How to sort characters in a string?

Question

I would like to sort the characters in a string.

E.g.

echo cba | sort-command
abc

Is there a command that will allow me to do this

Answer 1

Another perl one-liner

$ echo cba | perl -F -lane 'print sort @F'
abc

$ # for reverse order
$ echo xyz | perl -F -lane 'print reverse sort @F'
zyx
$ # or
$ echo xyz | perl -F -lane 'print sort {$b cmp $a} @F'
zyx

• This will add newline to output as well, courtesy -l option
  • See Command switches for doc on all the options
• The input is basically split character wise and saved in @F array
• Then sorted @F is printed

This will also work line wise for given input file

$ cat ip.txt 
idea
cold
spare
umbrella

$ perl -F -lane 'print sort @F' ip.txt 
adei
cdlo
aeprs
abellmru