=======
csvsort
=======

Description
===========

Sort CSV files. Like the Unix "sort" command, but for tabular data::

    usage: csvsort [-h] [-d DELIMITER] [-t] [-q QUOTECHAR] [-u {0,1,2,3}] [-b]
                   [-p ESCAPECHAR] [-z FIELD_SIZE_LIMIT] [-e ENCODING] [-L LOCALE]
                   [-S] [--blanks] [--date-format DATE_FORMAT]
                   [--datetime-format DATETIME_FORMAT] [-H] [-K SKIP_LINES] [-v]
                   [-l] [--zero] [-V] [-n] [-c COLUMNS] [-r] [-y SNIFF_LIMIT] [-I]
                   [FILE]

    Sort CSV files. Like the Unix "sort" command, but for tabular data.

    positional arguments:
      FILE                  The CSV file to operate on. If omitted, will accept
                            input as piped data via STDIN.

    optional arguments:
      -h, --help            show this help message and exit
      -n, --names           Display column names and indices from the input CSV
                            and exit.
      -c COLUMNS, --columns COLUMNS
                            A comma-separated list of column indices, names or
                            ranges to sort by, e.g. "1,id,3-5". Defaults to all
                            columns.
      -r, --reverse         Sort in descending order.
      -y SNIFF_LIMIT, --snifflimit SNIFF_LIMIT
                            Limit CSV dialect sniffing to the specified number of
                            bytes. Specify "0" to disable sniffing.
      -I, --no-inference    Disable type inference when parsing the input.

See also: :doc:`../common_arguments`.

.. note ::

    If your file is large, try :code:`sort -t, file.csv` instead.

Examples
========

Sort the veteran's education benefits table by the "TOTAL" column::

    csvsort -c 9 examples/realdata/FY09_EDU_Recipients_by_State.csv

View the five states with the most individuals claiming veteran's education benefits::

    csvcut -c 1,9 examples/realdata/FY09_EDU_Recipients_by_State.csv | csvsort -r -c 2 | head -n 5
