What it does

This tool sorts an input file.

Sorting Styles

• Fast Numeric: sort by numeric values. Handles integer values (e.g. 43, 134) and decimal-point values (e.g. 3.14). Does not handle scientific notation (e.g. -2.32e2).
• General Numeric: sort by numeric values. Handles all numeric notations (including scientific notation). Slower than fast numeric, so use only when necessary.
• Natural Sort: Sort in 'natural' order (natural to humans, not to computers). See example below.
• Alphabetical sort: Sort in strict alphabetical order. See example below.
• Human-readable numbers: Sort human readble numbers (e.g. 1G > 2M > 3K > 400)
• Random order: return lines in random order.

Example - Header line

Input file (note first line is a header line, should not be sorted):

Fruit   Color   Price
Banana  Yellow  4.1
Avocado Green   8.0
Apple   Red     3.0
Melon   Green   6.1

Sorting by numeric order on column 3, with header, will return:

Fruit   Color   Price
Apple   Red     3.0
Banana  Yellow  4.1
Melon   Green   6.1
Avocado Green   8.0

Example - Natural vs. Alphabetical sorting

Given the following list:

chr4
chr13
chr1
chr10
chr20
chr2

Alphabetical sort would produce the following sorted list:

chr1
chr10
chr13
chr2
chr20
chr4

Natural Sort would produce the following sorted list:

chr1
chr2
chr4
chr10
chr13
chr20

If you're planning to use the file with another tool that expected sorted files (such as join), you should use the Alphabetical sort, not the Natural Sort. Natural sort order is easier for humans, but is unnatural for computer programs.