# sort-dctrl(1) - man - phpMan

[SORT-DCTRL(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/SORT-DCTRL/1/markdown)                           Debian user's manual                           [SORT-DCTRL(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/SORT-DCTRL/1/markdown)



## NAME
       sort-dctrl - sort Debian control files

## SYNOPSIS
       **sort-dctrl** [options] [ _file_ ...  ]

       **sort-dctrl** --copying | --help | --version | -ChV

## DESCRIPTION
       The **sort-dctrl** program sorts Debian control files according to specified criteria.

       A  Debian control (dctrl) file is a semistructured single-table database stored in a machine-
       parseable text file.  Such a database consists of a set of records; each record is a  mapping
       from  field  names  to field content.  Textually, records are separated by empty lines, while
       each field is encoded as one or more nonempty lines inside a record.  A field starts with its
       name, followed by a colon, followed by the field content.  The colon must reside on the first
       line of the field, and the first line must start with no whitespace.   Subsequent  lines,  in
       contrast, always start with linear whitespace (one or more space or tab characters).

       The **sort-dctrl** program recognizes two field types: string fields and version fields.  Version
       fields act also as numeric fields.  String fields are compared according  to  strict  lexico‐
       graphical  octet-by-octet  comparison, after ignoring any initial whitespace after the colon.
       Version fields are parsed and compared as Debian version  numbers.   When  comparing  version
       numbers,  if  a  field content does not in fact conform to the version number syntax, it com‐
       pares less than any field content that does conform, and equal  to  any  other  nonconforming
       field  content.  The **sort-dctrl** program assumes all fields are string fields unless told oth‐
       erwise.

       You can specify arbitrary number of keys for sorting, using the **-k** option.  The keys are  in‐
       terpreted  in  a descending order of priority: the first key specified is primary, the second
       key specified is secondary, and so on.  If two records compare equal under the  primary  key,
       then  they  are compared under the secondary key, and so on.  If no keys are specified, a de‐
       fault key is assumed (the "Package" field with no modifiers).

## OPTIONS
### -k --key-spec=
              Specify one or more keys for sorting.  You may  specify  this  option  any  number  of
              times.  The _keyspec_ argument consists of a comma-separated list of key specifications.
              Each key specification consists of the name of the field that serves as the  key,  op‐
              tionally  followed by a colon and key modifiers.  The following key modifiers are sup‐
              ported:

              **r**      Invert the comparison for this key, reversing the sorting order.

              **v**      Treat this field as a version number field.

              **n**      Treat this field as numeric, which currently is synonymous with **v**.

### -q --quiet --silent
              Output nothing to the standard output stream.  Instead, exit immediately after finding
              the first match.

### -l --errorlevel=
              Set  log  level  to _level_.  _level_ is one of **fatal**, **important**, **informational** and **debug**,
              but the last may not be available, depending on the compile-time options.  These cate‐
              gories are given here in order; every message that is emitted when **fatal** is in effect,
              will be emitted in the **important** error level, and so on. The default is **important**.

### -V --version
              Print out version information.

### -C --copying
              Print out the copyright license.  This produces much output; be sure  to  redirect  or
              pipe it somewhere (such as your favourite pager).

### -h --help
              Print out a help summary.

## EXAMPLES
       Here are some sample invocations of the program:

       sort-dctrl /var/lib/dpkg/available
              Output the **dpkg** _available_ file sorted by the package name.

       sort-dctrl -k Version:v /var/lib/dpkg/available
              Output the **dpkg** _available_ file sorted in ascending order of version numbers.

       sort-dctrl -k Version:vr /var/lib/dpkg/available
              Output the **dpkg** _available_ file sorted in descending order of version numbers.

       sort-dctrl -k Package,Version:v /var/lib/dpkg/available
              Output  the  **dpkg**  _available_ file sorted primarily in ascending order of package names
              and secondarily in descending order of version numbers.

       sort-dctrl -k Installed-Size:n,Size:nr /var/lib/dpkg/available
              Output the **dpkg** _available_ file sorted primarily in  ascending  order  of  installation
              sizes and secondarily in descending order of package sizes.

## AUTHOR
       The program and this manual page were written by Antti-Juhani Kaijanaho <<ajk@debian.org>>.

## SEE ALSO
       Debian  Policy Manual.  Published as the Debian package **debian-policy**.  Also available in the
       Debian website.

       [**grep-dctrl**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/grep-dctrl/1/markdown)







Debian Project                               2005-06-08                                [SORT-DCTRL(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/SORT-DCTRL/1/markdown)