Re: 'sort' bug

[Mike Markowski]

Morning, Bob,

Bob Proulx wrote:
> Mike Markowski wrote:
> > I think I've come across a bug in 'sort'.  Using the attached file (please 
> > let me know if the attachment is stripped from this email), I tried to sort 
> > on the 5th column of states/countries by using:
> >
> >    sort -k 5 c3
> >
> > The first few lines look like:
> >
> >    10-Apr-2008  W7GVE        729C Ed         AZ             10.120
> >    18-May-2008  W1GUE        1998 Ed         NH              7.055
> >    28-Apr-2008  KG4W        2416T Ed         VA              7.055
> >    11-May-2008  K4ZGB        796T Tom        AL              7.055
> >    16-May-2008  9A2VJ        2533 Vel        CROATIA        14.052
> >    [...]
> >
> > already not properly sorted by state/country.
>
> I think you have missed that unless you specify -b that spaces are
> part of each field.
> [...]

Thanks, Bob, and you're right.  I definitely missed that.  It struck me 
as odd that such a heavily used program like 'sort' would have a glaring 
bug like that...and, of course, it doesn't.

With -b, I can now easily sort a subset of my ham radio log.  :-) 
Thanks both for your help and for your speedy reply!

Mike