1SORT(1) User Commands SORT(1)
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6 sort - sort lines of text files
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9 sort [OPTION]... [FILE]...
10 sort [OPTION]... --files0-from=F
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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 be‐
123 ginning of the preceding whitespace. OPTS is one or more single-letter
124 ordering options [bdfgiMhnRrV], which override global ordering options
125 for that key. If no key is given, use the entire line as the key. Use
126 --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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136 Written by Mike Haertel and Paul Eggert.
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139 GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
140 Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>
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143 Copyright © 2021 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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149 shuf(1), uniq(1)
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151 Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/sort>
152 or available locally via: info '(coreutils) sort invocation'
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156GNU coreutils 9.0 March 2022 SORT(1)