Linux sort

[ankursinha]

Hi,

I need to sort data numerically by first column and if they are equal then by second column. The columns are separated by spaces and the data looks something like this.

-9.21572e-19 0.812056
0.0275 0.812056
-0.0275 0.814485
0.055 0.812056
-0.055 0.820524
0.0825 0.812056
-0.0825 0.832067
-0.085028 0.833333
0.11 0.812056
-0.11 0.848593
-0.120218 0.85625
0.1375 0.812056

Could someone help me out how to write a script for this. I tried the following but it doesnt seem to work.

sort -t ' ' -k1,1n -k2,2n file.txt

Thanks,
Anks

[meton_magis]

did you try
sort -n
???

[ankursinha]

Yes dear,

I tried almost everything. -n -g

But the sort seems to ignore the negative sign before the numbers.

Please help me out still looking for a solution.

Regards,
Anks

[vsemaska]

Your sort command works for me. What do you get? Post the output please.

[ankursinha]

Your sort command works for me. What do you get? Post the output please.

Well, the list gets sorted but the problem is that its ignoring the minus sign while doing the sort. Do I need to do some kind of setting so that the -ve sign is not ignored. I am on Mandriva and really tired of this trivial problem.

Thanks,
Anks

[vsemaska]

Again, without seeing the output from the sort of your sample I'm not sure what you're getting. You said you tried the -g option, did you try it like this?

sort -t ' ' -k1,1g -k2,2g file.txt

This is what I get:

-0.120218 0.85625
-0.11 0.848593
-0.085028 0.833333
-0.0825 0.832067
-0.055 0.820524
-0.0275 0.814485
-9.21572e-19 0.812056
0.0275 0.812056
0.055 0.812056
0.0825 0.812056
0.11 0.612056
0.11 0.812056
0.1375 0.812056

[ankursinha]

Again, without seeing the output from the sort of your sample I'm not sure what you're getting. You said you tried the -g option, did you try it like this?

sort -t ' ' -k1,1g -k2,2g file.txt

This is what I get:

-0.120218 0.85625
-0.11 0.848593
-0.085028 0.833333
-0.0825 0.832067
-0.055 0.820524
-0.0275 0.814485
-9.21572e-19 0.812056
0.0275 0.812056
0.055 0.812056
0.0825 0.812056
0.11 0.612056
0.11 0.812056
0.1375 0.812056

Well here is the input file

-0.120218 0.85625
0.1375 0.812056
0.0275 0.812056
-0.055 0.820524
0.0275 0.110
0.055 0.812056
-0.11 0.848593
-0.0275 0.814485
0.0825 0.812056
-0.0825 0.832067
-0.085028 0.833333
0.11 0.812056

And here is the Output which I am getting with various options suggested and the one tried by me.

0.0275 0.110
0.0275 0.812056
-0.0275 0.814485
0.055 0.812056
-0.055 0.820524
0.0825 0.812056
-0.0825 0.832067
-0.085028 0.833333
0.11 0.812056
-0.11 0.848593
-0.120218 0.85625
0.1375 0.812056

I am using exactly the same command as you and others but I am getting the above output very different from what everyone else is getting.

Thanks for your efforts.
Anks

[vsemaska]

Based on your output it seems that sort on Mandriva Linux isn't converting the fields to numbers but still are treating them as text strings. I'm using Red Hat Linux so I can't help any further. If you Google for 'Mandriva forum' you'll find forums just for that. Maybe you'll have better luck there.

[ankursinha]

Ya thats what I too feel.

Anyway thanks guys thanks for your efforts. I am already too fed up with Mandrake for lots of other reasons.

Anks