UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Thanks for the suggestions! I think I finally figured out how the character position filed works.

I'm a bit confused though. I should be starting sorting at position 14 - right?

this works:

Code:

sort +1.14n

but this doesn't:

Code:

sort -nk 2.14

however, slight variation does work:

Code:

sort -nbk 2.14

it appears the leading blank character in the first column throws sorting off, so -b takes care of it. it almost makes sense, I'm saying "almost" because these work as well:

Code:

sort -nk 2.15
sort -nk 2.16

Perhaps I'm thinking too hard and missing something obvious?

Hello guys, I have a problem sorting the following string(s):
data01_a0.txt
data01_a1.txt
data01_a2.txt
data01_b1.txt
data01_b2.txt
data01_b3.txt
data02_b10.txt
data02_a0.txt
data02_a1.txt
data02_a2.txt
data02_b4.txt
data02_b1.txt
data02_b11.txt
data02_b12.txt
data02_b2.txt
data02_b3.txt
data02_c0.txt
sorted:
data01_a0.txt
data01_a1.txt
data01_a2.txt
data01_b1.txt
data01_b2.txt
data01_b3.txt
data02_a0.txt
data02_a1.txt
data02_a2.txt
data02_b1.txt
data02_b2.txt
data02_b3.txt
data02_b4.txt
data02_b10.txt
data02_b11.txt
data02_b12.txt
data02_c0.txt

I could not figure out this sorting. sort +0.4n +0.8n filename seems to be the closest except it throws the file with c0 in it way higher directly after a0 string.
Any further ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Best regards, Peter