sort

SORT(1)                          User Commands                         SORT(1)



NAME
       sort - sort lines of text files

SYNOPSIS
       sort [OPTION]... [FILE]...

DESCRIPTION
       Write sorted concatenation of all FILE(s) to standard output.

       Ordering options:

       Mandatory  arguments  to  long  options are mandatory for short options
       too.

       -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'

       -n, --numeric-sort
              compare according to string numerical value

       -r, --reverse
              reverse the result of comparisons

       Other options:

       -c, --check
              check whether input is sorted; do not sort

       -k, --key=POS1[,POS2]
              start a key at POS1, end it at POS 2 (origin 1)

       -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- to whitespace transi-
              tion

       -T, --temporary-directory=DIR
              use  DIR  for  temporaries, not $TMPDIR or /tmp multiple options
              specify multiple directories

       -u, --unique
              with -c: check for strict ordering
              otherwise: output only the first of an equal run

       -z, --zero-terminated
              end lines with 0 byte, not newline

       --help display this help and exit

       --version
              output version information and exit

       POS is F[.C][OPTS], where F is the field number  and  C  the  character
       position  in  the  field.   OPTS  is one or more single-letter ordering
       options, which override global ordering options for that  key.   If  no
       key is given, use the entire line as the key.

       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.

       With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.

       *** 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
       Report bugs to <bug-coreutils@gnu.org>.

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
       This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is
       NO  warranty;  not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
       PURPOSE.

SEE ALSO
       The full documentation for sort is maintained as a Texinfo manual.   If
       the  info  and  sort  programs are properly installed at your site, the
       command

              info sort

       should give you access to the complete manual.



sort (coreutils) 4.5.3           October 2002                          SORT(1)