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(Undo revision 39075 by 192.150.73.149 (talk) when using built-in sort command, you don't need to prefix arguments with "-". That's only for the external command (with a '!')) Tag: sourceedit |
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− | |created= |
+ | |created=2006 |
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|author=Robert Stovall |
|author=Robert Stovall |
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− | |version= |
+ | |version=7.0 |
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+ | Vim has a very powerful built-in sort utility, or it can interface with an external one. In order to keep only unique lines in Vim, you would: |
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− | This is just a reminder of how to take advantage of existing Vim capability. I had not needed to sort before and took a few minutes to find a good example. |
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− | Sort lines in Vim using blocks: |
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<pre> |
<pre> |
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− | : |
+ | :{range}sort u |
</pre> |
</pre> |
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Yes, it's that simple. |
Yes, it's that simple. |
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+ | You could create a range in advance, such as <code>'a,.</code> (from mark 'a' to the current line) or you could create one on-the-fly using visual selection by pressing ':' in visual mode, after selecting the text you wish to sort, to get a range of <code>'<,'></code> on the command line. |
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− | Key strokes: |
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+ | |||
− | *Place cursor at first line of range to be sorted. |
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+ | If you like using an external sort utility instead, you can do it just as easily. For example, Unix sort, removing duplicate lines: |
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− | *Use marker (ma) to mark starting point |
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+ | |||
− | *Go to last line of range to be sorted |
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⚫ | |||
− | *Issue command from marker (a) to here with <tt>:'a,.!sort</tt> |
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⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Many other systems also have an external sort utility, but the options and capabilities will differ. It is probably better to use the built-in Vim sort unless you are looking for a specific feature of the external sort (or using an old Vim without the <code>:sort</code> command). |
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+ | |||
+ | ==Examples== |
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+ | ===Sort in reverse=== |
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+ | <pre>:%sort!</pre> |
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+ | |||
+ | ===Sort, removing duplicate lines=== |
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+ | <pre>:%sort u</pre> |
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+ | |||
+ | ===Sort using the external Unix sort utility, respecting month-name order=== |
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+ | <pre>:%!sort -M</pre> |
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+ | ("respecting month-name order" means January < February < ... < December) |
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+ | |||
+ | ===Numeric sort=== |
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+ | <pre>:sort n</pre> |
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+ | (this way, 100 doesn't precede 20 in the sort) |
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+ | |||
+ | ===Sort subsections independently, in this example sort numbers between "start" and "end" markers=== |
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+ | <pre>:g/start/+1,/end/-1 sort n</pre> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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*[[VimTip800|800 Sorting lines in a file based on the number of words in each line]] |
*[[VimTip800|800 Sorting lines in a file based on the number of words in each line]] |
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*[[VimTip923|923 Sort lines by a specified word number]] |
*[[VimTip923|923 Sort lines by a specified word number]] |
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+ | *[[VimTip667|667 Working with CSV files]] sort by CSV field |
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− | *[[VimTip1148|1148 Unique sorting]] |
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+ | *[[VimTip128|128 Use Unix command-line tools in Windows]] links to download GNU sort for Windows |
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+ | *[[VimTip648|648 Uniq - Removing duplicate lines]] techniques to remove duplicate lines |
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==References== |
==References== |
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==Comments== |
==Comments== |
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+ | |||
{{Todo}} |
{{Todo}} |
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+ | *Probably need some general <code>:sort</code> command info. |
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− | Update tip for Vim 7. It is now almost always better to use the <tt>:sort</tt> command that is built into Vim: Use flag <tt>n</tt> to sort numerically or <tt>u</tt> to keep unique lines. |
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+ | *Give examples of numeric sort and using regex sort. |
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+ | *Clean up my "see also" list. It's useful now for a comprehensive list of related tips, some of which need work. At least should add a note on point of tip. |
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+ | *If we're going to mention an external sort tool, we may as well include the following with a brief explanation. Vim could do this, but only with a complex regex. Or perhaps better, mention it in [[VimTip374]] or [[VimTip923]] in "see also". <code>-k2</code> sorts on the second field (word by default). |
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⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
---- |
---- |
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+ | This misguided snippet was added recently: |
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− | Press <tt>V</tt> and highlight the lines you want (instead of marks), then <tt>:!sort</tt>. |
