Please find attached a patch which will modify the "Sort…" dialog by adding 2 columns:
1. Separator
2. Column Number
If you specify a separator and a column number (starting with 1), each line is split at the separator (which is a regular expression) and just the specified column is used for sorting.
Note that you can use multiple separators in each line.
Note that the start and end column, if specified as well, are then used relative to the column.
Example:
Separator: \t
Column: 2
startColumn: 2
endColumn: 2
would just use the second character of the second column for sorting