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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.

       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; see full documenta-
	      tion for supported strings

       -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 ques-
	      tionable 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  be-
       ginning 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, R, Q.

       ***  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: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
       Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 2025 Free Software	Foundation, Inc.  License GPLv3+:  GNU
       GPL version 3 or	later <https://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 <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/sort>
       or available locally via: info '(coreutils) sort	invocation'

GNU coreutils 9.6		 January 2025			       SORT(1)

Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=gsort&sektion=1&manpath=FreeBSD+Ports+14.3.quarterly>

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