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How can i sort a .txt file without loosing the header information?

 
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# 1  
Old 05-21-2013
How can i sort a .txt file without loosing the header information?
Hi,

I'm trying to sort 2 different .txt tab delimited files with the command line:

Code:
sort -k 1b,1 inputfile > outputfile

But doing that i'm also sorting the header (that ends at the end of my file).
How can i sort a .txt file without sorting the header but conserving the header in the output file?

My file looks like:

Code:
transcript_id	gene_id	length	effective_length	expected_count	TPM	FPKM	IsoPct
comp1000201_c0_seq1	comp1000201_c0	337	183.51	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
comp1000297_c0_seq1	comp1000297_c0	612	458.50	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
comp100036_c0_seq1	comp100036_c0	333	179.51	1.00	6.72	6.17	100.00
comp10003_c1_seq1	comp10003_c1	328	174.51	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
comp100041_c0_seq1	comp100041_c0	338	184.51	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

Thanks!

---------- Post updated at 05:06 PM ---------- Previous update was at 04:55 PM ----------

I also tried to use:

Code:
awk 'NR==1; NR > 1 {print $0 | "sort -t\| -n -k 1,1"}' file

and this is what i'm receiving:

Code:
awk: warning: escape sequence `\|' treated as plain `|'
transcript_id	gene_id	length	effective_length	expected_count	TPM	FPKM	IsoPct
sort: option requires an argument -- t
Try `sort --help' for more information.
sh: -n: command not found

Last edited by alisrpp; 05-21-2013 at 07:46 PM..
# 2  
Old 05-21-2013
Code:
awk '{if(NR>1) print | "sort -k1b,1"; else print}' file

# 3  
Old 05-21-2013
Thanks, and how can i do to not print the result but keep it in an output file?
# 4  
Old 05-21-2013
redirect output into a file - call it newfile

Code:
awk '{if(NR>1) print | "sort -k1b,1"; else print}' file > newfile

 
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