Hello:
I am a number theory mathematician, using linux as a computer platform
for my studies.
In using the sort command with the -n option, such as the command
%sort -k3,3n close.2 > close.3
I noticed that the 93 digits in the 3rd field are NOT numerically
ordered, although most were.
I switched to the dictionary order
%sort -k3,3 close.2 > close.3
and then close.3 seems to be in the correct numerical sequence in field 3.
Can anyone share with me how many digits the -n option can safely sort?
Can we do decimals > 17 digits with this option? Can sort be
strengthened to handle digits > 17 ?
Thank you for letting me know. I attach a short 100 line sample file
which was extracted from the 29,984 line actual close.2 file.
Randall