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authorEric Blake <eblake@redhat.com>2011-11-16 10:09:12 -0700
committerEric Blake <eblake@redhat.com>2011-11-16 10:25:47 -0700
commitc0582b9df7294183ff259cf39248ac51af54cc11 (patch)
treedb6a7ac458d9a91bc9e73c0b3480cce1c7827720 /src
parent8f512f9bdb2cf436e4ec63c31410d8033d75779a (diff)
downloadcoreutils-c0582b9df7294183ff259cf39248ac51af54cc11.tar.xz
sort: clarify wording on -k syntax
* src/sort.c (usage): Use KEYDEF instead of POS, and call out the specific OPTS that can occur in KEYDEF. Based on a report by Lars Noodén, http://bugs.gnu.org/10019
Diffstat (limited to 'src')
-rw-r--r--src/sort.c16
1 files changed, 8 insertions, 8 deletions
diff --git a/src/sort.c b/src/sort.c
index 3e94a6e79..4a87148e2 100644
--- a/src/sort.c
+++ b/src/sort.c
@@ -457,8 +457,7 @@ Other options:\n\
If F is - then read names from standard input\n\
"), stdout);
fputs (_("\
- -k, --key=POS1[,POS2] start a key at POS1 (origin 1), end it at POS2\n\
- (default end of line). See POS syntax below\n\
+ -k, --key=KEYDEF sort via a key; KEYDEF gives location and type\n\
-m, --merge merge already sorted files; do not sort\n\
"), stdout);
fputs (_("\
@@ -483,13 +482,14 @@ Other options:\n\
fputs (VERSION_OPTION_DESCRIPTION, stdout);
fputs (_("\
\n\
-POS is F[.C][OPTS], where F is the field number and C the character position\n\
-in the field; both are origin 1. If neither -t nor -b is in effect, characters\
+KEYDEF is F[.C][OPTS][,F[.C][OPTS]] for start and stop position, where F is a\n\
+field number and C a character position in the field; both are origin 1, and\n\
+the stop position defaults to the line's end. If neither -t nor -b is in\n\
+effect, characters in a field are counted from the beginning of the preceding\n\
+whitespace. OPTS is one or more single-letter ordering options [bdfgiMhnRrV],\
\n\
-in a field are counted from the beginning of the preceding whitespace. OPTS is\
-\n\
-one or more single-letter ordering options, which override global ordering\n\
-options for that key. If no key is given, use the entire line as the key.\n\
+which override global ordering options for that key. If no key is given, use\n\
+the entire line as the key.\n\
\n\
SIZE may be followed by the following multiplicative suffixes:\n\
"), stdout);