sort(1)

sort - sort lines of text files

sort [\,OPTION\/]... [\,FILE\/]...
sort [\,OPTION\/]... \,--files0-from=F\/

-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 position 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.

Written by Mike Haertel and Paul Eggert.

GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>

Copyright © 2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

shuf(1), uniq(1)

cracklib-format(8), qsort(3), environ(7), ps(1), column(1), look(1), join(1plan9), look(1plan9), uniq(1plan9), aoeui(1), asdfg(1), fastrm(8), makehistory(8), ispell(1), ispell(5), pmccabe(1), sort-uniq-count(1), grep(1), join(1), procps(1)