Line Tools

Sort lines, remove duplicates, add line numbers, shuffle lines, and manipulate text by lines. Perfect for processing lists and data.

Primary Operation:

Additional Operations:

What It Does

Line Tools provides powerful operations for manipulating text line-by-line: sort lines alphabetically or numerically, remove duplicate lines, add line numbers, shuffle lines randomly, reverse line order, filter lines by patterns, and merge or split lines. Each line is treated as a separate unit, making this tool perfect for processing lists, data files, code snippets, and any text where line-by-line operations are needed. The tool handles large text files with thousands of lines, preserves or removes empty lines as needed, and offers case-sensitive or case-insensitive operations. Essential for data processing, list management, code organization, and text manipulation tasks.

Key Features:

  • Sort lines: alphabetically (A-Z or Z-A) or numerically with natural sorting
  • Remove duplicates: find and delete duplicate lines while preserving order
  • Add line numbers: prefix each line with sequential numbers
  • Shuffle lines: randomize line order for sampling or testing
  • Reverse lines: flip line order from bottom to top
  • Filter lines: keep or remove lines matching patterns or keywords
  • Count lines: total lines, unique lines, and duplicate count
  • Trim empty lines: remove blank lines or lines with only whitespace

How To Use

Paste your multi-line text, select the line operation you want to perform, configure options (case sensitivity, numeric sorting, etc.), and process to get transformed text.

1

Enter Multi-Line Text

Paste or type text with multiple lines. This could be a list of names, URLs, file paths, log entries, code lines, or any text data. Each line break creates a separate line that will be processed independently. The tool displays the line count and shows empty lines if present.

2

Select Line Operation

Choose the operation: "Sort Alphabetically" (A-Z or Z-A, case-sensitive or insensitive), "Sort Numerically" (for lists with numbers), "Remove Duplicates" (keep first or last occurrence), "Add Line Numbers" (starting number and format), "Shuffle" (randomize order), "Reverse" (bottom to top), or "Filter" (keep/remove lines containing text). Configure options like case sensitivity, natural sorting (sorts "file2" before "file10"), or duplicate handling.

3

Process and Use Results

Click the operation button to process text. View results showing transformed lines, comparison with original, and statistics (lines removed, lines reordered, duplicates found). Copy the result for use in your application, paste into files, or process further with additional line operations. The tool highlights changes and shows which lines were affected.

Benefits

Data Cleaning: Remove duplicate entries from lists, customer data, or inventory files automatically
List Organization: Sort names, products, URLs, or any list in alphabetical or numerical order
Code Management: Sort import statements, CSS properties, or configuration entries for consistency
Testing: Randomize test cases, shuffle data for sampling, or generate random line orders
Log Analysis: Filter log files for specific errors, sort by timestamp, or remove duplicate entries
Documentation: Add line numbers to code snippets, examples, or instruction steps
Data Processing: Prepare text files for import, merge lists, or clean up data exports

Use Cases

Sorting and De-duplicating Contact Lists

When managing email lists, customer databases, or contact information, sort names alphabetically for easy navigation and remove duplicate entries to prevent sending duplicate emails or wasting storage. Paste your list, select "Remove Duplicates" (case-insensitive to catch "john@example.com" and "John@example.com" as same), then "Sort Alphabetically" A-Z. This is essential for: email marketing campaigns (prevent duplicate sends), CRM data cleanup (merge contact lists from multiple sources), attendee lists for events (sorted for check-in), and mailing list management. The tool preserves one copy of each unique entry while removing all duplicates.

Code Import Statement Organization

Sort import statements in programming files for consistency and readability. Most style guides require alphabetically sorted imports. Copy your import block (Python, JavaScript, Java, etc.), paste into Line Tools, select "Sort Alphabetically" case-sensitive, and optionally "Remove Empty Lines". This works for: Python imports (sort standard library, third-party, local imports separately), JavaScript ES6 imports, Java import statements, CSS @import rules, and SQL table definitions. Sorted imports make code reviews easier, reduce merge conflicts (everyone sorts same way), and help spot missing or unused imports. Many linters (eslint, pylint) enforce sorted imports.

Log File Filtering and Analysis

Extract specific information from application logs, server logs, or error reports. Use "Filter Lines" to keep only lines containing specific keywords: filter for "ERROR" to see only errors, "user123" to track one user's actions, or "2024-12-16" for specific date logs. Combine with "Remove Duplicates" to find unique error messages (deduplicate repeated errors), then "Sort Alphabetically" to group similar errors. This helps with: troubleshooting application issues, identifying recurring problems, security audits (filter for "failed login" or "403"), and performance analysis (filter for "slow query"). Much faster than manually reading thousands of log lines.

