NAME

       unsort — reorder lines in a file in semirandom ways

SYNOPSIS

       unsort [-hvrpncmMsz0l] [--help] [--version] [--random] [--heuristic] [--identity] [--filenames[=profile]]
              [--separator  sep] [--concatenate] [--merge] [--merge-random] [--seed integer] [--zero-terminated]
              [--null] [--linefeed] [file ...]

DESCRIPTION

       unsort prints the lines in  the  input  files  (or  standard  input)  in  semi-random  order.   Available
       algorithms  are  a Mersenne Twister based PRNG and a heuristic algorithm that aims to create a subjective
       even distribution.

   Command line options
       -h, --help
               Display a concise summary of the available options and argument syntax.

       -v, --version
               Display version and copyright information.

       -r, --random
               Use the Mersenne Twister based randomization algorithm.

       -p, --heuristic
               Use the heuristic “shuffling” algorithm which permutes the lines  in  such  a  way  that  they're
               spread more or less evenly in the output.  This is the default.

       -n, --identity
               Do not reorder lines in the input. Useful if you just want to merge the files.

       -f, --filenames[=profile]
               Assumes the input has a structure similar to filenames and apply randomization seperately to each
               directory level.

               An example would be a list of mp3 files where the top level is the genre, the second level is the
               name  of  the artist and the third level is the name of the album.  The --filenames option allows
               you to randomize the list with different randomization strategies for each of the  artist,  album
               and track levels.

               Two  types  of  randomization are supported: simple and proportional.  Simple randomization picks
               one entry from each directory at that level in a round-robin fashion.  If one directory  contains
               fewer entries than the others, it will run out and stop appearing at some point before the end of
               the output.

               Proportional randomization will spread the directory entries evenly over the output.

               The  profile  argument  can  be  used  to  specify  which  randomization  types  to use.  It is a
               concatenation of the randomization types to use for each level.  Use 1 for  simple  randomization
               and  n  for  proportional  randomization.   If the input has more levels than specified, the last
               character determines the randomization type for all subsequent levels.

               For example, --filenames=n1n means: use proportional randomization  for  the  genre,  use  simple
               randomization  for  the  artists and use proportional randomization again for the album names and
               all levels below that.

       -S, --separator sep
               The directory separator to use with -f.  Defaults to ‘/’.

       -r, --concatenate
               Concatenate all input files then apply the shuffling algorithm to the result as a whole.

       -m, --merge
               Shuffle all input files seperately then merge the result.  Equal-sized files will  be  merged  in
               the order in which they appear on the command line.

       -M, --merge-random
               Shuffle  all  input  files seperately then merge the result.  Equal-sized files will be merged in
               random order.  This is the default.

       -s, --seed integer
               Use this integer as a seed, instead of random data from the environment.

       -z, --zero-terminated, -0, --null
               Lines are terminated with a \0 character.

       -l, --linefeed
               Lines are terminated with a \n character.  This is the default.

SEE ALSO

       sort(1)

Free Software                                      2007-11-25                                          UNSORT(1)