SORT-MERGE/XL Programmer's Guide (32650-90884)

Chapter 1 13
Introduction
Sorting
Sorting
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.) 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.