The following is a list of valid mfsort instructions:
| Instruction | Meaning |
|---|---|
| * | The rest of the line is treated as a comment. This is useful if you are supplying instructions via a text file as you can add comments to the file which explain the purpose of each instruction. |
| CHAR-EBCDIC | EBCDIC data. CHAR-EBCDIC must precede all SORT, MERGE, USE or GIVE instructions. |
| SIGN-EBCDIC | Numeric DISPLAY items with included signs are interpreted according to the EBCDIC convention. SIGN-EBCDIC is not required when CHAR-EBCDIC is specified; it is required for data that is otherwise ASCII, such as when the program which created the data was compiled with the SIGN"EBCDIC" Compiler directive. SIGN-EBCDIC must precede all SORT, MERGE, USE or GIVE instructions. |
| SORT-EBCDIC | Record-sequential ASCII files are sorted in EBCDIC order.
Important: SORT-EBCDIC cannot sort files that have keys containing non-printable characters.
|
| SORT/MERGE | These instructions specify either a sort or a merge option and must be followed by a FIELDS instruction specifying the field(s) to be used. The FIELDS instruction may optionally be followed by a RECORD instruction specifying the record size and format of the work file. SORT and MERGE are mutually exclusive. |
| FIELDS (instructions) | The fields on which the file is to be sorted or merged. See the section Fields Instruction. |
| RECORD definition | Record size and format. A RECORD instruction can be used to specify these details for the work file, input file(s) and output file(s). See the section RECORD Instruction. |
| USE input-file | Each USE instruction specifies an input file. You must specify all USE instructions before any GIVE instructions. See the section Defining Input and Output Files. |
| GIVE output-file | Each GIVE instruction specifies an output file. See the section Defining Input and Output Files. |
| INCLUDE/OMIT | Specifies conditions in which records will be included or omitted from the sort process. For details, see the IBM documentation to be found on the IBM Knowledge Center. INCLUDE and OMIT are mutually exclusive. |
| INREC | Reformats records before the SORT/MERGE process. |
| OUTREC | Reformats records following the SORT/MERGE process. |
| MODS | Specifies external procedures (user exits) that are executed, each time a record is released to or returned from the SORT/MERGE process. This implementation supports the E15 and E35 user exits. |
| SUM | Specifies that records with the same key value are returned as a single record. Optionally, a field may be specified to accumulate totals for all records with equal keys. The SUM operation can be done for the following control field types: |
| OUTFIL | This is used to specify complex editing and reporting to one or more output files. Each output file should be specified using a GIVE command. Otherwise, OUTFIL works as described in the IBM documentation, found on the IBM Knowledge Center. |
| OPTION | This can be used to specify various options. One of these options is COPY which results in records being copied, rather than sorted, to the output file. |