Shell Programming and Scripting

infile:
z y x
c b a

desired output:
x y z
a b c

I don't want to sort the lines into this:
a b c
x y z

nor this:
c b a
z y x

The number of fields per line and number of lines is indeterminate. The field separator is always a space.

Thanks for the use of your collective brains.

what have you tried so far?

My homework was never this much fun. You have to do this all in bash or what exactly?

I've studied the sort docs and tried many combinations without success.
sort

I'm sure I could muddle my way through with a python script, but I was hoping to get a one-liner using a "sort" or similar utility.

This exercise is really just a puzzle I came up with while reading the Vim docs on filters. I was trying to sort a range of lines, then I asked myself if I could just sort the current line.

I'm not a student in any classes, just a student of life.

I responded to your question but I included a link, so I guess it's being held up for administrator review. Anyway, I've tried "sort" and some awk, but still no joy.

The old split sort join trick. Nice. Thanks.

you should show how you did that.
anyway, have a go at it

Code:

awk '
 {
  for(i=NF;i>0;i--){
      # fill in the blanks
  }
 }
' file