SORT-MERGE/XL General User's Guide
> Chapter 2 Getting Started With SORT-MERGE/XLCollating Sequences |
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ASCII/EBCDICASCII and EBCDIC are the standard collating sequences used by SORT-MERGE/XL and the data processing industry. The >ALTSEQ command allows you to modify these sequences to suit your particular application. Refer to Chapter 6 for more information on the >ALTSEQ command and collating sequences. Native Language Collating SequencesThe >LANGUAGE command allows you to use the collating sequences for native languages other than English if they are configured on your system. The use of native language collating sequences is described in the Native Language Programmer's Guide. Refer to Chapter 6 for additional information on the >LANGUAGE command and Appendix C for a list of native language collating sequences. User-Defined SequencesThe >ALTSEQ command allows you to alter the standard ASCII or EBCDIC collating sequence to suit your application. Refer to Chapter 6 for additional information on the >ALTSEQ command. Ascending/ Descending OrderSORT-MERGE/XL allows you to arrange records in either an ascending or descending order. Unless you specify a descending order (for example 9, 7, 1 or Z, Y, X), SORT-MERGE/XL automatically orders the data in the ascending order (for example 1, 7, 9 or X, Y, Z). To specify a descending order use the DESC parameter of the >KEY command. Refer to Chapter 6 for additional information about the >KEY command.
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