Creating Randomized Lists and Samples

Shuffle lists for random selection, A/B testing groups, or fair assignment. Use cases: randomly assign students to groups (paste names, shuffle, split into sections), create randomized quiz questions (shuffle question bank before selecting subset), randomize product display order (prevent position bias in tests), select random winners from entry list (shuffle, take first N entries), or create random sampling for surveys (shuffle large population, select sample size). The tool uses cryptographically secure randomization ensuring truly random order. You can shuffle multiple times to verify randomness or shuffle then sort subgroups for semi-random organized lists.

Adding Line Numbers to Documentation

Add line numbers to code examples, instructions, or reference materials for easier communication and debugging. When reporting bugs, discussing code in reviews, or writing tutorials, line numbers let you reference specific lines: "See line 42" instead of describing location. Use "Add Line Numbers" with format options: "1. " for numbered lists, "L42:" for code-style references, or custom formats like "[042]". This is valuable for: technical documentation with code blocks, step-by-step instructions (automatically numbered), error reporting (reference exact line), and code reviews (discuss specific lines). Many markdown renderers and documentation tools benefit from pre-numbered content.

Frequently Asked Questions

1 What's the difference between alphabetical and numerical sorting?
Alphabetical sorting treats everything as text, sorting character-by-character: "10" comes before "2" because "1" comes before "2" in ASCII order. This gives unexpected results for numbers: "1, 10, 2, 20, 3" when you wanted "1, 2, 3, 10, 20". Numerical sorting (also called natural sorting) recognizes numbers within text and sorts them numerically: "file1, file2, file10" not "file1, file10, file2". Use alphabetical for: pure text (names, words, titles) without numbers. Use numerical/natural for: filenames with numbers, version numbers (v1.9 vs v1.10), street addresses with numbers, or any mixed text-number content. Many tools offer "natural sort" or "human sort" which intelligently handles numbers within text.
2 When removing duplicates, which copy is kept - first or last?
Most line tools offer this as an option. "Keep First Occurrence" preserves the first appearance of each line, removing subsequent duplicates—useful when order matters and you want to preserve original sequence (first entry is most important, oldest data takes precedence). "Keep Last Occurrence" preserves the last appearance, removing earlier duplicates—useful for update scenarios where later entries override earlier ones (most recent data wins, latest version is correct). Some tools also offer "Keep All Unique" which only keeps lines that appear exactly once (removes all duplicates including first occurrence). Choose based on your use case: for email lists, keep first (original subscription). For update logs, keep last (most recent status).
3 Does sorting affect empty lines and whitespace?
Behavior varies by tool. Typically: empty lines (blank lines) sort to the top (before text) in ascending order, or bottom in descending order. Lines with only whitespace may be treated as empty or sort based on whitespace characters. Options usually include: "Remove Empty Lines Before Sorting" (clean first, then sort), "Remove Empty Lines After Sorting" (sort first, then clean), or "Preserve Empty Lines" (keep them in place). For most data processing, remove empty lines before sorting to avoid clutter. For formatted text or code where blank lines are meaningful (separating functions, paragraphs), preserve them or remove before operation and add back later. Check tool settings or preview before processing.
4 Can I sort only part of my text, keeping headers/footers unchanged?
Most basic line tools sort entire input, but you can work around this: copy only the lines you want to sort, process them, then manually reconstruct the file with header/footer. Better tools offer "Skip First N Lines" (preserve header rows) or "Skip Last N Lines" (preserve footer). For advanced needs: use text editors with column/rectangular selection (VS Code, Sublime Text, Vim) to select specific line ranges, or use command-line tools like sort with -k flag for field-specific sorting. For CSV/TSV with headers, use spreadsheet software or specialized CSV tools that recognize header rows. Always backup original before complex sorting to allow recovery if results aren't as expected.
5 How do I handle case sensitivity when removing duplicates?
Case-sensitive duplicate removal treats "Apple", "apple", and "APPLE" as three different unique lines—keeps all three. Case-insensitive treats them as same—keeps only one (typically first or last occurrence). Choose based on your data: case-sensitive for: code (MyClass vs myClass are different), filenames on case-sensitive filesystems (Linux/Mac), technical identifiers where case matters. Case-insensitive for: names (John Smith = john smith = JOHN SMITH), emails (test@Example.com = test@example.com per RFC), URLs (example.com/Page = example.com/page per HTTP), and general text where case doesn't distinguish meaning. Email addresses are technically case-sensitive in local part but most systems treat them case-insensitive. When in doubt, use case-insensitive for user-facing data, case-sensitive for technical data.

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