Sort command question


 
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# 1  
Old 08-09-2013
Sort command question

I have a file like this:

Code:
/vol/eng_app_0103z
/vol/eng_app_0103z
/vol/eng_app_0120z
/vol/eng_app_0126z
/vol/eng_app_0144z
/vol/eng_app_0150z
/vol/eng_app_0154z
/vol/eng_app_01551z
/vol/eng_app_01552z
/vol/eng_app_0155z
/vol/eng_app_0164z
/vol/eng_app_0199z

When I use the sort command (sort I cannot get the /vol/eng_app_01551z and the /vol/eng_app_01552z to go after the /vol/eng_app_0155z. However, if I delete the z from the paths, I get this file when I use sort, which is what I want except that now the z is gone:

Code:
cat filezx |sort -k 2,2
/vol/eng_app_0103
/vol/eng_app_0103
/vol/eng_app_0120
/vol/eng_app_0126
/vol/eng_app_0144
/vol/eng_app_0150
/vol/eng_app_0154
/vol/eng_app_0155
/vol/eng_app_01551
/vol/eng_app_01552
/vol/eng_app_0164
/vol/eng_app_0199

Is there anyway to get this without using sed or vi to remove all the zs from the file; I'd like the letter z to stay in the paths? Will the sort command strip off the last character if given the right options? I have been trying different combinations but I am not sure how it works as I probably would need to use sort "-" as I have also an underscore. Then I am not sure how it would count the last character.

This is my desired output:

Code:
/vol/eng_app_0103z
/vol/eng_app_0103z
/vol/eng_app_0120z
/vol/eng_app_0126z
/vol/eng_app_0144z
/vol/eng_app_0150z
/vol/eng_app_0154z
/vol/eng_app_0155z
/vol/eng_app_01551z
/vol/eng_app_01552z
/vol/eng_app_0164z
/vol/eng_app_0199z

Anybody use sort a lot might know if this can be done?
# 2  
Old 08-09-2013
Not incredibly flexible, should the format be different, but:
Code:
$ sort -t_ -nk3.1,3.4 -k3.5 file
/vol/eng_app_0103z
/vol/eng_app_0103z
/vol/eng_app_0120z
/vol/eng_app_0126z
/vol/eng_app_0144z
/vol/eng_app_0150z
/vol/eng_app_0154z
/vol/eng_app_0155z
/vol/eng_app_01551z
/vol/eng_app_01552z
/vol/eng_app_0164z
/vol/eng_app_0199z

This User Gave Thanks to Scott For This Post:
# 3  
Old 08-11-2013
Why does the last part of the sort not have an -n?

I noticed that the last part of the sort has
Code:
-k3.5

. Why would it not be with a -n for numerical sort on column 3, character 5?
# 4  
Old 08-11-2013
There's no need to do a numerical sort of a single character as the normal sort order would suffice:
Code:
$ echo "1
9
3" | sort          
1
3
9

 
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