#! perl -slw use strict; my @data; while( ) { if( /^\s/ ) { push @{ $data[ -1 ] }, split; } else { push @data, [ split ]; } } print "@$_" for sort{ substr( $a->[ 3 ], -1 ) cmp substr( $b->[ 3 ], -1 ) }@data; __DATA__ a1q b1w c1e d1r e1t f1y a2u b2i c2o d2p e2a f2s a3d b3f c3g d3h e3j f3k p3 q3 r3 s3 t3 u3 a4l b4z c4x d4c e4v f4b a5n b5m c5q d5w e5e f5r p5 q5 r5 s5 t5 u5 a6t b6y c6u d6i e6o f6p