Sort Me A Column

Need to sort a column within your table without messing with the other columns?
Vim has your back with blockwise visual selections and a bit of gymnastics.

Sample table:

1 this 1 apple is 1 2 this 4 durian is 2 3 this 3 carrot is 3 4 this 2 banana is 4 5 this 5 eggplant is 5

Desired result:

1 this 1 apple is 1 2 this 2 banana is 2 3 this 3 carrot is 3 4 this 4 durian is 4 5 this 5 eggplant is 5

[wrong] Result of naive :sort command:

1 this 1 apple is 1 2 this 4 durian is 2 3 this 3 carrot is 3 4 this 2 banana is 4 5 this 5 eggplant is 5

[wrong] Result of :sort /^. / command (to skip leading numbers):

1 this 1 apple is 1 4 this 2 banana is 4 3 this 3 carrot is 3 2 this 4 durian is 2 5 this 5 eggplant is 5

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A Solution

1. Visually select the column of interest with ctrl-v
   
2. Cut it with x
   
3. Open a temporary scratch buffer with :enew
   
4. Paste with p
   
5. Sort with :sort
   
6. If you need to, ensure your cursor is line 1, col 1 with gg0
   
7. Visually select and yank everything, blockwisely with ctrl-vG$y
   
8. Switch back to where you came from with ctrl-6 (ctrl-^)
   
9. Jump to the start of your original cut with `[
   
10. Paste with P