SORT-MERGE/XL General User's Guide (32650-90883)
Chapter 6 67
SORT-MERGE/XL Commands
ALTSEQ
= When used in the
modspec
parameter, the equal sign (=) functions as a
separator between
leftspec
and
rightspec
.
WITH The WITH parameter can be used interchangeably with the equal sign (=)
and is generally used when MERGE is specified.
string
A
string
is a single character or a group of ASCII or EBCDIC characters
specified by enclosing them in quotation marks, for example, "J" or "JAS".
num byte
A numerical specification used in the following form:
[%[(
bb
)]]
nnn
The
bb
is a base of any decimal number between 2 and 16 inclusive. You
specify
%(bb)
to indicate a base other than 8 or 10.
The % indicates base 8 when no (
bb
) is specified. If both % and (
bb
) are
omitted, the
nnn
parameter is assumed to be a decimal number (that is,
base 10).
The
nnn
represents a number (integer) with a value between 0 and
decimal 255, inclusive. Each
%n
is a digit between 0 and 9, inclusive, or one
of the letters A, B, C, D, E, or F. The letters A through F are used to
represent the digits 10 through 15, when a base greater than 10 is used.
Each digit
n
or
nnn
must be less than the base
bb
.
For example, 12 represents the decimal value 12; %12 represents the octal
value 12, which is equivalent to the decimal value 10; and %(16)12
represents the hexadecimal value 12, which is equivalent to the decimal
value 18.
range string
Specifies two characters separated by a minus sign (-) and enclosed in
quotation marks, or two numeric byte specifications separated by a minus
sign. For example, "A-Z" or %101-%132 (which is the octal specification for
the character range "A-Z").
NOTE
Whenever a minus sign (-) is the second character in a group of three
characters, the group is treated as a range. In all other cases, the minus sign
is treated the same as any other character. For example, "A-D" represents the
four characters A, B, C, and D while "AD-" represents the three characters A,
D, and -.