Can I sort IP addresses in numeric value

Mark Brookman

Hello,

I have a problem, I need to find a way to sort ip addresses in the following format:

192.168.1.1
192.168.1.2
192.168.2.12
192.168.2.34
192.168.3.4

This is just a small example I am moving the data into notepad ++ in a jumbled format i.e

192.168.2.3
172.10.10.3
192.168.1.56

Has anyone come across this problem and can help please?

guy038

Hi, @mark-brookman,

Not very difficult, indeed ! We just have to re-write each IPV4 address, in such a way that it only needs a classical sort ;-)

So, starting, for instance, with that list of IPV4 addresses, below :

192.168.5.13
192.168.5.9
192.168.5.205
192.205.54.3
92.168.5.3
9.168.5.3
192.168.210.3
192.168.17.107
192.168.17.3
192.20.2.3
192.205.7.3
12.120.255.0
192.168.210.127
192.168.210.29
1.1.12.127
0.0.0.0
255.255.255.255

Now :

Move back to the beginning of your list
Open the Replace dialog
Enter (?:^|(?<=\.))\d(\d)?(?=\.|$), in the Find what: zone
Enter \x20(?1:\x20)$0, in the Replace with: zone
Select the Regular expression search mode
Click on the Replace All button

You should obtain the modified list, below :

192.168.  5. 13
192.168.  5.  9
192.168.  5.205
192.205. 54.  3
 92.168.  5.  3
  9.168.  5.  3
192.168.210.  3
192.168. 17.107
192.168. 17.  3
192. 20.  2.  3
192.205.  7.  3
 12.120.255.  0
192.168.210.127
192.168.210. 29
  1.  1. 12.127
  0.  0.  0.  0
255.255.255.255

Notes :

This S/R adds :
- Two space characters to any individual one-digit number of an IPV4 address
- One space character to any individual two-digits number of an IPV4 address
The string searched is the part \d(\d)? of the search regex, that is to say an individual one or two digits number. Note that in case of a one-digit number, the optional group (\d) does not exist
An overall match will occur, ONLY IF it is, both :
- Preceded by a beginning of line or a dot symbol ( (?:^|(?<=\.)) ) Note the non-capturing group (?:......)
- Followed by a dot symbol or an end of line, ( (?=\.|$) )
In replacement , we rewrite :
A first space character ( \x20 )
A second space character, only if group 1 does not exist ( (?1:\x20) , with the ELSE part, after the colon \x20 )
Finally, the entire searched string ( $0 ), which is a one or two digit(s) individual number

Now, sort this list with the option Edit > Line Operations > Sort lines Lexicographically Ascending. You obtain :

  0.  0.  0.  0
  1.  1. 12.127
  9.168.  5.  3
 12.120.255.  0
 92.168.  5.  3
192. 20.  2.  3
192.168.  5.  9
192.168.  5. 13
192.168.  5.205
192.168. 17.  3
192.168. 17.107
192.168.210.  3
192.168.210. 29
192.168.210.127
192.205.  7.  3
192.205. 54.  3
255.255.255.255

Finally, just get rid of all space characters, with the simple regex S/R, below :

SEARCH \x20

REPLACE Leave EMPTY

Et voilà !

Here is your list of IPV4 adresses, sorted in a numeric way :-))

0.0.0.0
1.1.12.127
9.168.5.3
12.120.255.0
92.168.5.3
192.20.2.3
192.168.5.9
192.168.5.13
192.168.5.205
192.168.17.3
192.168.17.107
192.168.210.3
192.168.210.29
192.168.210.127
192.205.7.3
192.205.54.3
255.255.255.255

Best Regards,

guy038

Gabriel Cunningham

Great post and detailed explanation.

The following is a solution to a scenario when migrating DHCP reserved MAC addresses. When exporting via command line on server, the subsection regarding reserved IP is not sorted. In efforts to clean-up this list prior to migration, sorting is a great solution.

Exporting DHCP data from Windows Server via command line as explained here:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/325473/how-to-move-a-dhcp-database-from-a-computer-that-is-running-windows-nt

Export:

netsh dhcp server dump > C:\dhcp.txt

Import:

netsh exec c:\dhcp.txt

Within the section “Add ReservedIp to the Scope” each line is dumped like (MacAddress is actual):

Dhcp Server \\domain.name.local Scope 192.168.10.0 Add reservedip 192.168.10.125 MacAddress "DeviceName" "DeviceName" "BOTH"

Leveraging details from a similar post (below) I was able to adapt a version for my specific needs:
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/community/topic/11105/feature-request-sort-by-ip-address-cidr-notation

Enter (?:^|(?<=\.))\d(\d)?(?=\.|$|\s), in the Find what: zone
Enter \x23(?1:\x23)$0, in the Replace with: zone

Note: The addition of the pipe, forward-slash, s (match trailing space)
(I chose ASCII hex 23 (dec 35) number sign as a temporary char place holder not shown in the DHCP server naming. Experiment to see which char works for your needs.)
http://www.ascii.cl/htmlcodes.htm

The end result is proper spacing (padded with “hashes”).

Then sort via “Sort Lines Lexicographically Ascending”
https://superuser.com/questions/762279/sorting-lines-in-notepad-without-the-textfx-plugin#762281

Now “unpad” the IP address for later import:
SEARCH \x23
REPLACE Leave EMPTY

Hope this helps.

Mark Brookman

Hi,

Thankyou for the post, I have a task for this soon and will give you an update.

Many Thanks

Mark

Mark Brookman

Many Thanks this works great!!!

Matthijs Wensveen

Works great. Tiny addition: make sure you have the correct EOL. I replaced the comma’s in a comma-separated list of IP addresses with ‘\n’ in a CRLF (Windows) document. Sorting as described above produced unpredictable (to me) results.

Scott Sumner

@Matthijs-Wensveen said:

I replaced the comma’s in a comma-separated list of IP addresses with ‘\n’ in a CRLF (Windows) document

For the benefit of any future readers, what you should have done is a regular-expression replacement with \r\n for a Windows document.

Sorting as described above produced unpredictable (to me) results.

What does this mean? You also said “Works great”–so which is it?