# Sorting
Miller gives you three ways to sort your data:
* The [`sort`](reference-verbs.md#sort) verb lets you sort records (rows) by various fields (columns).
* The [`sort-within-records`](reference-verbs.md#sort-within-records) verb lets you sort fields within records.
* The [`sort`](reference-dsl-builtin-functions.md#sort) DSL function gives you more customizable options for sorting data either within fields or across records. (See also the [higher-order-functions page](reference-dsl-higher-order-functions.md) for related information.)
## Sorting records: the sort verb
The `sort` verb (see [its documentation](reference-verbs.md#sort) for more information) reorders
entire records within the data stream. You can sort lexically (with or without case-folding),
numerically, or naturally (see
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_sort_order](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_sort_order)
or [https://github.com/facette/natsort](https://github.com/facette/natsort) for more about natural
sorting); ascending or descending; and you can sort primarily by one column, then secondarily by
another, etc.
Input data:
mlr --c2p cat example.csv
color shape flag k index quantity rate
yellow triangle true 1 11 43.6498 9.8870
red square true 2 15 79.2778 0.0130
red circle true 3 16 13.8103 2.9010
red square false 4 48 77.5542 7.4670
purple triangle false 5 51 81.2290 8.5910
red square false 6 64 77.1991 9.5310
purple triangle false 7 65 80.1405 5.8240
yellow circle true 8 73 63.9785 4.2370
yellow circle true 9 87 63.5058 8.3350
purple square false 10 91 72.3735 8.2430
Sorted numerically ascending by rate:
mlr --c2p sort -n rate example.csv
color shape flag k index quantity rate
red square true 2 15 79.2778 0.0130
red circle true 3 16 13.8103 2.9010
yellow circle true 8 73 63.9785 4.2370
purple triangle false 7 65 80.1405 5.8240
red square false 4 48 77.5542 7.4670
purple square false 10 91 72.3735 8.2430
yellow circle true 9 87 63.5058 8.3350
purple triangle false 5 51 81.2290 8.5910
red square false 6 64 77.1991 9.5310
yellow triangle true 1 11 43.6498 9.8870
Sorted lexically ascending by color; then, within each color, numerically descending by quantity:
mlr --c2p sort -f color -nr quantity example.csv
color shape flag k index quantity rate
purple triangle false 5 51 81.2290 8.5910
purple triangle false 7 65 80.1405 5.8240
purple square false 10 91 72.3735 8.2430
red square true 2 15 79.2778 0.0130
red square false 4 48 77.5542 7.4670
red square false 6 64 77.1991 9.5310
red circle true 3 16 13.8103 2.9010
yellow circle true 8 73 63.9785 4.2370
yellow circle true 9 87 63.5058 8.3350
yellow triangle true 1 11 43.6498 9.8870
Example of natural sort, adapted from [https://github.com/facette/natsort](https://github.com/facette/natsort):
mlr --c2p cat data/natsort.csv
n name
1 Allegia 51 Clasteron
2 Callisto Morphamax 6000 SE
3 Xiph Xlater 58
4 1000X Radonius Maximus
5 20X Radonius Prime
6 30X Radonius
7 Alpha 2
8 Allegia 50 Clasteron
9 Alpha 2A-8000
10 200X Radonius
11 Allegia 50B Clasteron
12 Xiph Xlater 5
13 Callisto Morphamax 700
14 Xiph Xlater 500
15 Alpha 2A-900
16 20X Radonius
17 Callisto Morphamax 6000 SE2
18 Allegia 500 Clasteron
19 Alpha 100
20 Alpha 2A
21 Xiph Xlater 300
22 Callisto Morphamax
23 Callisto Morphamax 7000
24 10X Radonius
25 Xiph Xlater 40
26 Allegia 6R Clasteron
27 Callisto Morphamax 5000
mlr --c2p sort -t name data/natsort.csv
n name
24 10X Radonius
16 20X Radonius
5 20X Radonius Prime
6 30X Radonius
10 200X Radonius
4 1000X Radonius Maximus
26 Allegia 6R Clasteron
8 Allegia 50 Clasteron
11 Allegia 50B Clasteron
1 Allegia 51 Clasteron
18 Allegia 500 Clasteron
7 Alpha 2
20 Alpha 2A
15 Alpha 2A-900
9 Alpha 2A-8000
19 Alpha 100
22 Callisto Morphamax
13 Callisto Morphamax 700
27 Callisto Morphamax 5000
2 Callisto Morphamax 6000 SE
17 Callisto Morphamax 6000 SE2
23 Callisto Morphamax 7000
12 Xiph Xlater 5
25 Xiph Xlater 40
3 Xiph Xlater 58
21 Xiph Xlater 300
14 Xiph Xlater 500
## Sorting fields within records: the sort-within-records verb
The `sort-within-records` verb (see [its
documentation](reference-verbs.md#sort-within-records) for more information)
leaves records in their original order in the data stream, but reorders fields
within each record. A typical use-case is for given all records the same column-ordering,
in particular for converting JSON to CSV (or other tabular formats):
cat data/sort-within-records.json
{
"a": 1,
"b": 2,
"c": 3
}
{
"b": 4,
"a": 5,
"c": 6
}
{
"c": 7,
"b": 8,
"a": 9
}
mlr --ijson --opprint cat data/sort-within-records.json
a b c
1 2 3
b a c
4 5 6
c b a
7 8 9
mlr --ijson --opprint sort-within-records data/sort-within-records.json
a b c
1 2 3
5 4 6
9 8 7
## The sort function by example
The Miller DSL has a [`sort`](reference-dsl-builtin-functions.md#sort) function:
* It returns a sorted copy of an input array or map.
