SoFunction
Updated on 2025-03-01

Detailed explanation of the specific use of the Linux sort command

sortIs a command in Linux that sorts files or text contents from standard input. It supports sorting by numerical, dictionary, month, random, etc., and can control the sorting order (ascending or descending order).sortIt is often used to process and organize text files, such as logs, data tables, etc.

grammar

sort [Options]... [document]...

Common options

  • -n: Sort by numerical value (applicable to text containing numbers).
  • -r: Sort in descending order (default is ascending).
  • -k: Specifies the sorted columns (fields), which are sorted by the entire row by default.
  • -t: Specify the field separator, which is a whitespace character (space, tab character) by default.
  • -u: Remove duplicate rows and output only unique rows.
  • -o: Specify the output file and write the sorting result directly to the file, not the standard output.
  • -f: Ignore case for sorting.
  • -b: Ignore the blank characters at the beginning of the line.
  • -M: Sort by month (such as "Jan", "Feb", "Mar").
  • -c: Check whether the file has been sorted. If it is not sorted, the diagnostic information will be output.
  • -V: Natural order sorting (support version number sorting, such as "file1" before "file10").

Specific use

Sort by alphabetical order

sort

WillThe contents are sorted alphabetically and output to the terminal.

Sort by numerical value

sort -n

For the filenumerical sort of numbers in it.

Arrangement in descending order

sort -r

rightSort in descending order.

Sort by specific columns
Assuming FileThe contents are as follows:

John 30Alice 22Bob 25

If you want to sort by age in the second column:

sort -k 2 -n

Output:

Alice 22Bob 25John 30

Sort by specific separator
AssumptionsThe file contents are as follows (separated by commas):

John,30Alice,22Bob,25

You can specify a comma as a separator and sort it in the second column:

sort -t ',' -k 2 -n

Output:

Alice,22Bob,25John,30

Remove duplicate rows

sort -u

rightThe contents of , sort and remove duplicate rows.

Ignore case sorting

sort -f

rightThe file contents are sorted and letter case is ignored.

Sort by month
Assuming FileThe content is as follows:

MarJanFeb

Sort by month order:

sort -M

Output:

JanFebMar

Check if the files are sorted

sort -c

If the fileIf not arranged alphabetically, an error message will be prompted.

Output the result to a file

sort  -o sorted_file.txt

Write the sorted results tosorted_file.txtin the file.

Comprehensive use

Suppose there is a CSV file, the content is as follows:

John,Developer,30Alice,Manager,22Bob,Tester,25

To sort the results in descending order by age (third column) and write the results intosorted_employees.csvdocument:

sort -t ',' -k 3 -n -r  -o sorted_employees.csv

Summarize

sortIt is a powerful and flexible text processing tool in Linux, supporting multiple sorting methods and combinations. Depending on your needs, you can combine different options to handle complex sorting tasks.

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