My file has 3 columns and I want to sort the data in the file by column 1 (DESC), column 2(ASC) and save the result to another file. How can I do that?

3

1 Answer

sort has the option to sort by multiple columns, do:

sort -k1,1 -k2,2 file.txt 

The above will sort the file first by whitespace separated column 1, then by column 2.

You can also set other delimiter than any whitespace by the -t option, e.g. setting , as the delimiter:

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

Check man sort.

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Sign up using Google Sign up using Facebook Sign up using Email and Password Submit

Post as a guest

Post Your Answer Discard

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy