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?

michalpl7

Hello is there any option to sort ip addresses if they followed by other data in columns? This method is not working. For example:

IP MAC
192.168.1.140 0023-ac20-3918
192.168.1.49 08ea-2931-ca12
192.168.1.145 08ea-2903-bc32
192.168.1.133 98f1-12ca-2456
192.168.1.73 9440-21ab-2512
192.168.1.134 eceb-565a-2953
192.168.1.132 d067-bc22-3174

PeterJones

@michalpl7 said in Can I sort IP addresses in numeric value:

Hello is there any option to sort ip addresses if they followed by other data in columns

@guy038’s regex above assumed the whole line was an IP.

But with a slight tweak – allowing a space or tab to come after the final digits, not just a dot or newline – makes it match any of your examples. So his first FIND WHAT becomes (?:^|(?<=\.))\d(\d)?(?=\.|\h|$)

His first replacement (with spaces) works… but it’s harder to undo later when you have other spaces in the rest of your line. So I change his first REPLACE WITH to 0(?1:0)$0 so that it inserts one or two zeroes instead of one or two spaces

So
FIND = (?:^|(?<=\.))\d(\d)?(?=\.|\h|$)
REPLACE = 0(?1:0)$0
SEARCH MODE = regular expression

That search/replace will give you

192.168.001.140 0023-ac20-3918
192.168.001.049 08ea-2931-ca12
192.168.001.145 08ea-2903-bc32
192.168.001.133 98f1-12ca-2456
192.168.001.073 9440-21ab-2512
192.168.001.134 eceb-565a-2953
192.168.001.132 d067-bc22-3174

Now you can sort lexicographically ascending as he recommended.

Then you need to change the second search/replace. Instead of searching for spaces and removing them, what we want to do is search for leading zeroes and remove them.

FIND = \b0+(?=\d+?(?=\.|\h))
REPLACE = leave empty
SEARCH MODE = regular expression

This got me to

192.168.1.49 08ea-2931-ca12
192.168.1.73 9440-21ab-2512
192.168.1.132 d067-bc22-3174
192.168.1.133 98f1-12ca-2456
192.168.1.134 eceb-565a-2953
192.168.1.140 0023-ac20-3918
192.168.1.145 08ea-2903-bc32

Coises

@michalpl7 said in Can I sort IP addresses in numeric value:

Hello is there any option to sort ip addresses if they followed by other data in columns? This method is not working. For example:

IP MAC
192.168.1.140 0023-ac20-3918
192.168.1.49 08ea-2931-ca12
192.168.1.145 08ea-2903-bc32
192.168.1.133 98f1-12ca-2456
192.168.1.73 9440-21ab-2512
192.168.1.134 eceb-565a-2953
192.168.1.132 d067-bc22-3174

In addition to Peter Jones’ solution, you can also do this in a single operation with the Columns++ plugin.

Select the lines you want to sort.

Select Sort… from the Columns++ menu.

Columns++ Sort for IP addresses.png

Select:
What to sort: Whole lines
Sort type: Ascending and Numeric undefined
Sort key: Regular expression

Check: Specify keys using capture groups.

Enter:
Find what: (\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)
Keys: 1,2,3,4

Click OK.

When asked to “Convert to a rectangular selection enclosing the selected lines?” click OK.

michalpl7

This post is deleted!

michalpl7

@PeterJones hello the problem with this command is that it also could change MAC address deletes “00” from it.

michalpl7

@Coises said in Can I sort IP addresses in numeric value:

1,2,3,4

Perfect! Thanks :)

PeterJones

@michalpl7 said in Can I sort IP addresses in numeric value:

it also could change MAC address deletes “00” from it

I was afraid you were going to realize that exception.

(?:^|\.)\K0+(?=\d+?(?=\.|\h))

This changes the requirement to whatever goes before the leading zero digits must be either start of line or a period. But because of the \K, you have to use Replace All (it will not work with a single Replace)

When I tried my old one on

192.168.001.020 d067-bc22-0004

it wrongly became

192.168.1.20 d067-bc22-4

but when I tried my modified expression, it correctly became

192.168.1.20 d067-bc22-0004

But if @Coises’s plugin solution works for you, I’d go that way, because it doesn’t involve as much complication, and ensures that it’s only dealing with the digits inside an IP address.