Cheat Sheet #day61 - sort

sort Command Cheatsheet

The sort command in Unix-like systems is used to sort lines of text files. It is highly configurable and supports various sorting criteria. Here’s a quick reference guide:

Basic Syntax

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

Common Options

• -o FILE: Write the output to FILE instead of standard output.

    sort -o sorted.txt unsorted.txt
  

• -n, --numeric-sort: Compare according to string numerical value.

    sort -n numbers.txt
  

• -r, --reverse: Reverse the result of comparisons.

    sort -r file.txt
  

• -k FIELD, --key=FIELD: Sort by a specific field. Fields are separated by tabs or spaces.

    sort -k 2 file.txt  # Sort by the second field
  

• -t CHAR, --field-separator=CHAR: Use CHAR as the field separator (default is whitespace).

    sort -t, -k 1,1 file.txt  # Sort by the first field, assuming fields are separated by commas
  

• -u, --unique: Output only the first of an equal run.

    sort -u file.txt
  

• -f, --ignore-case: Fold lower case to upper case characters.

    sort -f file.txt
  

• -u, --unique: Output only the first of an equal run.

    sort -u file.txt
  

• -b, --ignore-leading-blanks: Ignore leading blanks.

    sort -b file.txt
  

Examples

1. Sort lines in a file alphabetically:

    sort file.txt
   

2. Sort numerically:

    sort -n numbers.txt
   

3. Reverse the order:

    sort -r file.txt
   

4. Sort by the second field:

    sort -k 2 file.txt
   

5. Sort by a custom delimiter (e.g., comma):

    sort -t, -k 1,1 file.txt
   

6. Output unique lines:

    sort -u file.txt
   

7. Ignore case while sorting:

    sort -f file.txt
   

8. Sort ignoring leading blanks:

    sort -b file.txt
   

9. Write sorted output to a file:

    sort -o sorted.txt unsorted.txt
   

Additional Information

• Help option:

    sort --help
  

• View sort manual page:

    man sort
  

This cheatsheet covers the essential options and usage scenarios for the sort command. For more advanced features and details, refer to the man page or use sort --help.