UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hi All,

I want to sort a flat file which will contain millions of records [each line a record, fields seperated by delimiters] based on a key/field. For this I want to use unix sort command and before that I want to make sure that unix sort command has any file size limitations. And also please let me know whether I have to change any configuration details in unix to handle such a large files.

Thanks in advance

If the file can be read by cat or sed, sort can usually deal with the size.

You may want to use the -T <directory> option to force sort to use a scratch directory that has enough free space. By default it uses TMPDIR - usually /tmp or var/tmp.

If you need to sort the file quickly because it affects subsequent batch jobs (for example) consider using the -y option with no argument for the option. This starts sort with the maximum free memory allowed or available.

Thanks jim mcnamara for your reply. whether cat or sed is having any file size limitations