If you have a whole bunch of email addresses - such as when combining the address books of two or more incompatible email programs - your list will probably contain some duplicates. Not only that, but the collection also probably isn't in any kind of order you can look at to determine if a new address is one you need to add or not.
This is exactly the sort of situation where you need eSortTM to get your life in order. This nifty little utility sorts a list of email addresses alphabetically first by server, then by user name. In the process it removes duplicates, optionally writing them to another file. (If you really want to keep the duplicates, you can tell eSortTM to keep them in the output stream.) When it's done, you can also have the program tell you how many addresses were in the input, how many in the sorted list, and how many were discarded.
eSortTM is quite flexible in its operation: If no parameters are supplied on the command line, it reads from standard input, and writes to standard output, just like a Unix-style filter program. You can also specify an input file to read, an output file to write, or both, using command line switches. Another switch identifies the file to write the list of dropped addresses to, if desired. See the complete list of command line switches below to see all of the options available.
See the usage examples below for illustrations of the use of the command line switches.
eSortTM is a 32-bit MS-DOS application, i.e., it runs in a DOS box on Windows machines. A version for Linux may become available at some point in the future (after the libraries it's built on are ported).
eSortTM version 01.00 now |
eSortTM is distributed in a single ZIP file that contains only the executable program. Use PKUNZIP (or a similar utility) to extract the file to your Windows directory once you have saved the archive on your computer.
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eSort /i=infile /o=outfile /d=dropfile /n /r /q /v /h
This table describes each of the switches, and its effect on the program's operation:
| Switch | Specifies | Notes, description |
|---|---|---|
| /i | input file | Use this switch to specify the name of an existing file to read the list of email addresses to be sorted from. If a file is not specified using this switch, eSortTM reads the addresses from the standard input, which may be redirected. |
| /o | output file | This switch specifies the name of the file the sorted list is to be written to. If the file already exists, it is replaced without warning. If an output file is not specified by using this switch, eSortTM writes the sorted list to the standard output, which may be redirected. |
| /d | duplicate list |
Use this switch to create a file containing a list of all of the
duplicate email addresses discarded from the input list. If a discard
list file is not specified, eSortTM
just discards any duplicate records without further notice, unless the
"/n" (no discard) switch is specified. Note: The email addresses in the "discard" list are not guaranteed to be unique. |
| /n | no discard | Unless this switch is used, eSortTM removes duplicate addresses from the output stream. Specify this switch if you want the duplicates written to the output list. |
| /r | report summary | If this switch is used, eSortTM writes a summary of the results of its operation to the standard output when it finishes. The summary indicates the number of email addresses found in the input list, how many were discarded, the number written to the output list, and the date and time the program ran. |
| /q | quiet mode | This switch tells eSortTM not to write the program banner to the standard output. Unless this switch is specified, the program's name, version number, and copyright notice are displayed. |
| /v | version display | eSortTM displays its internal version information and copyright notices only. This switch overrides all others, except the "/h" (help display) switch. |
| /h | help display | eSortTM writes the help information to the standard output. No other processing performed. |
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eSort /i=infile.txt /o=outfile.txt eSort < infile.txt > outfile.txt
If you want to use switches with either standard input or standard output
redirected, be sure to specify the switches before the redirection, as shown in
this example:
eSort /d=dropped.txt /q /r < infile.txt > outfile.txt
The example immediately above reads addresses from infile.txt, does not
write the program banner to the standard output, but does write both the sorted
list and the results summary there. Since the standard output has been
redirected to outfile.txt, the file will contain the sorted list of
addresses, and the summary statistics at its end.
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eSort version 01.00. Copyright 2001 by L5 Software Development Sorts email addresses alphabetically first by server, then by user name Enter one address per line on input, the output is written likewise. Usage: eSort /i=infile /o=outfile /d=dropfile /n /r /q /v /h where /i = input file. If not specified, read from stdin /o = output file. If not specified, write sorted list to stdout /d = duplicate list. If not specified, just discard duplicates /n = no discard: duplicate addresses are written to the output list /r = report summary results to stdout /q = quiet mode, do not write program banner /v = version display, displays internal version information only /h = help display, no other processing performed This program is distributed as shareware: You may share it with whomever you wish, provided you do not charge for distributing it. Try the program, and if you find it useful, please contribute to its support by registering your copy: Financial support encourages program development. Register at our Web site http://www.L5Software.com/go?eSort All profits are for commercial space exploration and development. Please visit http://www.L5Development.com
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eSort version 01.00. Copyright 2001 by L5 Software Development DOS_IF.LIB Copyright 1986-1999 by FKE. All rights reserved FKETrees.LIB Copyright 1996-1998 by FKE. All rights reserved GENERAL.LIB Copyright 1991-1997 by FKE. All rights reserved NTIO.LIB Copyright 1996-2000 by FKE. All rights reserved STRINGS.LIB Copyright 1991-1997 by FKE. All rights reserved This program is distributed as shareware: You may share it with whomever you wish, provided you do not charge for distributing it. Try the program, and if you find it useful, please contribute to its support by registering your copy: Financial support encourages program development. Register at our Web site http://www.L5Software.com/go?eSort All profits are for commercial space exploration and development. Please visit http://www.L5Development.com
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