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.

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

   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
          shuffle, but group identical keys.  See shuf(1)

   --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

   --debug
          annotate  the  part  of  the  line  used to sort, and warn about
          questionable usage to stderr

   --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
          line delimiter is NUL, 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.  Use --debug to diagnose incorrect key usage.

   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.

   ***  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

   GNU coreutils online help: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
   Report sort translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>

COPYRIGHT

   Copyright    2016  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

   shuf(1), uniq(1)

   Full documentation at: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/sort>
   or available locally via: info '(coreutils) sort invocation'

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Free and Open Source Software