The SORTIN DD statement defines the data set(s) to be sorted or copied. (The input files for a merge application are defined by the SORTINnn DD statement.) It is required for all sorts except those where an E15 exit (COBOL Input Procedure) provides all the input records or where the MULTIIN facility or join facility is used. The MULTIIN facility is used to combine VSAM and non-VSAM data sets as input to a SORT or COPY, and SORTMInn DD statements are used in place of SORTIN. The join feature joins records from two input files that are specified on the SORTJNF1 and SORTJNF2 DD statements.
The SORTIN file must have physical sequential or extended sequential organization or be a member of a partitioned data set or PDSE. It may reside on any device supported by BSAM or VSAM and if it is a VSAM data set, may be key-sequenced, entry-sequenced or relative record. SORTIN data sets may also be BatchPipes or z/OS pipes or they may be HFS data sets. DCB information need not be supplied for a disk or standard labeled tape file. Any of the information accessed from a standard label can be overridden by coding the appropriate DCB parameter in the JCL.
The maximum record lengths supported are 32,760 bytes for fixed-length records and 32,767 bytes for variable-length records.
By default MFX does not accept an uninitialized SORTIN data set and will terminate processing with a WER400A message. An uninitialized data set is one that has been newly created but never successfully closed. The UNINTDS PARM or installation option can be used to change MFX’s default mode of processing to accept an uninitialized input data set and process it as an empty file. See UNINTDS.
In this example, the data set to be sorted/copied is named SALESIN. It resides on one reel of tape whose volume serial number is 123456. SALESIN is the first data set on that tape and has a standard label.
To access a SORTIN data set that resides in hiperbatch use the HBSI PARM. For more information about HBSI see PARM Options.