The sort
command provides a quick and easy way for operators to organize data
in either numerical or alphabetical order. This command uses the ASCII
character set as its sorting order, working from left to right on a
character-by-character basis. By default, sort
relies on white space to delimit the various fields within the data of
a file. Some sort
features include:
- Multilevel sorting
- Field-specific sorting
- Accepting standard input
- Producing standard output
| Command Format: |
| sort [options] [input_filename] |
Figure
shows the various options available with the sort
command. These enable the operator to define the type of sort to
perform as well as the field on which to begin sorting. Figure
shows some basic examples using the sort
command with a simple format. The cat
command displays the unsorted contents of fileA. The first sort
command produces an ASCII type of sort, beginning with the first
character of each line. The second sort
example is a numerical sort on the
second field (sort skips one separator with the +1 syntax).
Figure
shows some more
advanced options sorting on different fields within a file. The first
example represents beginning a sort on some field other than the
first, and shows a numeric, reverse-order example. The sort
command line would read as, "Do a reverse order, numeric sort on
the fifth field of the data in the file list, and place the output
into a file called num.list."
The second example represents a
multilevel sort showing how the M option would work. This command
would read as, "Do a Month order sort beginning with the sixth
field. Do a second-level sort in numeric order and begin on the
seventh field (this will sort the numeric day of the month correctly),
name the output file update.list."
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Interactive
Media Activity
(Flash,
105 kB) |
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Using
the sort
Command
In this media activity, you are logged in as user2 and your current working directory is /home/user2.
You are working with a file named projects in your current directory. The contents of the file are: Project Name, Project Manager, and the Estimated Year of Completion.
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Lab
Activity
(Adobe
Acrobat Reader, 54 kB) |
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File
Processing Commands In
this lab, you will use advanced UNIX commands to
find files and specific strings contained in
files. CDE File manager will be used to locate
files based on file name or file contents. |
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