SORT(1)                                                   User Commands                                                  SORT(1)



NAME
       sort - sort lines of text files

SYNOPSIS
       sort [OPTION]... [FILE]...
       sort [OPTION]... --files0-from=F

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

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

       -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
              sort by random hash of keys

       --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

       --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=POS1[,POS2]
              start a key at POS1 (origin 1), end it at POS2 (default end of line)

       -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

       -u, --unique
              with -c, check for strict ordering; without -c, 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; both are origin 1.  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, 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 sort bugs to bug-coreutilsATgnu.org
       GNU coreutils home page: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>;
       General help using GNU software: <http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>;
       Report sort translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>;

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright   (C)   2010   Free   Software   Foundation,   Inc.    License   GPLv3+:   GNU   GPL   version   3   or   later
       <http://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.

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 coreutils 'sort invocation'

       should give you access to the complete manual.



GNU coreutils 8.5                                         November 2010                                                  SORT(1)