SORT(1) User Commands SORT(1)
NAME
sort - sort lines of text files
SYNOPSIS
sort [OPTION]... [FILE]...
sort [OPTION]... --files0-from=F
DESCRIPTION
Write sorted concatenation of all FILE(s) to standard output.
With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too. Ordering options:
-b, --ignore-leading-blanks
ignore leading blanks
-d, --dictionary-order
consider only blanks and alphanumeric characters
-f, --ignore-case
fold lower case to upper case characters
-g, --general-numeric-sort
compare according to general numerical value
-i, --ignore-nonprinting
consider only printable characters
-M, --month-sort
compare (unknown) < '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. See shuf(1)
--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
-V, --version-sort
natural sort of (version) numbers within text
Other options:
--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
compress temporaries with PROG; decompress them with PROG -d
--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 specified by NUL-terminated names in file F; If F is - then read names from
standard input
-k, --key=KEYDEF
sort via a key; KEYDEF gives location and type
-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
-S, --buffer-size=SIZE
use SIZE for main memory buffer
-t, --field-separator=SEP
use SEP instead of non-blank to blank transition
-T, --temporary-directory=DIR
use DIR for temporaries, not $TMPDIR or /tmp; multiple options specify multiple directories
--parallel=N
change the number of sorts run concurrently to N
-u, --unique
with -c, check for strict ordering; without -c, 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
KEYDEF is F[.C][OPTS][,F[.C][OPTS]] for start and stop position, where F is a field number and C a character po‐
sition in the field; both are origin 1, and the stop position defaults to the line's end. If neither -t nor -b
is in effect, characters in a field are counted from the beginning of the preceding whitespace. OPTS is one or
more single-letter ordering options [bdfgiMhnRrV], which override global ordering options for that key. If no
key is given, use the entire line as the key. Use --debug to diagnose incorrect key usage.
SIZE may be followed by the following multiplicative suffixes: % 1% of memory, b 1, K 1024 (default), and so on
for M, G, T, P, E, Z, Y, R, Q.
*** WARNING *** The locale specified by the environment affects sort order. Set LC_ALL=C to get the traditional
sort order that uses native byte values.
AUTHOR
Written by Mike Haertel and Paul Eggert.
REPORTING BUGS
GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/li‐
censes/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted
by law.
SEE ALSO
shuf(1), uniq(1)
Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/sort>
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) sort invocation'
GNU coreutils 9.4 August 2023 SORT(1)
NAME
sort - sort lines of text files
SYNOPSIS
sort [OPTION]... [FILE]...
sort [OPTION]... --files0-from=F
DESCRIPTION
Write sorted concatenation of all FILE(s) to standard output.
With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too. Ordering options:
-b, --ignore-leading-blanks
ignore leading blanks
-d, --dictionary-order
consider only blanks and alphanumeric characters
-f, --ignore-case
fold lower case to upper case characters
-g, --general-numeric-sort
compare according to general numerical value
-i, --ignore-nonprinting
consider only printable characters
-M, --month-sort
compare (unknown) < '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. See shuf(1)
--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
-V, --version-sort
natural sort of (version) numbers within text
Other options:
--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
compress temporaries with PROG; decompress them with PROG -d
--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 specified by NUL-terminated names in file F; If F is - then read names from
standard input
-k, --key=KEYDEF
sort via a key; KEYDEF gives location and type
-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
-S, --buffer-size=SIZE
use SIZE for main memory buffer
-t, --field-separator=SEP
use SEP instead of non-blank to blank transition
-T, --temporary-directory=DIR
use DIR for temporaries, not $TMPDIR or /tmp; multiple options specify multiple directories
--parallel=N
change the number of sorts run concurrently to N
-u, --unique
with -c, check for strict ordering; without -c, 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
KEYDEF is F[.C][OPTS][,F[.C][OPTS]] for start and stop position, where F is a field number and C a character po‐
sition in the field; both are origin 1, and the stop position defaults to the line's end. If neither -t nor -b
is in effect, characters in a field are counted from the beginning of the preceding whitespace. OPTS is one or
more single-letter ordering options [bdfgiMhnRrV], which override global ordering options for that key. If no
key is given, use the entire line as the key. Use --debug to diagnose incorrect key usage.
SIZE may be followed by the following multiplicative suffixes: % 1% of memory, b 1, K 1024 (default), and so on
for M, G, T, P, E, Z, Y, R, Q.
*** WARNING *** The locale specified by the environment affects sort order. Set LC_ALL=C to get the traditional
sort order that uses native byte values.
AUTHOR
Written by Mike Haertel and Paul Eggert.
REPORTING BUGS
GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/li‐
censes/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted
by law.
SEE ALSO
shuf(1), uniq(1)
Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/sort>
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) sort invocation'
GNU coreutils 9.4 August 2023 SORT(1)