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       Mandatory  arguments  to  long  options are mandatory for short options
16       too.  Ordering options:
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18       -b, --ignore-leading-blanks
19              ignore leading blanks
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21       -d, --dictionary-order
22              consider only blanks and alphanumeric characters
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24       -f, --ignore-case
25              fold lower case to upper case characters
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27       -g, --general-numeric-sort
28              compare according to general numerical value
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30       -i, --ignore-nonprinting
31              consider only printable characters
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33       -M, --month-sort
34              compare (unknown) < `JAN' < ... < `DEC'
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36       -h, --human-numeric-sort
37              compare human readable numbers (e.g., 2K 1G)
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39       -n, --numeric-sort
40              compare according to string numerical value
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42       -R, --random-sort
43              sort by random hash of keys
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45       --random-source=FILE
46              get random bytes from FILE
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48       -r, --reverse
49              reverse the result of comparisons
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51       --sort=WORD
52              sort according to WORD: general-numeric  -g,  human-numeric  -h,
53              month -M, numeric -n, random -R, version -V
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55       -V, --version-sort
56              natural sort of (version) numbers within text
57
58       Other options:
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60       --batch-size=NMERGE
61              merge at most NMERGE inputs at once; for more use temp files
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63       -c, --check, --check=diagnose-first
64              check for sorted input; do not sort
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66       -C, --check=quiet, --check=silent
67              like -c, but do not report first bad line
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69       --compress-program=PROG
70              compress temporaries with PROG; decompress them with PROG -d
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72       --files0-from=F
73              read  input  from the files specified by NUL-terminated names in
74              file F; If F is - then read names from standard input
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76       -k, --key=POS1[,POS2]
77              start a key at POS1 (origin 1), end it at POS2 (default  end  of
78              line)
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80       -m, --merge
81              merge already sorted files; do not sort
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83       -o, --output=FILE
84              write result to FILE instead of standard output
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86       -s, --stable
87              stabilize sort by disabling last-resort comparison
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89       -S, --buffer-size=SIZE
90              use SIZE for main memory buffer
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92       -t, --field-separator=SEP
93              use SEP instead of non-blank to blank transition
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95       -T, --temporary-directory=DIR
96              use  DIR  for temporaries, not $TMPDIR or /tmp; multiple options
97              specify multiple directories
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99       -u, --unique
100              with -c, check for strict ordering; without -c, output only  the
101              first of an equal run
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103       -z, --zero-terminated
104              end lines with 0 byte, not newline
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106       --help display this help and exit
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108       --version
109              output version information and exit
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111       POS  is  F[.C][OPTS],  where  F is the field number and C the character
112       position in the field; both are origin 1.  If neither -t nor -b  is  in
113       effect,  characters  in  a  field are counted from the beginning of the
114       preceding whitespace.  OPTS  is  one  or  more  single-letter  ordering
115       options,  which  override  global ordering options for that key.  If no
116       key is given, use the entire line as the key.
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118       SIZE may be followed by the following multiplicative suffixes: % 1%  of
119       memory, b 1, K 1024 (default), and so on for M, G, T, P, E, Z, Y.
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121       With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
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123       ***  WARNING  ***  The locale specified by the environment affects sort
124       order.  Set LC_ALL=C to get the traditional sort order that uses native
125       byte values.
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AUTHOR

128       Written by Mike Haertel and Paul Eggert.
129

REPORTING BUGS

131       Report sort bugs to bug-coreutils@gnu.org
132       GNU coreutils home page: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
133       General help using GNU software: <http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
134       Report sort translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>
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COPYRIGHT

137       Copyright  ©  2010  Free Software Foundation, Inc.  License GPLv3+: GNU
138       GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
139       This is free software: you are free  to  change  and  redistribute  it.
140       There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
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SEE ALSO

143       The  full documentation for sort is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If
144       the info and sort programs are properly installed  at  your  site,  the
145       command
146
147              info coreutils 'sort invocation'
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149       should give you access to the complete manual.
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153GNU coreutils 8.5                November 2010                         SORT(1)