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Sorting dates in chronological order

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# 1  
Old 07-14-2011
Sorting dates in chronological order
Hi forum.

I'm hoping someone can help me out with this problem. I tried to search online but couldn't come up with an exact solution.

I have the following data file:

Code:
H|20-May-2011|MF_FF.dat|77164|731374590.96|1|1|731374590.96|76586|77164|578|2988|Y
H|20-May-2011|MF_FF.dat|77164|731374590.96|1|4|731374590.96|76586|77164|578|2988|Y
H|21-Jul-2011|MF_FF.dat|77178|731374590.96|2|4|731374590.96|76600|77178|578|3002|Y
H|21-Jul-2011|MF_FF.dat|77178|731374590.96|2|4|731374590.96|76600|77178|578|3002|Y
H|21-May-2011|MF_FF.dat|77178|731374590.96|2|4|731374590.96|76600|77178|578|3002|Y
H|22-Aug-2011|MF_FF.dat|77195|731374590.96|3|4|731374590.96|76617|77195|578|3019|Y
H|22-May-2011|MF_FF.dat|77195|731374590.96|3|4|731374590.96|76617|77195|578|3019|Y
H|26-Mar-2011|MF_FF.dat|76444|713606875.00|1|1|713606875.00|75822|76444|622|3310|Y

I need to sort the file by the 2nd field in chronological order.

Thanks
# 2  
Old 07-14-2011
Try:
Code:
sort -Mt"-" -k2,2 file

# 3  
Old 07-14-2011
Code:
 
sort -t"|" -k 2.8,2.11 -k 2.4,2.6M -k 2.1,2.2n

---------- Post updated at 08:05 AM ---------- Previous update was at 08:03 AM ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by bartus11
Try:
Code:
sort -Mt"-" -k2,2 file

Hello Bartus11,

It won't work if the data have "cahnge in year".

ex:

Code:
 
cat input_file
H|21-May-2011|MF_FF.dat|77178|731374590.96|2|4|731374590.96|76600|77178|578|3002|Y
H|21-Jul-2010|MF_FF.dat|77178|731374590.96|2|4|731374590.96|76600|77178|578|3002|Y
sort -Mt"-" -k2,2 input_file
H|21-May-2011|MF_FF.dat|77178|731374590.96|2|4|731374590.96|76600|77178|578|3002|Y
H|21-Jul-2010|MF_FF.dat|77178|731374590.96|2|4|731374590.96|76600|77178|578|3002|Y

# 4  
Old 07-14-2011
Thanks guys for your quick responses.

My sort utility doesn't somehow recognize the "M" option.
Code:
sort -t"|" -k 2.8,2.11 -k 2.4,2.6M -k 2.1,2.2n test_file
Usage:   sort   [-Abcdfimnru] [-T Directory] [-t Character] [-o File]
                [-y[Kilobytes]] [-z Recordsize] [-k Keydefinition]...
                [[+Position1][-Position2]]... [File]...

Any other way to resolve this?
Last edited by Franklin52; 07-14-2011 at 05:09 PM.. Reason: Code tags
# 5  
Old 07-14-2011
Quote:
My sort utility doesn't somehow recognize the "M" option.
What operating system are you on?
# 6  
Old 07-14-2011
AIX newdwdev 3 5 0007DA12D900
# 7  
Old 07-14-2011
Write your own sort in awk using the second field as the key unless you know perl which has a builting sort function...
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