102              specify multiple directories
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104       --parallel=N
105              change the number of sorts run concurrently to N
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107       -u, --unique
108              with -c, check for strict ordering; without -c, output only  the
109              first of an equal run
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111       -z, --zero-terminated
112              line delimiter is NUL, not newline
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114       --help display this help and exit
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116       --version
117              output version information and exit
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119       KEYDEF  is F[.C][OPTS][,F[.C][OPTS]] for start and stop position, where
120       F is a field number and C a character position in the field;  both  are
121       origin 1, and the stop position defaults to the line's end.  If neither
122       -t nor -b is in effect, characters in a  field  are  counted  from  the
123       beginning of the preceding whitespace.  OPTS is one or more single-let‐
124       ter ordering options  [bdfgiMhnRrV],  which  override  global  ordering
125       options  for  that key.  If no key is given, use the entire line as the
126       key.  Use --debug to diagnose incorrect key usage.
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128       SIZE may be followed by the following multiplicative suffixes: % 1%  of
129       memory, b 1, K 1024 (default), and so on for M, G, T, P, E, Z, Y.
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131       ***  WARNING  ***  The locale specified by the environment affects sort
132       order.  Set LC_ALL=C to get the traditional sort order that uses native
133       byte values.
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AUTHOR

136       Written by Mike Haertel and Paul Eggert.
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REPORTING BUGS

139       GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
140       Report sort translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>
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COPYRIGHT

143       Copyright  ©  2018  Free Software Foundation, Inc.  License GPLv3+: GNU
144       GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
145       This is free software: you are free  to  change  and  redistribute  it.
146       There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
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SEE ALSO

149       shuf(1), uniq(1)
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151       Full documentation at: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/sort>
152       or available locally via: info '(coreutils) sort invocation'
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156GNU coreutils 8.30                 July 2018                           SORT(1)