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Why does the `ls` command sort files like this?
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As I was trying to reverse engineer the ls command, I came upon an interesting behavior. When I make 3 files, foo.png, foopa.png, and fooqa.png, ls sorts them as foopa.png, foo.png, and fooqa.png. I also tried it using the .gif extension and it seems to be that it happens when p and q are replaced by the first letter of the extension and the next letter in the alphabet; so in the case of .gif it would be g and h. (fooga.gif, then foo.gif, then fooha.gif)
Why does it order the output this way?
linux command-line sorting ls coreutils
asked 9 hours ago
mooncat39mooncat39
314 bronze badges
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mooncat39 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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add a comment |
As I was trying to reverse engineer the ls command, I came upon an interesting behavior. When I make 3 files, foo.png, foopa.png, and fooqa.png, ls sorts them as foopa.png, foo.png, and fooqa.png. I also tried it using the .gif extension and it seems to be that it happens when p and q are replaced by the first letter of the extension and the next letter in the alphabet; so in the case of .gif it would be g and h. (fooga.gif, then foo.gif, then fooha.gif)
Why does it order the output this way?
linux command-line sorting ls coreutils
asked 9 hours ago
mooncat39mooncat39
314 bronze badges
New contributor
mooncat39 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
1
Don't post links to images of text.
– RalfFriedl
8 hours ago
@RalfFriedl Oh sorry about that, I'll fix it
– mooncat39
8 hours ago
add a comment |
As I was trying to reverse engineer the ls command, I came upon an interesting behavior. When I make 3 files, foo.png, foopa.png, and fooqa.png, ls sorts them as foopa.png, foo.png, and fooqa.png. I also tried it using the .gif extension and it seems to be that it happens when p and q are replaced by the first letter of the extension and the next letter in the alphabet; so in the case of .gif it would be g and h. (fooga.gif, then foo.gif, then fooha.gif)
Why does it order the output this way?
linux command-line sorting ls coreutils
asked 9 hours ago
mooncat39mooncat39
314 bronze badges
New contributor
mooncat39 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
As I was trying to reverse engineer the ls command, I came upon an interesting behavior. When I make 3 files, foo.png, foopa.png, and fooqa.png, ls sorts them as foopa.png, foo.png, and fooqa.png. I also tried it using the .gif extension and it seems to be that it happens when p and q are replaced by the first letter of the extension and the next letter in the alphabet; so in the case of .gif it would be g and h. (fooga.gif, then foo.gif, then fooha.gif)
Why does it order the output this way?
linux command-line sorting ls coreutils
linux command-line sorting ls coreutils
asked 9 hours ago
mooncat39mooncat39
314 bronze badges
New contributor
mooncat39 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 9 hours ago
mooncat39mooncat39
314 bronze badges
New contributor
mooncat39 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 8 hours ago
mooncat39
asked 9 hours ago
mooncat39mooncat39
314 bronze badges
New contributor
mooncat39 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 9 hours ago
mooncat39mooncat39
314 bronze badges
asked 9 hours ago
mooncat39mooncat39
314 bronze badges
314 bronze badges
New contributor
mooncat39 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
mooncat39 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
1
Don't post links to images of text.
– RalfFriedl
8 hours ago
@RalfFriedl Oh sorry about that, I'll fix it
– mooncat39
8 hours ago
add a comment |
1
Don't post links to images of text.
– RalfFriedl
8 hours ago
@RalfFriedl Oh sorry about that, I'll fix it
– mooncat39
8 hours ago
1
1
Don't post links to images of text.
– RalfFriedl
8 hours ago
Don't post links to images of text.
– RalfFriedl
8 hours ago
@RalfFriedl Oh sorry about that, I'll fix it
– mooncat39
8 hours ago
@RalfFriedl Oh sorry about that, I'll fix it
– mooncat39
8 hours ago
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
It depends on the collation order of your locale:
>LANG=en_IE.UTF-8 ls -1 foo*
foopa.png
foo.png
fooqa.png
>LANG=C ls -1 foo*
foo.png
foopa.png
fooqa.png
C collation order is purely alphabetical (ASCII order). Other collation orders (such as English) may consider spaces and special characters such as dots as separators and either handle "words" separately or just ignore these separators (which appears to be the case here).
