sort

 


 
 
 
 User Commands                                             sort(1)
 
 
 


NAME

sort - sort, merge, or sequence check text files

SYNOPSIS

/usr/bin/sort [ -bcdfimMnru ] [ -k keydef ] [ -o output ] [ -S kmem ] [ -t char ] [ -T directory ] [ -y [ kmem ] ] [ -z recsz ] [ +pos1 [ -pos2 ] ] [ file ... ] /usr/xpg4/bin/sort [ -bcdfimMnru ] [ -k keydef ] [ -o output ] [ -S kmem ] [ -t char ] [ -T directory ] [ -y [ kmem ] ] [ -z recsz ] [ +pos1 [ -pos2 ] ] [ file ... ]

DESCRIPTION

The sort command sorts lines of all the named files together and writes the result on the standard output. Comparisons are based on one or more sort keys extracted from each line of input. By default, there is one sort key, the entire input line. Lines are ordered according to the collating sequence of the current locale.

OPTIONS

The following options alter the default behavior: /usr/bin/sort -c Checks that the single input file is ordered as speci- fied by the arguments and the collating sequence of the current locale. The exit code is set and no output is produced unless the file is out of sort. /usr/xpg4/bin/sort -c Same as /usr/bin/sort except no output is produced under any circumstances. -m Merges only. The input files are assumed to be already sorted. -u Unique: suppresses all but one in each set of lines having equal keys. If used with the -c option, checks that there are no lines with duplicate keys in addi- tion to checking that the input file is sorted. -o output Specifies the name of an output file to be used instead of the standard output. This file can be the same as one of the input files. -S kmem Specifies the maximum amount of swap-based memory used for sorting, in kilobytes (the default unit). kmem can also be specified directly as a number of bytes (b), SunOS 5.8 Last change: 13 Jan 1999 1 User Commands sort(1) kilobytes (k), megabytes (m), gigabytes (g), or tera- bytes (t); or as a percentage (%) of the installed physical memory. -T directory Specifies the directory in which to place temporary files. -y kmem (obsolete). This option was used to specify the amount of main memory initially used by sort. Its func- tionality is not appropriate for a virtual memory sys- tem; memory usage for sort is now specified using the -S option. -z recsz (obsolete). This option was used to prevent abnormal termination when lines longer than the system- dependent default buffer size are encountered. Because sort automatically allocates buffers large enough to hold the longest line, this option has no effect. Ordering Options The default sort order depends on the value of LC_COLLATE. If LC_COLLATE is set to C, sorting will be in ASCII order. If LC_COLLATE is set to en_US, sorting is case insensitive except when the two strings are otherwise equal and one has an uppercase letter earlier than the other. Other locales will have other sort orders. The following options override the default ordering rules. When ordering options appear independent of any key field specifications, the requested field ordering rules are applied globally to all sort keys. When attached to a specific key (see Sort Key Options), the specified ordering options override all global ordering options for that key. In the obsolescent forms, if one or more of these options follows a +pos1 option, it will affect only the key field specified by that preceding option. -d ``Dictionary'' order: only letters, digits, and blanks (spaces and tabs) are significant in comparisons. -f Folds lower-case letters into upper case. -i Ignores non-printable characters. -M Compares as months. The first three non-blank charac- ters of the field are folded to upper case and com- pared. For example, in English the sorting order is "JAN" < "FEB" < ... < "DEC". Invalid fields compare SunOS 5.8 Last change: 13 Jan 1999 2 User Commands sort(1) low to "JAN". The -M option implies the -b option (see below). -n Restricts the sort key to an initial numeric string, consisting of optional blank characters, optional minus sign, and zero or more digits with an optional radix character and thousands separators (as defined in the current locale), which will be sorted by arith- metic value. An empty digit string is treated as zero. Leading zeros and signs on zeros do not affect ordering. -r Reverses the sense of comparisons. Field Separator Options The treatment of field separators can be altered using the following options: -b Ignores leading blank characters when determining the starting and ending positions of a restricted sort key. If the -b option is specified before the first sort key option, it is applied to all sort key options. Otherwise, the -b option can be attached independently to each -k field_start, field_end, or +pos1 or -pos2 option-argument (see below). -t char Use char as the field separator character. char is not considered to be part of a field (although it can be included in a sort key). Each occurrence of char is significant (for example, <char><char> delimits an empty field). If -t is not specified, blank charac- ters are used as default field separators; each maxi- mal non-empty sequence of blank characters that fol- lows a non-blank character is a field separator. Sort Key Options Sort keys can be specified using the options: -k keydef The keydef argument is a restricted sort key field definition. The format of this definition is: -k field_start [type] [,field_end [type] ] where: field_start and field_end define a key field restricted to a portion of the line. type is a modifier from the list of characters bdfiMnr. The SunOS 5.8 Last change: 13 Jan 1999 3 User Commands sort(1) b modifier behaves like the -b option, but applies only to the field_start or field_end to which it is attached and characters within a field are counted from the first non-blank character in the field. (This applies separately to first_character and last_character.) The other modifiers behave like the corresponding options, but apply only to the key field to which they are attached. They have this effect if specified with field_start, field_end or both. If any modifier is attached to a field_start or to a field_end, no option applies to either. When there are multiple key fields, later keys are compared only after all earlier keys compare equal. Except when the -u option is specified, lines that otherwise compare equal are ordered as if none of the options -d, -f, -i, -n or -k were present (but with -r still in effect, if it was speci- fied) and with all bytes in the lines significant to the comparison. The notation: -k field_start[type][,field_end[type]] defines a key field that begins at field_start and ends at field_end inclusive, unless field_start falls beyond the end of the line or after field_end, in which case the key field is empty. A missing field_end means the last character of the line. A field comprises a maximal sequence of non-separating char- acters and, in the absence of option -t, any preceding field separator. The field_start portion of the keydef option-argument has the form: field_number[.first_character] Fields and characters within fields are numbered starting with 1. field_number and first_character, interpreted as positive decimal integers, specify the first character to be used as part of a sort key. If .first_character is omitted, it refers to the first character of the field. The field_end portion of the keydef option-argument has the form: field_number[.last_character] SunOS 5.8 Last change: 13 Jan 1999 4 User Commands sort(1) The field_number is as described above for field_start. last_character, interpreted as a non-negative decimal integer, specifies the last character to be used as part of the sort key. If last_character evaluates to zero or .last_character is omitted, it refers to the last character of the field specified by field_number. If the -b option or b type modifier is in effect, characters within a field are counted from the first non-blank charac- ter in the field. (This applies separately to first_character and last_character.) [+pos1 [-pos2]] (obsolete). Provide functionality equivalent to the -kkeydef option. pos1 and pos2 each have the form m.n optionally fol- lowed by one or more of the flags bdfiMnr. A starting position specified by +m.n is interpreted to mean the n+1st character in the m+1st field. A missing .n means .0, indicating the first character of the m+1st field. If the b flag is in effect n is counted from the first non-blank in the m+1st field; +m.0b refers to the first non-blank character in the m+1st field. A last position specified by -m.n is interpreted to mean the nth character (including separators) after the last character of the mth field. A missing .n means .0, indicating the last character of the mth field. If the b flag is in effect n is counted from the last leading blank in the m+1st field; -m.1b refers to the first non-blank in the m+1st field. The fully specified +pos1 -pos2 form with type modif- iers T and U: +w.xT -y.zU is equivalent to: undefined (z==0 & U contains b & -t is present) -k w+1.x+1T,y.0U (z==0 otherwise) -k w+1.x+1T,y+1.zU (z > 0) SunOS 5.8 Last change: 13 Jan 1999 5 User Commands sort(1) Implementations support at least nine occurrences of the sort keys (the -k option and obsolescent +pos1 and -pos2) which are significant in command line order. If no sort key is specified, a default sort key of the entire line is used.