* Without second argument, uses Miller's default ordering which is numbers numerically, then strings lexically.
* With second which is string, takes sorting flags from it: `"f"` for lexical or `"c"` for case-folded lexical, or `"t"` for natural sort order. An additional `"r"` in this string is for reverse/descending.
mlr -n put '
end {
# Sort array with default ordering
print sort([5,2,3,1,4]);
}
'
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
mlr -n put '
end {
# Sort array with reverse-default ordering
print sort([5,2,3,1,4], "r");
}
'
[5, 4, 3, 2, 1]
mlr -n put '
end {
# Sort array with custom function: another way to get default ordering
print sort([5,2,3,1,4], func(a,b) { return a <=> b});
}
'
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
mlr -n put '
end {
# Sort array with custom function: another way to get reverse-default ordering
print sort([5,2,3,1,4], func(a,b) { return b <=> a});
}
'
[5, 4, 3, 2, 1]
mlr -n put '
end {
# Sort map with default ordering on keys
print sort({"c":2, "a": 3, "b": 1});
}
'
{
"a": 3,
"b": 1,
"c": 2
}
mlr -n put '
end {
# Sort map with reverse-default ordering on keys
print sort({"c":2, "a": 3, "b": 1}, "r");
}
'
{
"c": 2,
"b": 1,
"a": 3
}
mlr -n put '
end {
# Sort map with custom function: default ordering on values
print sort({"c":2, "a": 3, "b": 1}, "v");
# Same:
print sort({"c":2, "a": 3, "b": 1}, func(ak,av,bk,bv) {return av <=> bv});
}
'
{
"b": 1,
"c": 2,
"a": 3
}
{
"b": 1,
"c": 2,
"a": 3
}
mlr -n put '
end {
# Sort map with custom function: reverse-default ordering on values
print sort({"c":2, "a": 3, "b": 1}, "vr");
# Same:
print sort({"c":2, "a": 3, "b": 1}, func(ak,av,bk,bv){return bv <=> av});
}
'
{
"a": 3,
"c": 2,
"b": 1
}
{
"a": 3,
"c": 2,
"b": 1
}
mlr -n put '
end {
# Natural sort
print sort(["a1","a10","a100","a2","a20","a200"], "t");
}
'
["a1", "a2", "a10", "a20", "a100", "a200"]
In the rest of this page we'll look more closely at these variants.
## Simple sorting of arrays
Using the [`sort`](reference-dsl-builtin-functions.md#sort) function, you can
get a copy of an array, sorted by its values -- optionally, with reversed
order, and/or lexical/case-folded sorting. The first argument is an array to be
sorted. The optional second argument is a string containing any of the
characters `n` for numeric (the default anyway), `f` for lexical, or `c` for
case-folded lexical, and `r` for reverse. Note that `sort` does not modify
its argument; it returns a sorted copy.
Also note that all the flags to `sort` allow you to operate on arrays which
contain strings, floats, and booleans; if you need to sort an array whose
values are themselves maps or arrays, you'll need `sort` with function argument
as described further down in this page.
