SyncSort

SyncSort is the only general-purpose sort program supported under z/OS (OS/390) at
NERDC. You can use SyncSort any of the following ways:

through the SYNCSORT cataloged procedure,

by invoking it in your own JCL (// EXEC PGM=SORT,...),
from a program written in Assembler, COBOL, or PL/I.

This document primarily describes how to use the SYNCSORT cataloged procedure. You
should have a general familiarity with JCL and/or one of the languages mentioned above.
SyncSort has the following functions:

sort -- to rearrange data set records in chronological or alphabetical order,

producing a specific sequential form
merge -- to combine as many as 32 sequential data sets into 1 data set under the
same sequence
copy -- to reproduce a file, bypassing the sorting process entirely

DD Names
SyncSort uses the following ddnames:
SORTIN

defines the input data set for a sorting application; not required for a
merge-only operation.
SORTIN01-- SORTIN16

define the input data sets for a merging application; not required for a
sorting application.
SORTWK01-- SORTWK16

define intermediate storage data sets for a sorting application; not required
for a merge.
SORTOUT

defines the output data set for a sorting or merging application; should not
be the same as the SORTIN data set because a system failure could then
destroy both your output and your data.
SYSOUT

is used as the system message data set.

SYSIN

defines the application control data set.

REGION Size
SyncSort uses the default system region size unless you specify a region size. The current
system default at NERDC is 1M (1024K). SyncSort allows you to specify up to 4M by
using the REGION= parameter on the JOB or EXEC statement.

The SYNCSORT Cataloged Procedure

The SYNCSORT procedure is the only supported sort procedure. Figure 1 shows the JCL
for SYNCSORT.
Figure 1. JCL for the SYNCSORT Procedure.
You need to supply the SORTIN, SORTOUT, and SYSIN DD statements.
//jobname JOB (,,time,lines),'your name',CLASS=class
/*ROUTE PRINT node.location
//SORT EXEC SYNCSORT
//SORTIN
DD ...input data set...
//SORTOUT DD ...output data set...
//SYSIN
DD *
... sort control statements ...

The following optional keyword parameters can be added to the EXEC statement:
OPTION='options'

The default is no options. Add this parameter to the EXEC statement as in

shown below to specify any desired SyncSort options. For valid options,
see the "Options" section below.
//SORT EXEC SYNCSORT,OPTION='options'

REGION=nM

Use this keyword to specify the region size for the SORT utility. For
example,
//SORT EXEC SYNCSORT,REGION=2M

WKVOL=vol

By default, the sortwork data sets will be allocated on the work packs. Use
this parameter to specify a particular volume.

Basic JCL for SyncSort

Figure 2 shows the basic JCL needed to sort a data set if you do not use the SYNCSORT
cataloged procedure.
Figure 2. JCL for Using SyncSort.
If you have a very large data set, you may need to request more than 5 cylinders of work
space. Also, do NOT specify more SORTWKnn DD statements than there are temporary
packs available. There are currently four. This causes negative system and job
performance and may result in your job being cancelled.
//SORTIT JOB (,,time,lines),'your name',CLASS=class
/*ROUTE PRINT node.location
//SORT
EXEC PGM=SORT,PARM='options'
//SORTLIB DD DSN=SYS1.SORTLIB,DISP=SHR
//SYSOUT
DD SYSOUT=A
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=A
//SORTWK01 DD UNIT=SYSDA,SPACE=(CYL,(5,3))
//SORTWK02 DD UNIT=SYSDA,SPACE=(CYL,(5,3))
//SORTWK03 DD UNIT=SYSDA,SPACE=(CYL,(5,3))
//SORTIN
DD DSN=your.input.data.set,DISP=OLD
//SORTOUT DD ... DD statement for output data set ...
//SYSIN
DD *
... SyncSort control statements

Program-Initiated Sorts
Refer to the documentation for Assembler, COBOL, or PL/I for information on how to
invoke SyncSort from within a program.

