Unix sort not from the first character

Question

I have the following data,

% [START_TIME - END_TIME] TURN_NAME EMOTION [V, A, D]
[6.2901 - 8.2357]   Ses01F_impro01_F000 neu [2.5000, 2.5000, 2.5000]
[10.0100 - 11.3925] Ses01F_impro01_F001 neu [2.5000, 2.5000, 2.5000]
[14.8872 - 18.0175] Ses01F_impro01_F002 neu [2.5000, 2.5000, 2.5000]
[97.8900 - 102.9600]    Ses01F_impro01_F014 neu [2.5000, 3.5000, 3.5000]
[103.9700 - 106.7100]   Ses01F_impro01_F015 fru [2.0000, 3.5000, 3.0000]
[7.5712 - 10.4750]  Ses01F_impro01_M000 fru [2.5000, 2.0000, 2.5000]
[10.9266 - 14.6649] Ses01F_impro01_M001 fru [2.5000, 2.0000, 2.5000]
[16.8352 - 19.7175] Ses01F_impro01_M002 fru [2.0000, 3.5000, 3.5000]
[23.4700 - 28.0300] Ses01F_impro01_M003 fru [2.5000, 3.5000, 3.5000]
[101.8400 - 107.8700]   Ses01F_impro01_M013 ang [2.0000, 4.5000, 4.5000]

I am expecting the following result after sort command,

 % [START_TIME - END_TIME] TURN_NAME EMOTION [V, A, D]
[6.2901 - 8.2357]   Ses01F_impro01_F000 neu [2.5000, 2.5000, 2.5000]
[7.5712 - 10.4750]  Ses01F_impro01_M000 fru [2.5000, 2.0000, 2.5000]
[10.0100 - 11.3925] Ses01F_impro01_F001 neu [2.5000, 2.5000, 2.5000]
[10.9266 - 14.6649] Ses01F_impro01_M001 fru [2.5000, 2.0000, 2.5000]
[14.8872 - 18.0175] Ses01F_impro01_F002 neu [2.5000, 2.5000, 2.5000]
[16.8352 - 19.7175] Ses01F_impro01_M002 fru [2.0000, 3.5000, 3.5000]
[23.4700 - 28.0300] Ses01F_impro01_M003 fru [2.5000, 3.5000, 3.5000]
[97.8900 - 102.9600]    Ses01F_impro01_F014 neu [2.5000, 3.5000, 3.5000]
[101.8400 - 107.8700]   Ses01F_impro01_M013 ang [2.0000, 4.5000, 4.5000]
[103.9700 - 106.7100]   Ses01F_impro01_F015 fru [2.0000, 3.5000, 3.0000]

I used the following sort command to order from the second character,

 sort -k1.2 filename

But it gives the first line of [10.0100....]. So, the sort command will order based on the most left decimal number (START_TIME) while kept the header on the top. Any experienced sort user here can help...?

glenn jackman · Accepted Answer · 2018-08-23 19:18:01Z

1

You need to specify you want numeric sorting with the -g option:

{ read -r header; echo "$header"; sort -g -k 1.2,1; } < filename

answered Aug 23, 2018 at 19:18

glenn jackman

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1 Comment

sugab Over a year ago

Works perfectly as expected. Thank you for the lesson!

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