Describes key fields, including the position, size, sorting
order, and data type. Both the position and size of the key field
must be specified, except for floating point data types where the
size is known. By default, Sort reorders a file by sorting entire
records with character data in ascending order. Any other type of
key field must be specified. When you specify multiple keys, use
a separate /KEY qualifier for each key.
Format
/KEY=(field [,...])
1 – Fields
POSITION:n
Specifies the position of the first byte in the key field. A
value of 1 to 32,767 may be specified. The first byte in a record
is considered position 1. The POSITION:n field must be specified.
(Note that the SIZE:n field must also be specified, except for
floating point data types where the size is known.)
SIZE:n
Specifies the length of the key field. The total composite size
of all keys and the original input record length must be less
than 32,767 bytes. If the decimal sign is stored in a separate
byte in the key field, that byte is not counted toward the size
of the data.
Both the POSITION:n and SIZE:n fields must be specified, except
for floating point data types where the size is known.
The data type of the key determines what values are acceptable
when specifying size as well as the units in which the size is
specified:
o 1 to 32,767 (characters) for character data
o 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 (bytes) for binary data
High-performance Sort/Merge: The high-performance Sort/Merge
utility currently supports only 1, 2, 4, and 8-byte binary
keys.
o 1 to 31 (digits) for decimal data
o No value is necessary for floating point data
ASCENDING
Orders the sorting operation in ascending alphabetical or
numerical order. ASCENDING is the default order.
DESCENDING
Orders the sorting operation in descending alphabetical or
numerical order.
CHARACTER
Specifies character data in the key field. CHARACTER is the
default data type.
BINARY
Specifies binary data in the key field.
SIGNED
Specifies signed binary or decimal data in key field. SIGNED is
the default for binary and decimal data.
UNSIGNED
Specifies unsigned binary or decimal data in the key field.
F_FLOATING
Specifies F_FLOATING format data in the key field.
D_FLOATING
Specifies D_FLOATING format data in the key field.
G_FLOATING
Specifies G_FLOATING format data in the key field.
H_FLOATING
Specifies H_FLOATING format data in the key field.
High-performance Sort/Merge: Not supported by the high-
performance Sort/Merge utility.
S_FLOATING
On Alpha and I64 systems, specifies IEEE S_FLOATING format data
in the key field.
T_FLOATING
On Alpha and I64 systems, specifies IEEE T_FLOATING format data
in the key field.
DECIMAL
Specifies decimal data in the key field.
TRAILING_SIGN
Specifies trailing sign decimal data in the key field. TRAILING_
SIGN is the default for decimal data.
LEADING_SIGN
Specifies leading sign decimal data in the key field. The leading
sign must be in the first position of the field and the field
must be left zero padded.
OVERPUNCHED_SIGN
Specifies overpunched decimal data in the key field. OVERPUNCHED_
SIGN is the default for decimal data.
SEPARATE_SIGN
Specifies separate sign decimal data in the key field.
ZONED
Specifies zoned decimal data in the key field.
High-performance Sort/Merge: Not supported by the high-
performance Sort/Merge utility.
PACKED_DECIMAL
Specifies packed decimal data in the key field.
NUMBER:n
Specifies the order of priority of each key if you do not list
multiple keys in the order of their priority. A value of 1 to 255
may be specified.
2 – Full Description
The /KEY qualifier specifies all the necessary information about
a key field. If the file is to be sorted using entire records
with character data in ascending order, you do not need to
specify the key information.
When a key field must be described, you must specify both the
position and the size of the key. In addition, if the sorting
or merging operation is to be done in descending alphabetic or
numeric order, specify DESCENDING in the key description.
If the data in the key fields is not character data, you must
specify the data type. The following data types are recognized by
the Sort/Merge utility:
BINARY, [SIGNED]
BINARY, UNSIGNED
CHARACTER
DECIMAL, LEADING_SIGN, SEPARATE_SIGN [SIGNED]
DECIMAL, LEADING_SIGN, [OVERPUNCHED_SIGN, SIGNED]
DECIMAL [,SIGNED, TRAILING_SIGN, OVERPUNCHED_SIGN]
DECIMAL, [TRAILING SIGN], SEPARATE_SIGN, [SIGNED]
DECIMAL, UNSIGNED
D_FLOATING
F_FLOATING
G_FLOATING
H_FLOATING
PACKED_DECIMAL
S_FLOATING (Alpha and I64 systems only)
T_FLOATING (Alpha and I64 systems only)
ZONED
The items in brackets are defaults and need not be specified.
Multiple Keys
You can specify up to 255 key fields in a sorting operation. If
you do specify multiple keys, decide which is primary, which is
secondary, and so on; then, in the command string, list them in
the order of their priority.
By default, Sort assigns 1 to the first key specified in the
command line, 2 to the second key, and so on. If you do not list
the keys in the order of their priority, specify the order of
each with the parameter NUMBER:n.
For each Sort key, you must use a separate /KEY qualifier.
If Sort finds /KEY parameters repeated after a single /KEY
qualifier, it does not treat these as specifications for multiple
keys; instead, the duplicate parameters override previously
specified parameters.
3 – Example
$ SORT/KEY=(POS:16,SIZ:3)/KEY=(POS:1,SIZ:11) -
_$ /KEY=(POS:40,SIZ:2,DESC) YRENDAVG.DAT YRAVGSRT.LIS
This SORT command identifies three key fields. The input file,
YRENDAVG, is first sorted by the key beginning in position
16, then by the key beginning in position 1, and finally by
the key beginning in position 40. The third key used sorts in
descending order.