Linux Tip: SORT of linux

If you want to sort a tab limited file in ascending order according to one column (like 5th column), you can use:

sort -k5,5n input

However, if you want to sort the file in descending order ccording to one column (like 5th column), you cann't use:

sort -r -k5,5n input 

You can use:

sort -r n-k5,5 input 

 -n, --numeric-sort
          compare according to string numerical value
-r, --reverse
         reverse the result of comparisons