SORT(1) 			 User Commands			       SORT(1)



NAME
       sort - sort lines of text files

SYNOPSIS
       sort [OPTION]... [FILE]...

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

       -n, --numeric-sort
	      compare according to string numerical value

       -r, --reverse
	      reverse the result of comparisons

       Other options:

       -c, --check
	      check whether input is sorted; do not sort

       -k, --key=POS1[,POS2]
	      start a key at POS1, end it at POS2 (origin 1)

       -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

       -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

       POS is F[.C][OPTS], where F is the field number	and  C	the  character
       position  in  the  field.   OPTS  is one or more single-letter ordering
       options, 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 traditional sort order that uses native
       byte values.

AUTHOR
       Written by Mike Haertel and Paul Eggert.

REPORTING BUGS
       Report bugs to .

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright  2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
       This is free software.  You may redistribute copies  of	it  under  the
       terms	   of	    the      GNU      General	   Public      License
       .	There is NO WARRANTY,  to  the
       extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO
       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 sort

       should give you access to the complete manual.



sort 5.97			 January 2007			       SORT(1)