Sort semantic versions, with things like .rc1, .rc2, .rc11 ending up in the right places.

sort-versions

#! /usr/bin/env bash
# sort-versions -- Sort semantic versions, with things like .rc1, .rc2, .rc11 ending up in the right places.

REVERSE=''

let errors=0
while getopts "?hr" opt
do
    case "$opt" in
        (\?|h) let errors++ ;;
        (r) REVERSE=-r ;;
    esac
done

shift $((OPTIND-1))

if (($errors > 0)); then
    cat <<EOF
usage: sort-versions [OPTION] [file ...]

Sort standard input or the specified file using semantic versioning, 
such as 5.0.3, allowing for release candidates specified as 5.0.3.rc.

Options

-? -h	This message.
-r      Reverse the sort order.

Inspired by https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/350315/how-can-i-sort-a-list-with-major-minor-patch-level-and-sometimes-rc-correctly
especially https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/350719
EOF
    exit 1
fi


cat $@ |
    sed -r "s/([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$)/\1\.99999/" |
    sort -V $REVERSE | sed s/\.99999$//

exit

Example: the following: 

release-5.0.3
release-5.0.29
release-5.0.0.rc1
release-5.0.2
release-5.0.20
release-5.0.0.rc2
release-5.0.0
release-5.0.0.rc11
release-5.0.1
release-5.0.0.rc12
release-5.0.10

should become:

release-5.0.0.rc1
release-5.0.0.rc2
release-5.0.0.rc11
release-5.0.0.rc12
release-5.0.0
release-5.0.1
release-5.0.2
release-5.0.3
release-5.0.10
release-5.0.20
release-5.0.29