Note that the non-UTF-8 locale sorts using alphabetic ASCII, too:
>LANG=en_IE ls -1 foo*
foo.png
foopa.png
fooqa.png
answered 7 hours ago
xenoidxenoid
5,3283 gold badges10 silver badges21 bronze badges
add a comment |
ls sorts alphabetically according to strcoll() unless you tell it otherwise. It doesn't treat the period specially, so it won't sort by the "filename extension" after any periods that are there.
It is perplexing that period comes between p and q in the sort order, though! In the default C locale, period comes before any letters (man ascii).
Here's a concise puzzle for other answerers, which I confirmed with ltrace -e strcoll /bin/ls on Ubuntu 14.04:
Why does f.g come before fga.g,
but f.gif comes after fga.gif?
answered 8 hours ago
Camille GoudeseuneCamille Goudeseune
8721 gold badge15 silver badges31 bronze badges
1
This can be explained if the collation order for english just ignores the dots. You get the same order forfg fgag fgif fgagif.
– xenoid
7 hours ago
add a comment |
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2 Answers
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2 Answers
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active
oldest
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votes
It depends on the collation order of your locale:
>LANG=en_IE.UTF-8 ls -1 foo*
foopa.png
foo.png
fooqa.png
>LANG=C ls -1 foo*
foo.png
foopa.png
fooqa.png
C collation order is purely alphabetical (ASCII order). Other collation orders (such as English) may consider spaces and special characters such as dots as separators and either handle "words" separately or just ignore these separators (which appears to be the case here).
Note that the non-UTF-8 locale sorts using alphabetic ASCII, too:
>LANG=en_IE ls -1 foo*
foo.png
foopa.png
fooqa.png
answered 7 hours ago
xenoidxenoid
5,3283 gold badges10 silver badges21 bronze badges
add a comment |
It depends on the collation order of your locale:
>LANG=en_IE.UTF-8 ls -1 foo*
foopa.png
foo.png
fooqa.png
>LANG=C ls -1 foo*
foo.png
foopa.png
fooqa.png
C collation order is purely alphabetical (ASCII order). Other collation orders (such as English) may consider spaces and special characters such as dots as separators and either handle "words" separately or just ignore these separators (which appears to be the case here).
Note that the non-UTF-8 locale sorts using alphabetic ASCII, too:
>LANG=en_IE ls -1 foo*
foo.png
foopa.png
fooqa.png
answered 7 hours ago
xenoidxenoid
5,3283 gold badges10 silver badges21 bronze badges
add a comment |
It depends on the collation order of your locale:
>LANG=en_IE.UTF-8 ls -1 foo*
foopa.png
foo.png
fooqa.png
>LANG=C ls -1 foo*
foo.png
foopa.png
fooqa.png
C collation order is purely alphabetical (ASCII order). Other collation orders (such as English) may consider spaces and special characters such as dots as separators and either handle "words" separately or just ignore these separators (which appears to be the case here).
Note that the non-UTF-8 locale sorts using alphabetic ASCII, too:
>LANG=en_IE ls -1 foo*
foo.png
foopa.png
fooqa.png
answered 7 hours ago
xenoidxenoid
5,3283 gold badges10 silver badges21 bronze badges
It depends on the collation order of your locale:
>LANG=en_IE.UTF-8 ls -1 foo*
foopa.png
foo.png
fooqa.png
>LANG=C ls -1 foo*
foo.png
foopa.png
fooqa.png
C collation order is purely alphabetical (ASCII order). Other collation orders (such as English) may consider spaces and special characters such as dots as separators and either handle "words" separately or just ignore these separators (which appears to be the case here).
Note that the non-UTF-8 locale sorts using alphabetic ASCII, too:
>LANG=en_IE ls -1 foo*
foo.png
foopa.png
fooqa.png
answered 7 hours ago
xenoidxenoid
5,3283 gold badges10 silver badges21 bronze badges
edited 6 hours ago
answered 7 hours ago
xenoidxenoid
5,3283 gold badges10 silver badges21 bronze badges
answered 7 hours ago
xenoidxenoid
5,3283 gold badges10 silver badges21 bronze badges
answered 7 hours ago
xenoidxenoid
5,3283 gold badges10 silver badges21 bronze badges
5,3283 gold badges10 silver badges21 bronze badges
add a comment |
add a comment |
ls sorts alphabetically according to strcoll() unless you tell it otherwise. It doesn't treat the period specially, so it won't sort by the "filename extension" after any periods that are there.
