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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

       --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=KEYDEF
              sort via a key; KEYDEF gives location and type

       -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

       --parallel=N
              change the number of sorts run concurrently to N

       -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

       KEYDEF  is  F[.C][OPTS][,F[.C][OPTS]] for start and stop position, where F is a field number and C a character
       position in the field; both are origin 1, and the stop position defaults to the line's end.  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 [bdfgiMhnRrV], 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  tradiā€
       tional sort order that uses native byte values.


SEE ALSO
       uniq(1)

       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 8.22                                  November 2016                                             SORT(1)