cat data/sorta-example.csv
key,values
alpha,4;6;1;5
beta,7;9;9;8
gamma,11;2;1;12
Default sort is numerical ascending:
mlr --c2p --from data/sorta-example.csv put '
$values = splita($values, ";");
$values = sort($values); # default flags
$values = joinv($values, ";");
'
key values
alpha 1;4;5;6
beta 7;8;9;9
gamma 1;2;11;12
Use the `"r"` flag for reverse, which is numerical descending:
mlr --c2p --from data/sorta-example.csv put '
$values = splita($values, ";");
$values = sort($values, "r"); # 'r' flag for reverse sort
$values = joinv($values, ";");
'
key values
alpha 6;5;4;1
beta 9;9;8;7
gamma 12;11;2;1
Use the `"f"` flag for lexical ascending sort (and `"fr"` would lexical descending):
mlr --c2p --from data/sorta-example.csv put '
$values = splita($values, ";");
$values = sort($values, "f"); # 'f' flag for lexical sort
$values = joinv($values, ";");
'
key values
alpha 1;4;5;6
beta 7;8;9;9
gamma 1;11;12;2
Without and with case-folding:
cat data/sorta-example-text.csv
key,values
alpha,cat;bat;Australia;Bavaria;apple;Colombia
alpha,cat;bat;Australia;Bavaria;apple;Colombia
mlr --c2p --from data/sorta-example-text.csv put '
$values = splita($values, ";");
if (NR == 1) {
$values = sort($values, "f"); # 'f' flag for (non-folded) lexical sort
} else {
$values = sort($values, "c"); # 'c' flag for case-folded lexical sort
}
$values = joinv($values, ";");
'
key values
alpha Australia;Bavaria;Colombia;apple;bat;cat
alpha apple;Australia;bat;Bavaria;cat;Colombia
## Simple sorting of maps within records
Using the [`sort`](reference-dsl-builtin-functions.md#sort) function, you
can sort a map by its keys.
Since `sort` only gives you options for sorting a map by its keys, if you want
to sort a map by its values you'll need `sort` with function argument as
described further down in this page.
Also note that, unlike the `sort-within-record` verb with its `-r` flag,
`sort` doesn't recurse into submaps and sort those.
cat data/server-log.json
{
"hostname": "localhost",
"pid": 12345,
"req": {
"id": 6789,
"method": "GET",
"path": "api/check",
"host": "foo.bar",
"headers": {
"host": "bar.baz",
"user-agent": "browser"
}
},
"res": {
"status_code": 200,
"header": {
"content-type": "text",
"content-encoding": "plain"
}
}
}
mlr --json --from data/server-log.json put '
$req = sort($req); # Ascending here
$res = sort($res, "r"); # Descending here
'
[
{
"hostname": "localhost",
"pid": 12345,
"req": {
"headers": {
"host": "bar.baz",
"user-agent": "browser"
},
"host": "foo.bar",
"id": 6789,
"method": "GET",
"path": "api/check"
},
"res": {
"status_code": 200,
"header": {
"content-type": "text",
"content-encoding": "plain"
}
}
}
]
## Simple sorting of maps across records
As discussed in the page on
[operating on all records](operating-on-all-records.md), while Miller is normally
[streaming](streaming-and-memory.md) (we operate on one record at a time), we
can accumulate records in an array-valued or map-valued
[out-of-stream variable](reference-dsl-variables.md#out-of-stream-variables),
then operate on that record-list in an `end` block. This includes the possibility
of accumulating records in a map, then sorting the map.
Using the `f` flag we're sorting the map keys (1-up NR) lexically, so we
have 1, then 10, then 2:
mlr --icsv --opprint --from example.csv put -q '
begin {
@records = {}; # Define as a map
}
$nr = NR;
@records[NR] = $*; # Accumulate
end {
@records = sort(@records, "f");
for (_, record in @records) {
emit1 record;
}
}
'
color shape flag k index quantity rate nr
yellow triangle true 1 11 43.6498 9.8870 1
purple square false 10 91 72.3735 8.2430 10
red square true 2 15 79.2778 0.0130 2
red circle true 3 16 13.8103 2.9010 3
red square false 4 48 77.5542 7.4670 4
purple triangle false 5 51 81.2290 8.5910 5
red square false 6 64 77.1991 9.5310 6
purple triangle false 7 65 80.1405 5.8240 7
yellow circle true 8 73 63.9785 4.2370 8
yellow circle true 9 87 63.5058 8.3350 9
## Custom sorting of arrays within records
Using the [`sort`](reference-dsl-builtin-functions.md#sort) function, you
can sort an array by its values, using another function (which you specify --
see the [page on user-defined functions](reference-dsl-user-defined-functions.md))
for comparing elements.
* Your function must take two arguments, which will range over various pairs of values in your array;
* It must return a number which is negative, zero, or positive depending on whether you want the first argument to sort less than, equal to, or greater than the second, respectively.
