Term of the Moment
legacy network
Definition: sort
(1) To reorder data into a new sequence. See sorter, counting sort, bubble sort, quick sort and selection sort.
A Punch Card Sorter in 1917
(2) An external DOS/Windows command that sorts a text file into alphabetical order, providing the text columns are uniform. The following example sorts the text file 1.TXT (starting at character position 1), creating 2.TXT. The < means "input from," and the > means "output to."
SORT ON A MIDDLE COLUMN
If city begins in character position 60 in 1.TXT, the following examples create 2.TXT in city sequence:
Cards were sorted one digit at a time (a 10-digit account number required 10 passes). A great year to have bought stock. (Image courtesy of IBM.)
(2) An external DOS/Windows command that sorts a text file into alphabetical order, providing the text columns are uniform. The following example sorts the text file 1.TXT (starting at character position 1), creating 2.TXT. The < means "input from," and the > means "output to."
sort < 1.txt > 2.txt a to z sort < 1.txt > 2.txt /r z to a
SORT ON A MIDDLE COLUMN
If city begins in character position 60 in 1.TXT, the following examples create 2.TXT in city sequence:
sort /+60 < 1.txt > 2.txt a to z sort /+60 < 1.txt > 2.txt /r z to a