bug#6296: sort -c not using proper keyspec

[Pádraig Brady]

tags 6296 + notabug

On 28/05/10 21:04, address@hidden wrote:
> CoreUtils,
> 
> I believe sort(1) is not honoring the keyspec I provide in the case of a '-c' 
> run. Here's a small file and the behavior I'm seeing.
> 
> I realize sort keyspecs can be tricky -- I hope this is not a case of user 
> error!
> 
> Thanks,
> Jim
> 
> $ head -5 x.scan.txt
> 1 5242857 + 25 1
> 1 15728631 + 25 1
> 1 17825783 + 25 1
> 1 36700126 + 50 1
> 1 36700126 + 47 1
> 
> $ awk '{print $1,$2}' x.scan.txt|sort -c -k1,1n -k2,2n
> 
> $ sort -c -k1,1n -k2,2n x.scan.txt
> sort: x.scan.txt:5: disorder: 1 36700126 + 47 1
> 
> $ sort --version
> sort (GNU coreutils) 8.5
> Packaged by Cygwin (8.5-1)

The next released version of coreutils will have
the sort --debug option which illustrates what's happening:

$ sort --debug -c -k1,1n -k2,2n x.scan.txt
sort: using `en_IE.UTF-8' sorting rules
sort: x.scan.txt:5: disorder:
1 36700126 + 47 1
_
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_________________


So the last resort comparison is causing the issue,
and you can disable that by also specifying the -s option.

cheers,
Pádraig.