SORT-MERGE/XL Programmer's Guide > Chapter 1 Introduction

Sorting

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When you sort a set of records, you must specify the set of keys by which the records are to be ordered. The format of all records must be the same. These records may be submitted to SORT/XL individually or in one or more files. File input (as shown in Figure 1-2 "SORT/XL Operations") is the most common method of input. For example, if you input two files, one file containing information on current employees and another file containing information on new employees, you can create a single output file with all the employees sorted alphabetically by last name or numerically by employee number.

Figure 1-2 SORT/XL Operations

The intrinsics used for sorting are:

HPSORTINIT: Initializes SORT/XL utility and begins the sorting operation (required).
HPSORTERRORMESS: Returns error messages.
HPSORTINPUT: Allows input to be by record (instead of the usual file input).
HPSORTOUTPUT: Allows output to be by record (instead of the usual file input).
HPSORTEND: Ends the sorting operation (required).
HPSORTSTAT: Prints sorting statistics.
HPSORTTITLE: Prints title information for SORT/XL.

NOTE: For sorting operations, use only the sort intrinsics. Do not mix sort and merge intrinsics.

Processing a Sort or Merge

Merging

Sorting

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