linux sort inside a column

Question

I only want to sort a file by the second character in the second column by the number order. the sample file like this:

aa 19 aa 189 aa 167 ab 13 nd 23 at 32 ca 90

I expect the result like

ca 90 at 32 ab 13 nd 23 aa 167 aa 189 aa 19

I use the command sort -n -k 2.2,2.2 [filename]. But it shows me the result like this:

aa 167 aa 189 aa 19 ab 13 nd 23 at 32 ca 90

It is not the right answer. Does anybody know what's wrong with my command?

Lev Levitsky · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-20 21:04:03Z

3

The problem is that you didn't specify the correct column delimiter, and sort assumes it's a tab instead of a space.

sort -t ' ' -nk 2.2

works just fine.

Edit: in my man page it says that any whitespace is counted as delimiter by default, but the fact is that adding -t ' ' solves it.

answered Oct 20, 2012 at 21:04

Lev Levitsky

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2 Comments

steve zhou Over a year ago

Thanks for editing and answer. But the weird thing is if i only sort the second column using sort -n -k 2. It seems to know the delimiter is space. The result is no problem. Do you know the reason?

Lev Levitsky Over a year ago

@stevezhou I confirm this behavior, but I'm not sure why it happens.

Teja · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-20 21:06:05Z

0

sort -t ' ' -k2.2,2.2 filename

answered Oct 20, 2012 at 21:06

Teja

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