OPERANDS

The following operand is supported: file A path name of a file to be sorted, merged or checked. If no file operands are specified, or if a file operand is -, the standard input will be used. USAGE See largefile(5) for the description of the behavior of sort when encountering files greater than or equal to 2 Gbyte ( 2 **31 bytes). EXAMPLES In the following examples, first the preferred and then the obsolete way of specifying sort keys are given as an aid to understanding the relationship between the two forms. Example 1: Sorting with the second field as a sort key Either of the following commands sorts the contents of infile with the second field as the sort key: example% sort -k 2,2 infile example% sort +1 -2 infile Example 2: Sorting in reverse order Either of the following commands sorts, in reverse order, the contents of infile1 and infile2, placing the output in outfile and using the second character of the second field as the sort key (assuming that the first character of the second field is the field separator): example% sort -r -o outfile -k 2.2,2.2 infile1 infile2 example% sort -r -o outfile +1.1 -1.2 infile1 infile2 Example 3: Sorting using a specified character in one of the files Either of the following commands sorts the contents of infile1 and infile2 using the second non-blank character of the second field as the sort key: example% sort -k 2.2b,2.2b infile1 infile2 example% sort +1.1b -1.2b infile1 infile2 SunOS 5.8 Last change: 13 Jan 1999 6 User Commands sort(1) Example 4: Sorting by numeric user ID Either of the following commands prints the passwd(4) file (user database) sorted by the numeric user ID (the third colon-separated field): example% sort -t : -k 3,3n /etc/passwd" example% sort -t : +2 -3n /etc/passwd" Example 5: Printing sorted lines excluding lines that dupli- cate a field Either of the following commands prints the lines of the already sorted file infile, suppressing all but one occurrence of lines having the same third field: example% sort -um -k 3.1,3.0 infile example% sort -um +2.0 -3.0 infile ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES See environ(5) for descriptions of the following environment variables that affect the execution of sort: LC_COLLATE, LC_MESSAGES, and NLSPATH. LC_CTYPE Determine the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes of text data as characters (for example, single- versus multi-byte characters in argu- ments and input files) and the behavior of character classification for the -b, -d, -f, -i and -n options. LC_NUMERIC Determine the locale for the definition of the radix character and thousands separator for the -n option. EXIT STATUS The following exit values are returned: 0 All input files were output successfully, or -c was specified and the input file was correctly sorted. 1 Under the -c option, the file was not ordered as specified, or if the -c and -u options were both specified, two input lines were found with equal keys. >1 An error occurred.

FILES

/var/tmp/stm??? temporary files SunOS 5.8 Last change: 13 Jan 1999 7 User Commands sort(1)

ATTRIBUTES

See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attri- butes: /usr/bin/sort ____________________________________________________________ | ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE | |_____________________________|_____________________________| | Availability | SUNWesu | |_____________________________|_____________________________| | CSI | Enabled | |_____________________________|_____________________________| /usr/xpg4/bin/sort ____________________________________________________________ | ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE | |_____________________________|_____________________________| | Availability | SUNWxcu4 | |_____________________________|_____________________________| | CSI | Enabled | |_____________________________|_____________________________|

SEE ALSO

comm(1), join(1), uniq(1), passwd(4), attributes(5), environ(5), largefile(5), XPG4(5)

DIAGNOSTICS

Comments and exits with non-zero status for various trouble conditions (for example, when input lines are too long), and for disorders discovered under the -c option.

NOTES

When the last line of an input file is missing a new-line character, sort appends one, prints a warning message, and continues. sort does not guarantee preservation of relative line order- ing on equal keys. One can tune sort performance for a specific scenario using the -S option. However, one should note in particular that sort has greater knowledge of how to use a finite amount of memory for sorting than the virtual memory system. Thus, a sort invoked to request an extremely large amount of memory via the -S option will perform extremely poorly. SunOS 5.8 Last change: 13 Jan 1999 8