SlickEdit User Guide

Sorting Text
SORTING TEXT
SlickEdit® uses a stable quicksort algorithm to sort text. It is recommended that at least half the text be in
memory for best speed results. To sort text, from the main menu, click Tools > Sort. The Sort dialog box is
displayed, as pictured below.
The following options are available:
• Type of sort - Choose the type of sort that you prefer from the following options:
o Sort buffer - When this option is selected, the entire contents of the buffer that you are
working in are sorted.
o Sort on selection - When this option is selected, each line intersecting with the selection is
sorted based on the selected column. Sort on selection and Sort within selection have the
same effect except when sorting a block or column selection.
o Sort within selection - When this option is selected, the selected text is sorted. Text outside a
block or column selection is not moved. The Sort on selection and Sort within selection
options have the same effect except when sorting a block or column selection.
• Order - Choose Ascending or Descending. In an ascending sort, the lowest text item sorted is
placed at the top.
• Numeric sort - When this option is selected, a numeric comparison is performed.
• Remove duplicate lines - When this option is selected, it removes adjacent lines that are
identical. This option does not fully support column selection (it always compares complete lines).
• Case sensitive - When this option is selected, the sort is case-sensitive.
Sort Commands
To use the command line for sorting, first activate the command line by pressing Esc. Sort command
syntax is in the form SortCommand OptionLetter(s). The following sort commands are available:
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