It is perplexing that period comes between p and q in the sort order, though! In the default C locale, period comes before any letters (man ascii).
Here's a concise puzzle for other answerers, which I confirmed with ltrace -e strcoll /bin/ls on Ubuntu 14.04:
Why does f.g come before fga.g,
but f.gif comes after fga.gif?
answered 8 hours ago
Camille GoudeseuneCamille Goudeseune
8721 gold badge15 silver badges31 bronze badges
1
This can be explained if the collation order for english just ignores the dots. You get the same order forfg fgag fgif fgagif.
– xenoid
7 hours ago
add a comment |
ls sorts alphabetically according to strcoll() unless you tell it otherwise. It doesn't treat the period specially, so it won't sort by the "filename extension" after any periods that are there.
It is perplexing that period comes between p and q in the sort order, though! In the default C locale, period comes before any letters (man ascii).
Here's a concise puzzle for other answerers, which I confirmed with ltrace -e strcoll /bin/ls on Ubuntu 14.04:
Why does f.g come before fga.g,
but f.gif comes after fga.gif?
answered 8 hours ago
Camille GoudeseuneCamille Goudeseune
8721 gold badge15 silver badges31 bronze badges
1
This can be explained if the collation order for english just ignores the dots. You get the same order forfg fgag fgif fgagif.
– xenoid
7 hours ago
add a comment |
ls sorts alphabetically according to strcoll() unless you tell it otherwise. It doesn't treat the period specially, so it won't sort by the "filename extension" after any periods that are there.
It is perplexing that period comes between p and q in the sort order, though! In the default C locale, period comes before any letters (man ascii).
Here's a concise puzzle for other answerers, which I confirmed with ltrace -e strcoll /bin/ls on Ubuntu 14.04:
Why does f.g come before fga.g,
but f.gif comes after fga.gif?
answered 8 hours ago
Camille GoudeseuneCamille Goudeseune
8721 gold badge15 silver badges31 bronze badges
ls sorts alphabetically according to strcoll() unless you tell it otherwise. It doesn't treat the period specially, so it won't sort by the "filename extension" after any periods that are there.
It is perplexing that period comes between p and q in the sort order, though! In the default C locale, period comes before any letters (man ascii).
Here's a concise puzzle for other answerers, which I confirmed with ltrace -e strcoll /bin/ls on Ubuntu 14.04:
Why does f.g come before fga.g,
but f.gif comes after fga.gif?
answered 8 hours ago
Camille GoudeseuneCamille Goudeseune
8721 gold badge15 silver badges31 bronze badges
edited 7 hours ago
answered 8 hours ago
Camille GoudeseuneCamille Goudeseune
8721 gold badge15 silver badges31 bronze badges
answered 8 hours ago
Camille GoudeseuneCamille Goudeseune
8721 gold badge15 silver badges31 bronze badges
answered 8 hours ago
Camille GoudeseuneCamille Goudeseune
8721 gold badge15 silver badges31 bronze badges
8721 gold badge15 silver badges31 bronze badges
1
This can be explained if the collation order for english just ignores the dots. You get the same order forfg fgag fgif fgagif.
– xenoid
7 hours ago
add a comment |
1
This can be explained if the collation order for english just ignores the dots. You get the same order forfg fgag fgif fgagif.
– xenoid
7 hours ago
1
1
This can be explained if the collation order for english just ignores the dots. You get the same order for
fg fgag fgif fgagif.– xenoid
7 hours ago
This can be explained if the collation order for english just ignores the dots. You get the same order for
fg fgag fgif fgagif.– xenoid
7 hours ago
add a comment |
mooncat39 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
mooncat39 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
mooncat39 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
mooncat39 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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1
Don't post links to images of text.
– RalfFriedl
8 hours ago
@RalfFriedl Oh sorry about that, I'll fix it
– mooncat39
8 hours ago