Docs for 4.16.1

operators/sort.md

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+# Sort
+
+Sorts an array. Use `sort` to sort an array as is, or `sort_by` to sort by a particular subfield.
+
+Note that at this stage, `yq` only sorts scalar fields.
+
+## Sort by string field
+Given a sample.yml file of:
+```yaml
+- a: banana
+- a: cat
+- a: apple
+```
+then
+```bash
+yq eval 'sort_by(.a)' sample.yml
+```
+will output
+```yaml
+- a: apple
+- a: banana
+- a: cat
+```
+
+## Sort is stable
+Note the order of the elements in unchanged when equal in sorting.
+
+Given a sample.yml file of:
+```yaml
+- a: banana
+  b: 1
+- a: banana
+  b: 2
+- a: banana
+  b: 3
+- a: banana
+  b: 4
+```
+then
+```bash
+yq eval 'sort_by(.a)' sample.yml
+```
+will output
+```yaml
+- a: banana
+  b: 1
+- a: banana
+  b: 2
+- a: banana
+  b: 3
+- a: banana
+  b: 4
+```
+
+## Sort by numeric field
+Given a sample.yml file of:
+```yaml
+- a: 10
+- a: 100
+- a: 1
+```
+then
+```bash
+yq eval 'sort_by(.a)' sample.yml
+```
+will output
+```yaml
+- a: 1
+- a: 10
+- a: 100
+```
+
+## Sort, nulls come first
+Given a sample.yml file of:
+```yaml
+- 8
+- 3
+- null
+- 6
+- true
+- false
+- cat
+```
+then
+```bash
+yq eval 'sort' sample.yml
+```
+will output
+```yaml
+- null
+- false
+- true
+- 3
+- 6
+- 8
+- cat
+```
+