For example, let's use the following input data. Instead of having an array, it
has some semicolon-delimited data in a field which we can split and sort:
cat data/sortaf-example.csv
key,values
alpha,5;2;8;6;1;4;9;10;3;7
In the following example we sort data in several ways -- the first two just
recapitulate (for reference) what `sort` with default flags already does; the third is novel:
mlr --icsv --ojson --from data/sortaf-example.csv put '
# Same as sort($values)
func forward(a,b) {
return a <=> b
}
# Same as sort($values, "r")
func reverse(a,b) {
return b <=> a
}
# Custom sort
func even_then_odd(a,b) {
ax = a % 2;
bx = b % 2;
if (ax == bx) {
return a <=> b
} elif (bx == 1) {
return -1
} else {
return 1
}
}
split_values = splita($values, ";");
$forward = sort(split_values, forward);
$reverse = sort(split_values, reverse);
$even_then_odd = sort(split_values, even_then_odd);
'
[
{
"key": "alpha",
"values": "5;2;8;6;1;4;9;10;3;7",
"forward": [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10],
"reverse": [10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1],
"even_then_odd": [2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9]
}
]
## Custom sorting of arrays across records
As noted above, we can use the
[operating-on-all-records](operating-on-all-records.md) paradigm
to accumulate records in an array-valued or map-valued
[out-of-stream variable](reference-dsl-variables.md#out-of-stream-variables),
then operate on that record-list in an `end` block. This includes the possibility
of accumulating records in an array, then sorting the array.
Note that here the array elements are maps, so the `a` and `b` arguments to our
functions are maps -- and we have to access the `index` field using either
`a["index"]` and `b["index"]`, or (using the [dot operator for
indexing](reference-dsl-operators.md#the-double-purpose-dot-operator))
`a.index` and `b.index`.
mlr --icsv --opprint --from example.csv put -q '
# Sort primarily ascending on the shape field, then secondarily
# descending numeric on the index field.
func cmp(a, b) {
cmp1 = a.shape <=> b.shape;
if (cmp1 != 0) {
return cmp1
} else {
return b.index <=> a.index;
}
}
begin {
@records = []; # Define as an array, else auto-create will make a map
}
@records[NR] = $*; # Accumulate
end {
@records = sort(@records, cmp);
for (record in @records) {
emit1 record;
}
}
'
color shape flag k index quantity rate
yellow circle true 9 87 63.5058 8.3350
yellow circle true 8 73 63.9785 4.2370
red circle true 3 16 13.8103 2.9010
purple square false 10 91 72.3735 8.2430
red square false 6 64 77.1991 9.5310
red square false 4 48 77.5542 7.4670
red square true 2 15 79.2778 0.0130
purple triangle false 7 65 80.1405 5.8240
purple triangle false 5 51 81.2290 8.5910
yellow triangle true 1 11 43.6498 9.8870
## Custom sorting of maps within records
Using the [`sort`](reference-dsl-builtin-functions.md#sort) function, you
can sort a map using a function which you specify (see the [page on
user-defined functions](reference-dsl-user-defined-functions.md)) for comparing
keys and/or values.
* Your function must take four arguments, which will range over various pairs of key-value pairs in your map;
* It must return a number which is negative, zero, or positive depending on whether you want the first argument to sort less than, equal to, or greater than the second, respectively.
For example, we can sort ascending or descending by map key or map value:
mlr -n put -q '
func f1(ak, av, bk, bv) {
return ak <=> bk
}
func f2(ak, av, bk, bv) {
return bk <=> ak
}
func f3(ak, av, bk, bv) {
return av <=> bv
}
func f4(ak, av, bk, bv) {
return bv <=> av
}
end {
x = {
"c":1,
"a":3,
"b":2,
};
print sort(x, f1);
print sort(x, f2);
print sort(x, f3);
print sort(x, f4);
}
'
{
"a": 3,
"b": 2,
"c": 1
}
{
"c": 1,
"b": 2,
"a": 3
}
{
"c": 1,
"b": 2,
"a": 3
}
{
"a": 3,
"b": 2,
"c": 1
}
## Custom sorting of maps across records
We can modify our above example just a bit, where we accumulate records in a map rather than
an array. Here the map keys will be `NR` values `"1"`, `"2"`, etc.
Why would we do this? When we're operating across all records and keeping all
of them -- densely -- accumulating them in an array is fine. If we're only
taking a subset -- sparsely -- and we want to retain the original `NR` as keys,
using a map is handy, since we don't need contiguous keys.
mlr --icsv --opprint --from example.csv put -q '
# Sort descending numeric on the index field
func cmp(ak, av, bk, bv) {
return bv.index <=> av.index
}
begin {
@records = {}; # Define as a map
}
@records[NR] = $*; # Accumulate
end {
@records = sort(@records, cmp);
for (_, record in @records) {
emit1 record;
}
}
'
color shape flag k index quantity rate
purple square false 10 91 72.3735 8.2430
yellow circle true 9 87 63.5058 8.3350
yellow circle true 8 73 63.9785 4.2370
purple triangle false 7 65 80.1405 5.8240
red square false 6 64 77.1991 9.5310
purple triangle false 5 51 81.2290 8.5910
red square false 4 48 77.5542 7.4670
red circle true 3 16 13.8103 2.9010
red square true 2 15 79.2778 0.0130
yellow triangle true 1 11 43.6498 9.8870