sort command in Linux/Unix
sort command in Linux allows users to sort the content of text files. sort command prints the result in standard output and users can also write standard output to a file.
Syntax for sort command
sort [option] [filename]
To get help with sort command and display all options available with sort command use sort –help.
sort --help
sort –version displays version information of sort command.
sort --version
Mechanism of sort command
- Lines starting with a number will be sorted in ascending order. Lines starting with a number go before the lines beginning with a letter.
- Lines starting with letters will be sorted in ascending alphabetical order. Lines starting with a capital letter (A-Z) go before the lines starting with a small letter (a-z).
Using sort command
- Sorting text file where all the lines start with a capital letter
sort abc.txt
2. Sorting text file where lines start with a capital letter or small letter
sort UpperLower.txt
3. storing output in new text file
sort abc.txt > output.txt
4. alternatively it can also be used to storing output in new text file
sort -o newoutput.txt abc.txt
5. display sort output in reverse order
sort -r abc.txt
6. line starting with number
sort 123.txt
7. h
sort 123abc.txt
8. line starting with number and letter
sort -n 123abc.txt
9. reverse sort output for number
sort -nr 123.txt
10. general numeric value
sort -g 123abc.txt
11. sort according to first column
sort -k1 pink.txt
12. sort according to second column
sort -k2 pink.txt
13. sort calender
sort -M calender.txt
14. check for sorted input; do not sort
sort -c sortc.txt
15. remove repeat
sort -u sortu.txt
Linux command with examples
A
adduser | addgroup | alias | anacron | apt | aptitude | arp | at | atq | atrm | awk
B
basename | banner | batch | bc | bg | bzip
C
cat | cal | cd | chgrp | chown | cksum | chmod | clear | cmp | comm | cp
D
date | dd | df | diff | dir | dmidecode | du
E
echo | eject | env | exit | expr
F
G
grep | groups | gunzip | gzip
H
head | history | hostname | hostnamectl | htop | hwclock | hwinfo
I
id | ifconfig | ionice | iostat | ip | iptables | iw | iwlist
J
K
kill | kmod
L
last | less | ln | locate | login | lp | ls | lshw | lscpu | lsof | lsusb
M
man | mdsum | mkdir | more| mv
N
nano | nc | neofetch | netcat | netstat | nice | nmap | nproc
O
openssl
P
passwd | pidof | ping | pr | ps | pwd | pstree
Q
R
rdiff-backup | reboot | rename | rm | rmdir
S
scp | shred | shutdown | sleep | sort | split | ssh | stat | su | sudo | sum
T
tac | tail | talk | tar | tee | time | tree | top | touch | tr
U
unalias | uname | uniq | unzip | uptime | users
V
vim | vi
W
w | wall | watch | wc | wget | whatis | whereis | which | who | whoami
X
xargs
Y
yes | youtube-dl
Z
zcmp | zdiff | zip | zz
