Write sorted concatenation of all FILE(s) to standard output.
+POS1 [-POS2]
start a key at POS1, end it *before* POS2 (obsolescent)
field numbers and character offsets are numbered
starting with zero (contrast with the -k option)
-b
ignore leading blanks in sort fields or keys
-c
check if given files already sorted, do not sort
-d
consider only [a-zA-Z0-9 ] characters in keys
-f
fold lower case to upper case characters in keys
-g
compare according to general numerical value, imply -b
-i
consider only [\040-\0176] characters in keys
-k POS1[,POS2]
start a key at POS1, end it *at* POS2
field numbers and character offsets are numbered
starting with one (contrast with zero-based +POS form)
-m
merge already sorted files, do not sort
-M
compare (unknown) < `JAN' < ... < `DEC', imply -b
-n
compare according to string numerical value, imply -b
-o FILE
write result on FILE instead of standard output
-r
reverse the result of comparisons
-s
stabilize sort by disabling last resort comparison
-t SEP
use SEParator instead of non- to whitespace transition
-T DIRECTORY
use DIRECTORY for temporary files, not $TMPDIR or /tmp
-u
with -c: check for strict ordering
otherwise: output only the first of an equal run
-z
end lines with 0 byte, not newline, for find -print0
--help
display this help and exit
--version
output version information and exit
POS is F[.C][OPTS], where F is the field number and C the character position
in the field, both counted from one with -k, from zero with the obsolescent
form. OPTS is made up of one or more of Mbdfinr; this effectively disables
global -Mbdfinr settings for that key. If no key is given, use the entire
line as the key. With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.