Sort Command#

The sort command is used to sort the contents of a text file, it can sort the content of a text file on a line-by-line basis.

Syntax#

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

Parameters#

• -b, --ignore-leading-blanks: Ignore leading spaces.

• -d, --dictionary-order: Consider only blanks and alphanumeric characters.

• -f, --ignore-case: Convert lowercase characters to uppercase.

• -g, --general-numeric-sort: Compare according to general numerical value.

• -i, --ignore-nonprinting: Consider only printable characters.

• -M, --month-sort: Compare JAN < ... < DEC.

• -h, --human-numeric-sort: Compare human-readable numbers, e.g. 2K, 1G.

• -n, --numeric-sort: Compare according to string numerical value.

• -R, --random-sort: Shuffle, but group identical keys.

• --random-source=FILE: Get random bytes from FILE.

• -r, --reverse: Reverse the result of comparisons.

• --sort=WORD: Sort according to WORD: general-numeric-g, human-numeric-h, month-M, numeric-n, random-R, version-V.

• --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: Use PROG to compress temporary files.

• --debug: Annotate the part of the line used to sort, and warn about questionable usage to stderr.

• --files0-from=F: Read input from the files named in file F, and treat each name as a separate line. 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.

• -t, --field-separator=SEP: Use SEP instead of non-blank to blank transition.

• -T, --temporary-directory=DIR: Use DIR for temporary files, not $TMPDIR or /tmp; multiple options specify multiple directories.

• --parallel=N: Change the number of sorts run concurrently to N.

• -u, --unique: Output only the first of an equal run.

• -z, --zero-terminated: Line delimiter is NUL, not newline.

• --help: Display this help and exit.

• --version: Output version information and exit.

Examples#

The contents of the file.txt, file1.txt, and file2.txt files are as follows.

To sort the contents of the file.txt file and save it, use output redirection.

sort file.txt
# abhishek
# chitransh
# divyam
# harsh
# naveen
# rajan
# satish

sort file2.txt
# abc
# Abc
# apple
# BALL
# bat
# bat

You can use the -r flag to perform reverse sorting.

sort -r file.txt
# satish
# rajan
# naveen
# harsh
# divyam
# chitransh
# abhishek

Use the -n flag to sort numbers, otherwise dictionary order will be used.

sort -n file1.txt
# 15
# 39
# 50
# 89
# 200

sort file1.txt
# 15
# 200
# 39
# 50
# 89

To sort a file with reverse numeric data, we can use the combination of the -nr options below.

sort -nr file1.txt
# 200
# 89
# 50
# 39
# 15

Use -u to sort and remove duplicate items.

sort -u file2.txt
# abc
# Abc
# apple
# BALL
# bat

Translate into English:

Use -c to check if the file has been sorted in order.

sort -c file2.txt
# sort: file2.txt:4: disorder: Abc

Question of the Day#

References#