Info Catalog coreutils: What information is listed coreutils: ls invocation coreutils: General output formatting

coreutils: Sorting the output

 
 10.1.3 Sorting the output
 -------------------------
 
 These options change the order in which ‘ls’ sorts the information it
 outputs.  By default, sorting is done by character code (e.g., ASCII
 order).
 
 ‘-c’
 ‘--time=ctime’
 ‘--time=status’
      If the long listing format (e.g., ‘-l’, ‘-o’) is being used, print
      the status change timestamp (the ctime) instead of the mtime.  When
      explicitly sorting by time (‘--sort=time’ or ‘-t’) or when not
      using a long listing format, sort according to the ctime.  ⇒
      File timestamps.
 
 ‘-f’
      Primarily, like ‘-U’—do not sort; list the files in whatever order
      they are stored in the directory.  But also enable ‘-a’ (list all
      files) and disable ‘-l’, ‘--color’, and ‘-s’ (if they were
      specified before the ‘-f’).
 
 ‘-r’
 ‘--reverse’
      Reverse whatever the sorting method is—e.g., list files in reverse
      alphabetical order, youngest first, smallest first, or whatever.
 
 ‘-S’
 ‘--sort=size’
      Sort by file size, largest first.
 
 ‘-t’
 ‘--sort=time’
      Sort by modification timestamp (mtime) by default, newest first.
      The timestamp to order by can be changed with the ‘--time’ option.
      ⇒File timestamps.
 
 ‘-u’
 ‘--time=atime’
 ‘--time=access’
 ‘--time=use’
      If the long listing format (e.g., ‘--format=long’) is being used,
      print the last access timestamp (the atime).  When explicitly
      sorting by time (‘--sort=time’ or ‘-t’) or when not using a long
      listing format, sort according to the atime.  ⇒File
      timestamps.
 
 ‘--time=birth’
 ‘--time=creation’
      If the long listing format (e.g., ‘--format=long’) is being used,
      print the file creation timestamp if available.  When explicitly
      sorting by time (‘--sort=time’ or ‘-t’) or when not using a long
      listing format, sort according to the birth time.  ⇒File
      timestamps.
 
 ‘-U’
 ‘--sort=none’
      Do not sort; list the files in whatever order they are stored in
      the directory.  (Do not do any of the other unrelated things that
      ‘-f’ does.)  This is especially useful when listing very large
      directories, since not doing any sorting can be noticeably faster.
 
 ‘-v’
 ‘--sort=version’
      Sort by version name and number, lowest first.  It behaves like a
      default sort, except that each sequence of decimal digits is
      treated numerically as an index/version number.  (⇒Version
      sort ordering.)
 
 ‘-X’
 ‘--sort=extension’
      Sort directory contents alphabetically by file extension
      (characters after the last ‘.’); files with no extension are sorted
      first.
 

Info Catalog coreutils: What information is listed coreutils: ls invocation coreutils: General output formatting