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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 specified by the arguments and the col-
lating 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.
-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.
SunOS 5.10 Last change: 19 Nov 2001 1
User Commands sort(1)
-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), 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.
-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 addition to checking
that the input file is sorted.
-y kmem (obsolete). This option was used to specify
the amount of main memory initially used by
sort. Its functionality is not appropriate
for a virtual memory system; 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
SunOS 5.10 Last change: 19 Nov 2001 2
User Commands sort(1)
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 characters of the field are folded to
upper case and compared. For example, in
English the sorting order is "JAN" < "FEB" <
... < "DEC". Invalid fields compare 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 charac-
ters, 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
arithmetic 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:
SunOS 5.10 Last change: 19 Nov 2001 3
User Commands sort(1)
-b Ignores leading blank characters when deter-
mining 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. Oth-
erwise, 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 char-
acters are used as default field separators;
each maximal non-empty sequence of blank
characters that follows a non-blank charac-
ter 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 defini-
tion is:
-k field_start [type] [,field_end [type] ]
where:
field_start and field_end
define a key field restricted to a por-
tion of the line.
type
is a modifier from the list of charac-
ters bdfiMnr. The 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
SunOS 5.10 Last change: 19 Nov 2001 4
User Commands sort(1)
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
specified) 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 characters 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 num-
bered starting with 1. field_number and
first_character, interpreted as positive
decimal integers, specify the first charac-
ter to be used as part of a sort key. If
SunOS 5.10 Last change: 19 Nov 2001 5
User Commands sort(1)
.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]
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 character
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 option-
ally followed by one or more of the flags
bdfiMnr. A starting position specified by
+m.n is interpreted to mean the n+1st char-
acter 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 inter-
preted 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 modifiers T and U:
SunOS 5.10 Last change: 19 Nov 2001 6
User Commands sort(1)
+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)
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):
SunOS 5.10 Last change: 19 Nov 2001 7
User Commands sort(1)
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
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
Example 6: Sorting by host IP address
Either of the following commands prints the hosts(4) file
(IPv4 hosts database), sorted by the numeric IP address (the
first four numeric fields):
example$ sort -t . -k 1,1n -k 2,2n -k 3,3n -k 4,4n /etc/hosts
example$ sort -t . +0 -1n +1 -2n +2 -3n +3 -4n /etc/hosts
Since '.' is both the field delimiter and, in many locales,
the decimal separator, failure to specify both ends of the
field will lead to results where the second field is inter-
preted as a fractional portion of the first, and so forth.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
See environ(5) for descriptions of the following environment
variables that affect the execution of sort: LANG, LC_ALL,
LC_COLLATE, LC_MESSAGES, and NLSPATH.
SunOS 5.10 Last change: 19 Nov 2001 8
User Commands sort(1)
LC_CTYPE Determine the locale for the interpretation
of sequences of bytes of text data as char-
acters (for example, single- versus multi-
byte characters in arguments and input
files) and the behavior of character clas-
sification 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
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attri-
butes:
/usr/bin/sort
SunOS 5.10 Last change: 19 Nov 2001 9
User Commands sort(1)
____________________________________________________________
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
| Availability | SUNWesu |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
| CSI | Enabled |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
/usr/xpg4/bin/sort
____________________________________________________________
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
| Availability | SUNWxcu4 |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
| CSI | Enabled |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
| Interface Stability | Standard |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
SEE ALSO
comm(1), join(1), uniq(1), nl_langinfo(3C), strftime(3C),
hosts(4), passwd(4), attributes(5), environ(5), large-
file(5), standards(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 could perform extremely poorly.
As noted, certain of the field modifiers (such as -M and -d)
cause the interpretation of input data to be done with
reference to locale-specific settings. The results of this
interpretation can be unexpected if one's expectations are
not aligned with the conventions established by the locale.
In the case of the month keys, sort does not attempt to
SunOS 5.10 Last change: 19 Nov 2001 10
User Commands sort(1)
compensate for "approximate" month abbreviations. The pre-
cise month abbreviations from nl_langinfo(3C) or
strftime(3C) are the only ones recognized. For printable or
dictionary order, if these concepts are not well-defined by
the locale, an empty sort key may be the result, leading to
the next key being the significant one for determining the
appropriate ordering.
SunOS 5.10 Last change: 19 Nov 2001 11
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