GNU bug report logs - #5944
sort with option +4nr does not work now and it used to do it some time ago

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: "Martinez, Abel" <Abel.Martinez <at> eu.sony.com>
To: <bug-coreutils <at> gnu.org>
Subject: sort with option +4nr does not work now and it used to do it some
	time ago
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2010 09:13:43 +0100

Hi CoreUtil/SORT developer team:

Long time ago I used cygwing to sort file's content by the text
available on its 4th column in reverse order (under bash) using ___$sort
+4nr file.txt____ .

I have tried now same function with the latest cygwing and coreutils
sorting package (sort.exe 19-March-2010) and with those options does not
work; It says:
	$ sort +4nr ACCESS.txt
	sort: open failed: +4nr: No such file or directory

(I don't have the info on what old version was working fine, sorry)

Thanks in advance for really grate product

***********************************************
Abel Martinez    SONY    PSE Madrid Spain 
Ph: +34 91 536 57 66
mailto:abel.martinez <at> eu.sony.com
***********************************************

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Message #8 received at 5944 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eric Blake <eblake <at> redhat.com>
To: "Martinez, Abel" <Abel.Martinez <at> eu.sony.com>
Cc: 5944 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#5944: sort with option +4nr does not work now and it used
	to do	it some time ago
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2010 07:58:09 -0600

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

On 04/14/2010 02:13 AM, Martinez, Abel wrote:
> Hi CoreUtil/SORT developer team:
> 
> Long time ago I used cygwing to sort file's content by the text
> available on its 4th column in reverse order (under bash) using ___$sort
> +4nr file.txt____ .
> 
> I have tried now same function with the latest cygwing and coreutils
> sorting package (sort.exe 19-March-2010) and with those options does not
> work; It says:
> 	$ sort +4nr ACCESS.txt
> 	sort: open failed: +4nr: No such file or directory

Not a bug, but a difference in the level of POSIX compliance.  Older
cygwin defaulted to the 1992 version of POSIX, while newer cygwin
defaults to 2001.  Per the NEWS file:

>   A few usages still have behavior that depends on which POSIX standard is
>   being conformed to, and portable applications should beware these
>   problematic usages.  These include:
> 
>     Problematic       Standard-conforming replacement, depending on
>        usage            whether you prefer the behavior of:
>                       POSIX 1003.2-1992    POSIX 1003.1-2001
>     sort +4           sort -k 5            sort ./+4

You can learn more about this, as well as a way to use the
_POSIX2_VERSION environment variable to select an alternate behavior, by
reading 'info coreutils standards'.

> The information contained in this message or any of its attachments may be confidential

This message has been publicly archived, rendering your disclaimer
ineffective.  It is considered poor netiquette to send email to public
lists with a company disclaimer; you should consider using a personal
account that does not fill our inboxes with useless legalese.

-- 
Eric Blake   eblake <at> redhat.com    +1-801-349-2682
Libvirt virtualization library http://libvirt.org

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Message #13 received at 5944-close <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Jim Meyering <jim <at> meyering.net>
To: Eric Blake <eblake <at> redhat.com>
Cc: 5944-close <at> debbugs.gnu.org, "Martinez, Abel" <Abel.Martinez <at> eu.sony.com>
Subject: Re: bug#5944: sort with option +4nr does not work now and it used to
	do	it some time ago
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:24:38 +0200

Eric Blake wrote:
> On 04/14/2010 02:13 AM, Martinez, Abel wrote:
>> Hi CoreUtil/SORT developer team:
>>
>> Long time ago I used cygwing to sort file's content by the text
>> available on its 4th column in reverse order (under bash) using ___$sort
>> +4nr file.txt____ .
>>
>> I have tried now same function with the latest cygwing and coreutils
>> sorting package (sort.exe 19-March-2010) and with those options does not
>> work; It says:
>> 	$ sort +4nr ACCESS.txt
>> 	sort: open failed: +4nr: No such file or directory
>
> Not a bug, but a difference in the level of POSIX compliance.  Older
> cygwin defaulted to the 1992 version of POSIX, while newer cygwin
> defaults to 2001.  Per the NEWS file:

Thanks for replying, Eric.
With this message, I'm inserting "-close" into the default Cc'd address
of 5944 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, making it "5944-close <at> debbugs.gnu.org".
That moves the thread in our bug tracker,

    http://debbugs.gnu.org/coreutils

from "Outstanding Issues" to the "Resolved Bugs" category:

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