How to Specify Options

Using the SYNCSORT cataloged procedure, you can add an OPTION parameter to the
EXEC statement as follows:
//

EXEC SYNCSORT,OPTION='options'

If you are using your own JCL rather than using the SYNCSORT cataloged procedure, you
can specify options in the PARM parameter of the EXEC statement, as in this example:

//

EXEC PGM=SORT,REGION=region,PARM='options'

For program-initiated sorts, use the $ORTPARM DD statement, as in this example:

//$ORTPARM DD *
CORE=MAX-32K
RESET

(col 72)
X

Parameters and Options

The following are SyncSort default parameters, which you can change as described
above.
BMSG

BMSG lists alternate parameters specified through $ORTPARM on the

output message data set.
CMP=CLC

This default causes limited validation of the data contained in fields

designated as packed or zoned decimal. To have the sort terminate if data
in PD or ZD fields are invalid, specify CMP=CPD.
CORE=MAX-44K

For program-invoked sorts with exit routines, you must determine the
amount of memory needed by the exits, then specify CORE=MAX-nnnK.
NOSNAP

NOSNAP will suppress the SyncSort SNAP dump, which is produced in

the event of a critical error. If you have a SYSUDUMP DD statement, you
will receive the normal OS dump. If you require a SNAP dump, specify
the DEBUG parameter.
NOEQUALS

For a more efficient sort, the order of the records is not preserved. If the
order needs to be retained, use the EQUALS keyword.
NOIOERR

Error messages are issued when an I/O error occurs. If IOERR=ABE is

specified, a USER 999 ABEND will occur.
LIST

Control statements will be listed on the SYSOUT data set. NOLIST will
turn this off.
MSGDD=SYSOUT

The default DD name of the message data set is SYSOUT. Any other valid
DD name can be substituted.

PRINT121

To be compatible with the display options of COBOL exit routines, the

defined characteristics of the message data set are:
DCB=(LRECL=121,BLKSIZE=121,RECFM=FA).
NORC16

An unsuccessful sort will issue a return code of 16. If RC16=ABE is

specified, a USER 16 ABEND will occur.
RELEASE=ON

Unused space in sortwork data sets will be released during execution time
unless the sort is program-initiated.
NORLSOUT

To release excess space on the SORTOUT data set, RLSOUT can be

specified.
no RESET

RESET must be given as a parameter if the SORTOUT data set is a VSAM

file that was created with the REUSE option to prevent SyncSort from
treating SORTOUT as a MOD data set.
SECOND=ON

A secondary allocation is given to the sortwork data sets if needed.

VLTEST=0

No validity testing of variable-length records will be done.

SyncSort Control Statements

SyncSort uses the following program control statements: SORT, MERGE, ALTSEQ,
END, INCLUDE, INREC, MODS, OMIT, OUTREC, RECORD, and SUM.
For a sort application, the SORT statement specifies the sort order. The general form of
the SORT statement is as follows:
SORT FIELDS=(sort key,sort key,...,sort key),FILSZ=En

in which "n" is an estimate of the number of records to be sorted. Sort keys specify the
fields within the record upon which to sort, their data types, and whether they are to be
sorted in ascending or descending order.
Each sort key has the following four parts: starting byte, length in bytes, format, and
order.

start

specifies the starting byte position in the record relative to byte 1, which is
the first byte. For variable-length records, the offset must include the
record descriptor, so the first byte of the data portion of the record is
position 5.
length

specifies the length of the field in bytes.

format

must be a valid data type, such as one of the following:

CH

for EBCDIC characters,

ZD

for zoned decimal,

PD

for packed decimal,

FI

for signed integers,

FL

for floating point,

AC

for ASCII characters,

BI

for unsigned binary,

AQ

for alternate sequence as specified by the ALTSEQ control statement.

order

is either A for ascending order, D for descending order, or E as

modified by an E61 exit.

Sorting Example
The following example helps to illustrate how to SORT a data set. Suppose you have a
card-image (80-byte records) data set called UF.userid.GRADES, which is to be sorted
alphabetically by student name within the same letter grade. Assume the name is in
columns 1-25 and the letter grade is in column 50 of each record, and there are
approximately 100 students in the file. Figure 3 shows a sample job setup using the
SYNCSORT cataloged procedure.
Figure 3. Example to SORT a Data Set.

The input data set is UF.userid.GRADES. The output data set will be sent to the printer.
//SORTLST JOB (,,time,lines),'your name',CLASS=class
/*ROUTE PRINT node.location
//SORT EXEC SYNCSORT
//SORTIN DD DSN=UF.userid.GRADES,DISP=SHR
//SORTOUT DD SYSOUT=A
//SYSIN
DD *
SORT FIELDS=(50,1,CH,A,1,25,CH,A),FILSZ=E100