Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!cis.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!convex!usenet
From: tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.shell
Subject: Re: How to sort on right most column
Message-ID: <1991May15.051707.9566@convex.com>
Date: 15 May 91 05:17:07 GMT
References: <13320@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM>
Sender: usenet@convex.com (news access account)
Reply-To: tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen)
Organization: CONVEX Software Development, Richardson, TX
Lines: 25
Nntp-Posting-Host: pixel.convex.com

From the keyboard of rock@warp.Eng.Sun.COM (Bill Petro):
:How could I do this using either the sort command, or perl or awk?
:
:I have the following data in this format - I want to sort it on the
:right most column.  The columns are not tab delimited, and some of the
:columns have arbitrary numbers of words (specifically the third column
:from the left, column c).  Sort assumes that you start numbering on the
:left, and count from 0.  How would you start with the right most
:column, column e?
:
: FOO  BAR ACE CORPORATION                SUNNYVALE              2.00
: FOO  BAR ACER COMPUTED COMPANY          MILPITAS              20.00

How about?
    sort -t^A +0.60n

Assumptions:
    no control-A's in data
    the sort should be numeric
    the numbers don't begin until column 61

--tom
--
Tom Christiansen		tchrist@convex.com	convex!tchrist
		"So much mail, so little time."