FastSort Manual

Using Supported File Types
FastSort Manual—429834-003
C-4
EDIT Files

The DSLACK and ISLACK parameters of the RUN command, if you want the data
blocks to have a different percentage of slack space than the index blocks

The dslack and islack parameters of the SORTMERGESTART procedure
The default for SLACK, dslack, and islack is 0 percent. The default for DSLACK
and ISLACK is the value of SLACK.
FastSort currently does not load alternate-key files directly. You can use FUP to load
alternate-key files. For information about loading alternate-key files, see the
Guardian User’s Guide.
If the type of your first input file is key-sequenced, the default output file type is entry-
sequenced.
FastSort currently supports key-sequenced files with increased limits only through
buffered interface. For more information about key-sequenced files with increased
limits, see Enscribe Programmer’s Guide.
EDIT Files
FastSort accepts EDIT (file code 101) files as input files but not as an output file. If the
type of your first input file is EDIT, the default output file type is entry-sequenced. If you
want output records from a sort or merge run in an EDIT file, you must copy the output
records into an existing or new EDIT file.
First, use FastSort to sort the records to a structured output file. Then, use EDIT to
copy the output records from the structured output file to a new or existing EDIT file.
For example, the following sequence of commands, entered at a TACL prompt, copies
the sorted records from the SORTOUT file to an EDIT file named NEWFILE:
EDIT NEWFILE !; GET SORTOUT TO LAST; EXIT
The exclamation point (!) causes EDIT to create NEWFILE without prompting you for
confirmation if the file does not exist. The LAST parameter causes EDIT to write the
records from SORTOUT after the last line in NEWFILE. You can also specify a line
number rather than LAST to have EDIT insert the records after that line. For example,
the following sequence of commands inserts the sorted records after line 1 in
NEWFILE.
EDIT NEWFILE !; GET SORTOUT TO 1; EXIT
Any existing data in NEWFILE remains in the file after the sorted records. If you need
to first purge data from an existing EDIT file, use the FUP PURGEDATA command.
For more information about using EDIT commands, see the EDIT User’s Guide and
Reference Manual.