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+ | :delimit the column using some char here I have | symbol as delimiter, once did with that you can use below command to sort specific column use -n if u want to sort numeric and its working on some version of vi and not on ubuntu vi :( |
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− | ---- |
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− | Note that for Vim <7, this uses the external sort program. This has some consequences: |
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− | *The program must be installed (which it usually is). |
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− | *Options can be passed to it. |
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+ | <pre>/|.*|/ | sort</pre> |
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− | which means you can do (for example) |
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⚫ | |||
− | :!sort -n |
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⚫ | |||
+ | :used to match a patern |.*| used to match words delimited between || and | as piping commend and sort to sort |
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− | to sort numerically, |
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+ | This is wrong and should never work. Here's what it is actually doing: |
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⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
+ | <code>/|.*|/</code>: jump to the next line that has two '|' characters in it, anywhere |
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− | to sort on the second field, etc. |
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+ | <code>|</code>: command separator, this lets you start a new command on the current line |
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− | ---- |
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− | Just to point out that sort is a *nix utility. Windows users will need to get sort.exe from http://www.cygwin.com/ or http://unxutils.sourceforge.net/ |
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+ | <code>sort</code>: do a default sort of the entire buffer |
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− | To sort whole file, and delete duplicates |
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+ | Basically this is the equivalent of typing <code>:%sort</code>. |
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− | <pre> |
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⚫ | |||
− | </pre> |
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+ | Now, what you CAN do, is provide a pattern that the <code>:sort</code> command will skip over and ignore at the start of every line while sorting. For example, to sort based only on text after the last '|' character on the line (what I think was intended by the example), you'd do this: |
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− | the ! here means access external utility |
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− | |||
− | ---- |
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− | To remove duplicate lines from a sorted list (make each line unique): |
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<pre> |
<pre> |
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⚫ | |||
− | :%s/^\(.*\)\(\n\1\n\)\+/\1/g |
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</pre> |
</pre> |
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− | |||
− | ---- |
Revision as of 20:39, 26 April 2016
created 2006 · complexity basic · author Robert Stovall · version 7.0
Vim has a very powerful built-in sort utility, or it can interface with an external one. In order to keep only unique lines in Vim, you would:
:{range}sort u
Yes, it's that simple.
You could create a range in advance, such as 'a,.
(from mark 'a' to the current line) or you could create one on-the-fly using visual selection by pressing ':' in visual mode, after selecting the text you wish to sort, to get a range of '<,'>
on the command line.
If you like using an external sort utility instead, you can do it just as easily. For example, Unix sort, removing duplicate lines:
:{range}!sort -u
Many other systems also have an external sort utility, but the options and capabilities will differ. It is probably better to use the built-in Vim sort unless you are looking for a specific feature of the external sort (or using an old Vim without the :sort
command).
Examples
Sort in reverse
:%sort!
Sort, removing duplicate lines
:%sort u
Sort using the external Unix sort utility, respecting month-name order
:%!sort -M
("respecting month-name order" means January < February < ... < December)
Numeric sort
:sort n
(this way, 100 doesn't precede 20 in the sort)
Sort subsections independently, in this example sort numbers between "start" and "end" markers
:g/start/+1,/end/-1 sort n
See also
- 374 Use filter commands to process text
- 588 How to sort using visual blocks
- 758 Search and sort by selection
- 800 Sorting lines in a file based on the number of words in each line
- 923 Sort lines by a specified word number
- 667 Working with CSV files sort by CSV field
- 128 Use Unix command-line tools in Windows links to download GNU sort for Windows
- 648 Uniq - Removing duplicate lines techniques to remove duplicate lines
References
Comments
TO DO
- Probably need some general
:sort
command info. - Give examples of numeric sort and using regex sort.
- Clean up my "see also" list. It's useful now for a comprehensive list of related tips, some of which need work. At least should add a note on point of tip.
- If we're going to mention an external sort tool, we may as well include the following with a brief explanation. Vim could do this, but only with a complex regex. Or perhaps better, mention it in VimTip374 or VimTip923 in "see also".
-k2
sorts on the second field (word by default).
:!sort -k2
This misguided snippet was added recently:
- delimit the column using some char here I have | symbol as delimiter, once did with that you can use below command to sort specific column use -n if u want to sort numeric and its working on some version of vi and not on ubuntu vi :(
/|.*|/ | sort
- used to match a patern |.*| used to match words delimited between || and | as piping commend and sort to sort
This is wrong and should never work. Here's what it is actually doing:
/|.*|/
: jump to the next line that has two '|' characters in it, anywhere
|
: command separator, this lets you start a new command on the current line
sort
: do a default sort of the entire buffer
Basically this is the equivalent of typing :%sort
.
Now, what you CAN do, is provide a pattern that the :sort
command will skip over and ignore at the start of every line while sorting. For example, to sort based only on text after the last '|' character on the line (what I think was intended by the example), you'd do this:
:sort /^.*|/