[SOLVED] Sort numbers in ascending order using echo, and as an alias

robfraser · 04-18-2012, 03:21 PM

I am trying to sort a list of numbers in ascending order. I got the following from another closed thread. (Thank You)

echo "8,56,15,37,21" | tr ',' '\n'|sort -n|paste -s -d','

I would now like to use it as an alias, so I can enter a list of numbers and have them sorted, but when I set it up like this:

alias st 'echo $1 |tr ',' '\n'|sort -n|paste -s -d',' '

And run it, I get the following error.

paste: 8,56,15,37,21: No such file or directory

Is there a way to have the alias recognize the single quotes?

Nominal Animal · 04-18-2012, 03:41 PM

Alias does not work that way, so your approach will not work.

What you need is a shell function; just consider it another type of alias. Try this:

Code:

st () {
    echo "$*" | tr '\t\n\v\f\r ,' '\n\n\n\n\n\n\n' | sort -n | paste -s -d ','
}

grail · 04-18-2012, 03:44 PM

Aliases do not use parameters, but you could create a function in your .bashrc (assuming bash) and call it as required.