uutils / uutils/coreutils

sort -rn produces output different from gnusort

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U - sort
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Rust
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Description

I have a file with the following content:

$ cat /tmp/sveta 
      1 lock/lock0lock.c line 5163
      1 lock/lock0lock.c line 3249
      1 fsp/fsp0fsp.c line 3395
      1 btr/btr0cur.c line 672
      1 btr/btr0cur.c line 450
      1 ./include/btr0btr.ic line 53

If I run gnusort on my file, I get the following results (expected):

$ gnusort -r /tmp/sveta 
      1 lock/lock0lock.c line 5163
      1 lock/lock0lock.c line 3249
      1 ./include/btr0btr.ic line 53
      1 fsp/fsp0fsp.c line 3395
      1 btr/btr0cur.c line 672
      1 btr/btr0cur.c line 450

With sort -nr I get a different order (pay attention for the last line):

$ sort -nr /tmp/sveta 
      1 lock/lock0lock.c line 5163
      1 lock/lock0lock.c line 3249
      1 fsp/fsp0fsp.c line 3395
      1 btr/btr0cur.c line 672
      1 btr/btr0cur.c line 450
      1 ./include/btr0btr.ic line 53

However, if I use pipe sort -n | sort -r, the results are the same as with gnusort:

$ sort -n /tmp/sveta | sort -r
      1 lock/lock0lock.c line 5163
      1 lock/lock0lock.c line 3249
      1 ./include/btr0btr.ic line 53
      1 fsp/fsp0fsp.c line 3395
      1 btr/btr0cur.c line 672
      1 btr/btr0cur.c line 450

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the issue with the provided /tmp/sveta input and compare sort -nr with sort -n | sort -r and GNU sort. Trace the sort command's handling of combined numeric and reverse flags, then verify that the output ordering matches GNU sort and add a regression test for this input.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
cli
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
62/100

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