Can this be done in perl?
Of course! Perl has a built-in sort function that allows you to supply a comparison function so you can specify how you want sorting to be done. 
perldoc -f sort

[download]
For a more tutorial approach, see Randal's article on sorting, in which he introduces the Schwartzian Transform.
Caution: Contents may have been coded under pressure.

In reply to Re: sort by field by Roy Johnson
in thread sort by field by tsvi

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