Sort Module

The Sort Module is a standalone sort module that enables you to sort and merge data files. It is invoked implicitly when your COBOL program uses the SORT or MERGE statements.

When you perform a SORT operation on a data file, any records with duplicate keys are returned in their original order, regardless of whether or not the DUPLICATES IN ORDER phrase was specified on the SORT statement.

To call the Callable Sort Module explicitly to sort or merge your files, include the following call statement in your program:

call "EXTSM" using function-code, sort-fcd

where the parameters are:

function-code

A two-byte code indicating the type of operation to be performed. For more information see the topic Sort Module Function Codes.

sort-fcd

The name of the Sort File Control Description (FCD) as specified in the Data Division of your program. The FCD contains pointers to the record area, filename, collating sequence, key definition block and file definition block for the file. You need to specify, in the Data Division of your program, a Sort FCD for each file involved in the SORT operation. For more information see the topic Sort File Control Description.