jed is capable of sorting a region of lines using the heapsort
algorithm. The region is sorted alphabetically based upon the ASCII values
of the characters located within a user defined rectangle in the region.
That is, the rectangle simply defines the characters upon what the sort is
based. Simply move to the top line of the region and set the mark on the
top left corner of the rectangle. Move to the bottom line and place the
point at the position which defines the lower right corner of the
rectangle. Press ESC X to get the M-x prompt and enter
sort As as example, consider the following data:
Fruit: Quantity:
lemons 3
pears 37
peaches 175
apples 200
oranges 56
To sort the data based upon the name, move the Point to the top left
corner of the sorting rectangle. In this case, the Point should be moved
to the l in the word lemons. Set the mark. Now move to the
lower right corner of the rectangle which is immediately after the s
in oranges. Pressing ESC X and entering sort yields:
Fruit: Quantity:
apples 200
lemons 3
oranges 56
peaches 175
pears 37
Suppose that it is desired to sort by quantity instead. Looking at the
original (unsorted) data, move the Point to two spaces before the 3
on the line containing lemons. The cursor should be right under the
u in Quantity. Set the mark. Now move the Point to immediately after 56 on
the oranges line and again press ESC X and enter sort.
This yields the desired sort:
Fruit: Quantity:
lemons 3
pears 37
oranges 56
peaches 175
apples 200