Sort command - strange behaviour - Page 2 - UNIX for Advanced & Expert Users

ripat · #8 05-28-2008

Using option g?

Code:

sort -t";" -k 2,2rg file.to.sort

zaxxon · #9 05-28-2008

@ripat
Nope doesn't work - check the second column when having the ":" as delimeter. It only sorts the 1st number in front of the 1st ":".

@miwinter
Hm, I tested it with mawk on Debian Linux and on AIX with awk and no duplicate output. Not sure what you have to add to supress the duplicates... if you find no option to tell it awk, maybe pipe it into "uniq" at the end.

era · #10 05-28-2008

Or split the input to make it easier for sort to parse the fields you want.

Code:

vnix$*awk -F';' '{ split($2,t,":"); print t[1] ";" t[2] ";" t[3] ";" $0 }' <<HERE |
> GleamMIPostCanadaExtractJob;9196:53:12
> GleamMIAGREERepAllBackOutJob;9025:39:12
> GleamMIAGREEProdFacilCombJob;9025:29:36
> GleamMIAGREEExcRateHistExtractJob;9025:21:26
> GleamMIAGREEDynamicParamJob;9025:19:10
> GleamMIAGREEClassPODLoadJob;9025:09:43
> GleamMIAGREEClassExtractJob;9025:11:35
> GLMLRP_Diff_HighlighterJob;989:08:56
> GLMLRP_ComparisonJob;989:13:42
> AD046;988:44:15
> HERE
> sort -t ';' -rn | cut -d ';' -f4-
GleamMIPostCanadaExtractJob;9196:53:12
GleamMIAGREERepAllBackOutJob;9025:39:12
GleamMIAGREEProdFacilCombJob;9025:29:36
GleamMIAGREEExcRateHistExtractJob;9025:21:26
GleamMIAGREEDynamicParamJob;9025:19:10
GleamMIAGREEClassExtractJob;9025:11:35
GleamMIAGREEClassPODLoadJob;9025:09:43
GLMLRP_ComparisonJob;989:13:42
GLMLRP_Diff_HighlighterJob;989:08:56
AD046;988:44:15

Take away the final cut to see what it's really doing.

ripat · #11 05-29-2008

sort has a strange behavior. When you pipe him the second field using awk, the sort is ok:

Code:

$ awk -F";" '{print $2}' f | sort -rn
9196:53:12
9025:39:12
9025:29:36
9025:21:26
9025:19:10
9025:11:35
9025:09:43
989:13:42
989:08:56
988:44:15

But when you ask sort to do the very same i.e to split on the ; and sort on the second key, the output is, indeed, not as expected:

Code:

$ sort -t";" -k2rn f
GleamMIPostCanadaExtractJob;9196:53:12
GleamMIAGREEClassExtractJob;9025:11:35
GleamMIAGREEClassPODLoadJob;9025:09:43
GleamMIAGREEDynamicParamJob;9025:19:10
GleamMIAGREEExcRateHistExtractJob;9025:21:26
GleamMIAGREEProdFacilCombJob;9025:29:36
GleamMIAGREERepAllBackOutJob;9025:39:12
GLMLRP_ComparisonJob;989:13:42
GLMLRP_Diff_HighlighterJob;989:08:56
AD046;988:44:15

Very strange.

zaxxon · #12 05-29-2008

And one more...
Forgot about that you can use more than one Field Separator - so here a more compact version (ok, some cheating on the delimiters with sed in the end):

Code:

awk -F ";|:" 'BEGIN{OFS=":"} {print $1,$2,$3,$4}' infile| sort -t ":" -rn -k 2,2 -k 3,3 -k 4,4 | sed -n 's/\:/\;/p'

@era
Btw, funny awards on your site

ripat · #13 05-29-2008

Got it! I had to read all possible options, even the one that are not well documented!

Code:

$ sort -t";" -s -k2,2rn f
GleamMIPostCanadaExtractJob;9196:53:12
GleamMIAGREERepAllBackOutJob;9025:39:12
GleamMIAGREEProdFacilCombJob;9025:29:36
GleamMIAGREEExcRateHistExtractJob;9025:21:26
GleamMIAGREEDynamicParamJob;9025:19:10
GleamMIAGREEClassExtractJob;9025:11:35
GleamMIAGREEClassPODLoadJob;9025:09:43
GLMLRP_ComparisonJob;989:13:42
GLMLRP_Diff_HighlighterJob;989:08:56
AD046;988:44:15

Option -s did the trick! Found solution by reading this man page:

Code:

   Finally, as a last resort when all keys compare equal (or if no
   ordering options were specified at all), `sort' compares the entire
   lines.  The last resort comparison honors the `-r' global option.  The
   `-s' (stable) option disables this last-resort comparison so that lines
   in which all fields compare equal are left in their original relative
   order.  If no fields or global options are specified, `-s' has no
   effect.

sort Linux Commands: Sort text files

zaxxon · #14 05-29-2008

Nice solution!

Edit:
Just saw that sort does not have that switch on AIX (didn't look for a similar one) but on Linux, nice though

More UNIX and Linux Forum Topics You Might Find Helpful
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Strange sed behaviour	vino	UNIX for Advanced & Expert Users	8	02-12-2008 03:51 AM
A Strange Behaviour!!!	navojit dutta	Shell Programming and Scripting	5	12-21-2007 01:35 AM
a strange message when executing the sort command	marwan	UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers	3	04-27-2007 04:32 AM
Help me to resolve uncertian behaviour of a sort command	pankajrai	Shell Programming and Scripting	1	12-21-2005 11:12 AM
/etc/passwd strange behaviour!	penguin-friend	Linux	0	06-06-2005 09:00 AM

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode