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Sorting and Merging files

Introduction
Unit aims, objectives, prerequisites.

Simple SORTing
This section introduces a simplified version of SORT verb syntax, and
discusses why we might need to sort a file as part of a solution to a
programming problem..

Sorting with an INPUT PROCEDURE

This section introduces a SORT with an INPUT PROCEDURE and
demonstrates how an INPUT PROCEDURE may be used to filter, or alter,
records before they are supplied to the sort process.

Sorting with an OUTPUT PROCEDURE

This section shows how an OUTPUT PROCEDURE may be used to filter,
or alter, records after they have been sorted.

MERGEing files
In this section the MERGE verb is introduced. The MERGE verb may be
used to merge two or more ordered files.

Introduction
Aims As we noted in the tutorial - Processing Sequential Files - it is possible to
apply processing to an ordered sequential file that is difficult, or
impossible, when the file is unordered.

When this kind of processing is required, and the data file we have to work
with is an unordered Sequential file, then part of the solution to the
problem must be to sort the file. COBOL provides the SORT verb for this
purpose.

Sometimes, when two or more files are ordered on the same key field or
fields, we may want to combine them into one single ordered file. COBOL
provides the MERGE verb for this purpose.
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This tutorial explores the syntax, semantics, and use of the SORT and
MERGE verbs.

Objectives By the end of this unit you should -

1. Understand why you might want to sort a file as part of your solution
to a programming problem.
2. Understand the role of the temporary work file and the USING and
GIVING files.
3. Be able to apply the SORT to sort a file on ascending or descending or
multiple keys..
4. Understand why you might want to use an INPUT PROCEDURE or an
OUTPUT PROCEDURE to filter or alter records.
5. Know the difference between an INPUT PROCEDURE and an OUTPUT
PROCEDURE and know when to use one, and when the other.
6. Be able to use the MERGE verb to merge two or more files.
7. Understand the significance of the merge keys.

Prerequisites Introduction to COBOL

Declaring data in COBOL

Basic Procedure Division Commands

Selection Constructs

Iteration Constructs

Introduction to Sequential files

Processing Sequential files

Print files and variable length records

Simple Sorting
Introduction In COBOL programs, the SORT verb is usually used to sort Sequential
files.
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Some programmers claim that SORT verb is unnecessary, preferring to use

a vendor-provided or "bought in" sort. But one major advantage of using
the SORT verb, is that it enhances the portability of COBOL programs.

Because the SORT verb is available in every COBOL compiler, when a

program that uses the SORT verb has to be moved to a different computer
system, it can make the transition without requiring any changes to the
SORT. This is rarely the case when programs rely on a vendor-supplied or
"bought in" sort.

Why sort the Sometimes, processing that is is difficult or impossible to do if the file is
file? unordered, is easy if the file is ordered. In these situations, an obvious part
of the solution is to sort the file. This is an approach to problem solving
sometimes called, "beneficial wishful thinking". We start by thinking if
only this file were ordered, then it would be easy to write the code to
process it, and then take the next logical step which is - "Well then, let's
sort the file first".

Consider the following specification;

A program is required to print out a monthly report detailing the

value of calls made by each telephone subscriber (i.e. anyone
who has a telephone and who used it in the month in question).

The program will use as input, the file CALLS.DAT. This file
contains a record of all the calls made that month. The cost per
unit is �0.10.

The calls file in an unordered Sequential file. The record

description is as follows;

FIELD TYPE LENGTH VALUE

SubscriberNum 9 8 00000001 - 99999999
UnitsUsed 9 5 00001 - 99999

The report must be printed on ascending subscriber number and

has the following format;

Telephone Analysis Monthly Report

SubscriberNum ValueOfCalls

99999999 �999,999.99
99999999 �999,999.99
99999999 �999,999.99
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-------------------------------
Total value = �999,999,999.99

Solving the There are millions of telephone subscribers and, in the course of a month,
problem they will make tens, if not hundreds, of calls. So the calls file will contain
without tens of millions, or hundreds of millions, of records. Is there any viable
sorting the way for a program to produce the report, without first sorting the calls
file? file?

An array or table based solution does not seem viable. For one thing, the
array would have to contain millions of elements. For another, new
subscribers are constantly joining, so the array would have to be re-
dimensioned every time the program ran.

If we had pointers available to us, we might try a linked list or tree based
solution. But the problem with these solutions is that, with millions of
subscribers in the list or tree, the search to find a particular subscriber
would involve a serious performance hit, as well as being complicated to
implement.

Since a Relative file may be thought of as a table on disk, a Relative file

solution might beckon. But while Relative file based solution would be
easy to implement (though still not as easy as the control break solution)
there would be serious performance implications. For each of the millions
of records in the file we would have to;

Read the Sequential File

IF the record already exists THEN
Read the Relative Record
Add the units to the total units
Write the Relative Record to the file
ELSE
Write a new Relative Record to the file
END-IF

And when the calls file ended we would have to read through the entire
Relative file again to create the report.

We can arrive at the most viable solution by using "beneficial wishful

thinking". We might think - If only the calls file were ordered on
ascending subscriber number, then this would be a very simple control
break problem. For each subscriber, we'd sum all the units until there was
a change of subscriber number, and then we'd multiply the total units by
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the cost per unit. This thinking would lead us to the obvious conclusion -
we must sort the calls file.

Syntax of a The syntax for a simplified version of the SORT is shown below. The SORT
simplified takes the records in the InFileName file, sorts them on the
SORT SortKeyIdentifier key or keys and writes the sorted records to the
OutFileName file.

e.g.

SORT WorkFile ON ASCENDING KEY CourseCode

USING StudentFile
GIVING SortedStudentsFile.

SORT WorkFile ON ASCENDING ProvinceCode

DESCENDING VendorNumber
USING SalesFile
GIVING SortedSalesFile.

SORT notes
The SDWorkFileName identifies a temporary work file that the SORT
process uses for the sort. It is defined in the FILE SECTION using an SD
(Stream/Sort Description) entry. Even though the work file is a temporary
file, it must still have an associated SELECT and ASSIGN clause in the
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION.

The SDWorkFileName file is a Sequential file with an organization of

RECORD SEQUENTIAL. Since this is the default organization is it usually
omitted; as it is in the example below.

Each SortKeyIdentifier identifies a field in the record of the work file. The
sorted file will be in sequence on this key field(s).

Records in LINE When more than one SortKeyIdentifier is specified, the keys decrease in
SEQUENTIAL significance from left to right (leftmost key is most significant, rightmost
files are followed is least significant).

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by the carriage InFileName and OutFileName, are the names of the input and output files
return and line respectively.
feed characters,
but RECORD If the DUPLICATES clause is used then, when the file has been sorted, the
SEQUENTIAL
final order of records with the duplicate keys is the same as that in the
files are
organized as a
unsorted file. If no DUPLICATES clause is used, the order of records with
simple stream of duplicate keys is undefined.
bytes.
AlphabetName is an alphabet-name defined in the SPECIAL-NAMES
paragraph of the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION. This clause is used to select
the character set the SORT verb uses for collating the records in the file.
The character set may be ASCII (8 or 7 bit ), EBCDIC,or user-defined.

SORT rules

1. The SORT can be used anywhere in the PROCEDURE DIVISION except

in an INPUT or OUTPUT PROCEDURE, or another SORT, or a MERGE,
or in the DECLARATIVES SECTION.
2. The records described for the input file (USING) must be able to fit
into the records described for the SDWorkFileName.
3. The records described for the SDWorkFileName must be able to fit
into the records described for the output file (GIVING).
4. The SortKeyIdentifer description cannot contain an OCCURS clause
(i.e., it can't be a table/array) nor can it be subordinate to an entry that
does contain one.
5. InFileName and OutFileName files are automatically opened by the
SORT. When the SORT executes they must not be open already.

SORT example

ENVIRONMENT DIVISION.
INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION.
FILE-CONTROL.
SELECT CallsFile
ASSIGN TO �CALLS.DAT�
ORGANIZATION IS LINE SEQUENTIAL.

SELECT SortedCallsFile
ASSIGN TO �SORTEDCALLS.DAT�
ORGANIZATION IS LINE SEQUENTIAL.

SELECT WorkFile
ASSIGN TO �WORK.TMP�.

DATA DIVISION.
FILE SECTION.
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FD CallsFile.
01 CallRec.
02 SubscriberNumCF PIC 9(8).
02 UnitsUsedCF PIC 9(5).

FD SortedCallsFile.
01 SortedCallRec.
02 SubscriberNumSF PIC 9(8).
02 UnitsUsedSF PIC 9(5).

SD WorkFile.
01 WorkRec.
02 SubscriberNumWF PIC 9(8).
02 UnitsUsedWF PIC 9(5).

etc.

PROCEDURE DIVISION.
Begin.
SORT WorkFile ON ASCENDING SubscriberNumWF
USING CallsFile
GIVING SortedCallsFile.

etc.

How a simple As illustrated by the diagram below, the sort process takes records from
SORT works the input file (CallsFile) and sorts them using the temporary file
(WorkFile) on the field(s), and in the sequence, specified in the KEY
phrase. When all the records have been sorted, the sort process writes
them to the output file (SortedCallsFile).

Remember - the SORT automatically opens the CallsFile and the

SortedCallsFile. These files must not be open when the SORT executes or
it will fail.

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SORT WorkFile ON ASCENDING SubscriberNumWF

USING CallsFile
GIVING SortedCallsFile.

Using If you examine the SORT syntax diagram above, carefully, you will realize
multiple that, not only can a file be sorted on a number of keys, but that one key
keys. can be ascending while another can be descending. This is illustrated in
the table below. The table contains a sales file that has been sorted into
descending VendorNumber, within ascending ProvinceCode, by the
following SORT statement;

SORT WorkFile ON ASCENDING ProvinceCode

DESCENDING VendorNumber
USING SalesFile
GIVING SortedSalesFile

Notice that ProvinceCode is the major key, and that VendorNumber is only
in descending sequence, within ProvinceCode. The first key named in a
SORT statement is the major key and keys get less significant with each
successive declaration.

SortedSalesFile

Ascending Descending Remaining

Province Vendor Record
Code Number
1 91234 etc.
1 91234 etc.
1 81234 etc.
1 71234 etc.
1 71234 etc.
1 71234 etc.
1 22222 etc.
2 91234 etc.
2 90345 etc.
2 90345 etc.
2 81234 etc.
2 81234 etc.
2 81111 etc.
3 99999 etc.
3 99999 etc.
3 91234 etc.
3 91234 etc.
3 89765 etc.
3 11111 etc.
3 11111 etc.

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4 56789 etc.
4 56789 etc.
4 44444 etc.

SORTing with an INPUT PROCEDURE

Introduction Some times, not all the records in an unsorted file are required in the
sorted file. Other times, it may be that the sorted file records require
additional, altered, or fewer fields, than the unsorted records. In these
cases, an INPUT PROCEDURE can be used to eliminate unwanted records,
or to alter the format of the records, before they are submitted to the sort
process.

Since sorting is a disk-based process, and thus comparatively slow, every

effort should be made to reduce the amount of data that has to be sorted.

SORT syntax
with INPUT
PROCEDURE

e.g.
SORT WorkFile ON ASCENDING CountyNumWF, VendorNumWF
INPUT PROCEDURE RejectNorthernRecs
GIVING SortedSalesFile.

SORT WorkFile ON ASCENDING CountryNameWF

INPUT PROCEDURE IS SelectForeignGuests
GIVING SortedGuestsFile.

SORT WorkFile ON ASCENDING CountryNameWF, CustomerNameWF

INPUT PROCEDURE IS RestructureRecords
GIVING SortedSubscriptionsFile.
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INPUT PROCEDURE notes

When an INPUT PROCEDURE is used, it replaces the USING phrase. The
ProcName in the INPUT PROCEDURE phrase, identifies a block of code,
that uses the RELEASE verb to supply records to the sort process.

The INPUT PROCEDURE must finish before the sort process sorts the
records supplied to it by the procedure. That's why the records are
RELEASEd to the work file. They are stored there until the INPUT
PROCEDURE finishes and then they are sorted.

An INPUT PROCEDURE allows us to select which records, and what type

of records, will be submitted to the sort process. Because an INPUT
PROCEDURE executes before the sort process sorts the records, only the
data that is actually required in the sorted file will be sorted.

INPUT PROCEDURE rules

1. The INPUT PROCEDURE must contain at least one RELEASE statement

to transfer the records to the SDWorkFileName.
2. The old COBOL rules for the SORT verb stated that the INPUT and
OUTPUT procedures had to be self-contained sections of code, and
could not be entered from elsewhere in the program.
3. In COBOL '85, INPUT and OUTPUT procedures can be any contiguous
group of paragraphs or sections. The only restriction is that the range
of paragraphs or sections used, must not overlap.

How a SORT A simple SORT works by taking records from the USING file, sorting them,
with and and then writing them to the GIVING file. When an INPUT PROCEDURE is
INPUT used, there is no USING file, so the SORT process has to get its records
PROCEDURE from the INPUT PROCEDURE . The INPUT PROCEDURE uses the
works. RELEASE verb to supply the records to the SORT, one at a time.

Although an INPUT PROCEDURE usually gets the records it supplies to the

sort process from an input file, the records can actually originate from
anywhere. For instance, if we wanted to sort the elements of a table, we
could use an INPUT PROCEDURE to send the elements, one at a time, to
the sort process. Or if we wanted to sort the records as they were entered
by the user, we could use an INPUT PROCEDURE to get the records from
the user and supply them to the sort process.

When an INPUT PROCEDURE gets its records from an input file it can
select which records to send to the sort process and can even alter the
structure of the records before they are sent.

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In the example below, an INPUT PROCEDURE is used to select only the

records of foreign guests, for sorting. The diagram shows how an INPUT
PROCEDURE, is used to sit between the input file and the sort process, to
filter the records.

SORT WorkFile ON ASCENDING CountryNameWF

INPUT PROCEDURE IS SelectForeignGuests
GIVING SortedGuestsFile.

Creating an An INPUT PROCEDURE supplies records to the sort process by writing

INPUT them to the work file declared in the SORT's SD entry. But to write the
PROCEDURE records to the work file a special verb - the RELEASE verb is used. The
syntax of the RELEASE verb is;

RELEASE SDRecordName [FROM Identifier]

where SDRecordName is the name of the record declared in the work file's
SD entry.

An operational template for an INPUT PROCEDURE, which gets records

from and input file and RELEASEs them to the work file, is shown in the
table below.

OPEN INPUT InFileName

READ InFileName
PERFORM UNTIL TerminatingCondition
Process input record
RELEASE SDWorkRec
READ InFileName
END-PERFORM
CLOSE InFileName

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The Foreign Visitors to the CSIS web site are asked to fill in a "guestbook" form. The
Guests form requests the name of the visitor, his/her country of origin and a
Report - comment. These fields are stored, as a fixed length record, in the
example GuestBook file.
program
The example program below prints a report showing the number of
visitors from each foreign country. The records in the GuestBook file are
not in any particular order, so before the report can be printed, the file
must be sorted by CountryName.

Since we are only interested in foreign visitors, there is no point in sorting

In this instance, the whole file. The program uses an INPUT PROCEDURE to select only the
since the number records of visitors from foreign countries.
of countries in
the world is fairly When we examine the fields of a GuestBook record, we notice that, for the
static, a table- purposes of this report, the GuestName and GuestComment are irrelevant.
based solution The only field we actually need for the report, is the CountryName field.
might also be So as well as selecting only foreign guests, the INPUT PROCEDURE alters
viable. the structure of the GuestBook records supplied to the sort process. Since
the new records are only 20 characters in size, rather than 80 characters,
the amount of data that has to be sorted is substantially reduced.

$ SET SOURCEFORMAT"FREE"
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. ForeignGuestsRpt.
AUTHOR. Michael Coughlan.
* This program analyses the CSIS web site GuestBook file
* and prints a report showing the number of visitors
* to the web site from each foreign country.

ENVIRONMENT DIVISION.
INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION.
FILE-CONTROL.
SELECT GuestBookFile
ASSIGN TO "GuestBook.Dat"
ORGANIZATION IS LINE SEQUENTIAL.

SELECT WorkFile
ASSIGN TO "Work.Tmp".

SELECT SortedGuestsFile
ASSIGN TO "SortedGuests.Dat"
ORGANIZATION IS LINE SEQUENTIAL.

SELECT ForeignGuestReport
ASSIGN TO "ForeignGuest.Rpt"
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ORGANIZATION IS LINE SEQUENTIAL.

DATA DIVISION.
FILE SECTION.
FD GuestBookFile.
01 GuestRec.
88 EndOfFile VALUE HIGH-VALUES.
02 GuestNameGF PIC X(20).
02 CountryNameGF PIC X(20).
88 CountryIsIreland VALUE "IRELAND".
02 GuestCommentGF PIC X(40).

SD WorkFile.
01 WorkRec.
02 CountryNameWF PIC X(20).

FD SortedGuestsFile.
01 SortedRec.
88 EndOfSortedFile VALUE HIGH-VALUES.
02 CountryNameSF PIC X(20).

FD ForeignGuestReport.
01 PrintLine PIC X(38).

WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
01 Heading1 PIC X(37)
VALUE "CSIS Web site - Foreign Guests Report".

01 Heading2.
02 FILLER PIC X(25) VALUE " Country".
02 FILLER PIC X(8) VALUE "Visitors".

01 CountryLine.
02 FILLER PIC X(3) VALUE SPACES.
02 PrnCountryName PIC X(20).
02 PrnVisitorCount PIC BBBZZ,ZZ9.

01 ReportFooting PIC X(36)

VALUE "*** End of Foreign Guests report ***".

01 VisitorCount PIC 9(5).

PROCEDURE DIVISION.
PrintGuestReport.
SORT WorkFile ON ASCENDING CountryNameWF
INPUT PROCEDURE IS SelectForeignGuests
GIVING SortedGuestsFile.

OPEN INPUT SortedGuestsFile

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OPEN OUTPUT ForeignGuestReport

WRITE PrintLine FROM Heading1
AFTER ADVANCING PAGE
WRITE PrintLine FROM Heading2
AFTER ADVANCING 2 LINES

READ SortedGuestsFile
AT END SET EndOfSortedFile TO TRUE
END-READ
PERFORM PrintReportBody UNTIL EndOfSortedFile
WRITE PrintLine FROM ReportFooting
AFTER ADVANCING 3 LINES
CLOSE SortedGuestsFile, ForeignGuestReport
STOP RUN.

SelectForeignGuests.
OPEN INPUT GuestBookFile.
READ GuestBookFile
AT END SET EndOfFile TO TRUE
END-READ
PERFORM UNTIL EndOfFile
IF NOT CountryIsIreland
MOVE CountryNameGF TO CountryNameWF
RELEASE WorkRec
END-IF
READ GuestBookFile
AT END SET EndOfFile TO TRUE
END-READ
END-PERFORM
CLOSE GuestBookFile.

PrintReportBody.
MOVE CountryNameSF TO PrnCountryName
MOVE ZEROS TO VisitorCount
PERFORM UNTIL CountryNameSF NOT EQUAL TO PrnCountryName
OR EndOfSortedFile
ADD 1 TO VisitorCount
READ SortedGuestsFile
AT END SET EndOfSortedFile TO TRUE
END-READ
END-PERFORM
MOVE VisitorCount TO PrnVisitorCount
WRITE PrintLine FROM CountryLine
AFTER ADVANCING 1 LINE.

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Feeding the As we noted earlier, because the INPUT PROCEDURE is responsible for
SORT from supplying records to the sort process, the records could be coming from
the keyboard anywhere. We could obtain them from a table, or, as in this example,
- example directly from the user.
program
As the illustration below shows, this example program gets records from
the user, sorts them on ascending StudentId, and then outputs them to the
StudentFile. Notice that the sort process only sorts the file, when the
INPUT PROCEDURE has finished.

$ SET SOURCEFORMAT"FREE"
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. SortInput.
AUTHOR. Michael Coughlan.
* An example program using the SORT and an INPUT PROCEDURE.
* The program accepts records from the user RELEASEs them
* to the work file where they are sorted and then written
* to the StudentFile.
* This program allows student records to be entered in any
* order but creates a file sorted on ascending StudentId.

ENVIRONMENT DIVISION.
INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION.
FILE-CONTROL.
SELECT StudentFile ASSIGN TO "SORTSTUD.DAT"
ORGANIZATION IS LINE SEQUENTIAL.

SELECT WorkFile ASSIGN TO "WORK.TMP".

DATA DIVISION.
FILE SECTION.
FD StudentFile.
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01 StudentDetails PIC X(30).

* The StudentDetails record has the description shown below.

* But in this program we don't actually need to refer to any
* of the items in the record so we have described it as
* PIC X(30)
* 01 StudentDetails
* 02 StudentId PIC 9(7).
* 02 StudentName.
* 03 Surname PIC X(8).
* 03 Initials PIC XX.
* 02 DateOfBirth.
* 03 YOBirth PIC 9(4).
* 03 MOBirth PIC 9(2).
* 03 DOBirth PIC 9(2).
* 02 CourseCode PIC X(4).
* 02 Gender PIC X.

SD WorkFile.
01 WorkRec.
02 StudentIdWF PIC 9(7).
02 FILLER PIC X(23).

PROCEDURE DIVISION.
Begin.
SORT WorkFile ON ASCENDING KEY StudentIdWF
INPUT PROCEDURE IS GetStudentDetails
GIVING StudentFile.
STOP RUN.

GetStudentDetails.
DISPLAY "Enter student details using template below."
DISPLAY "Enter no data to end.".
DISPLAY "NNNNNNNSSSSSSSSIIYYYYMMDDCCCCG".
ACCEPT WorkRec.
PERFORM UNTIL WorkRec = SPACES
RELEASE WorkRec
ACCEPT WorkRec
END-PERFORM.

Sorting with an OUTPUT PROCEDURE

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Introduction The advantage of an INPUT PROCEDURE is that it allows us to filter, or

alter, records before they are supplied to the sort process and this can
substantially reduce the amount of data that has to be sorted.

An OUTPUT PROCEDURE has no such advantage. An OUTPUT

PROCEDURE only executes when the sort process has already sorted the
file.

Nevertheless, an OUTPUT PROCEDURE is useful when we don't need to

preserve the sorted file. For instance, if we are sorting records to produce a
once-off report, we can use an OUTPUT PROCEDURE to create the report
directly, without first having to create a file containing the sorted records.
This is what we do in the revised ForeignGuestsRpt program below.
Instead of creating a sorted guest file and then reading it to create the
report; we use an OUTPUT PROCEDURE to create the report directly.

An OUTPUT PROCEDURE is also useful when we want to alter the

structure of the records written to the sorted file. For instance, in the first
example program below, we use an OUTPUT PROCEDURE to summarize
the sorted records. The resulting sorted file contains summary records,
rather than the detail records, contained in the unsorted file.

SORT syntax The syntax diagram below is the complete syntax for the SORT verb.
with OUTPUT
PROCEDURE

e.g.

SORT WorkFile ON ASCENDING CustNameWF

INPUT PROCEDURE IS SelectEssentialOils
OUTPUT PROCEDURE IS PrintOilSalesReport.

SORT WorkFile ON ASCENDING KEY SalespersonNumWF

USING SalesFile
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OUTPUT PROCEDURE IS SummariseSales.

OUTPUT PROCEDURE notes

An OUTPUT PROCEDURE is used to retrieve sorted records from the work
file using the RETURN verb.

An OUTPUT PROCEDURE only executes after the file has been sorted.

OUTPUT PROCEDURE rules

1. An OUTPUT PROCEDURE must contain at least one RETURN

statement to get the records from the SortFile.
2. The SORT ..GIVING phrase cannot be used if an OUTPUT PROCEDURE
is used.

How the An OUTPUT PROCEDURE uses the RETURN verb to retrieve sorted records
OUTPUT from the work file. An OUTPUT PROCEDURE can do what it likes with the
PROCEDURE records it gets from work file. It could put them into an array, display them
works on the screen, or send them to an output file.

When the OUTPUT PROCEDURE sends records to an output file, it can

control which records, and what type of records, appear in the file. For
instance, the SORT statement in the illustration below produces a sorted
SalesSummaryFile from an unsorted SalesFile.

The SalesSummaryFile is a sequential file sorted on ascending salesperson

number but each record in the summary file is the sum of all the items sold
by a particular salesperson.

An OUTPUT PROCEDURE is used because, until the records have been

sorted into salesperson number order, the quantities sold cannot be
summed.

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SORT WorkFile ON ASCENDING KEY SalespersonNumWF

USING SalesFile
OUTPUT PROCEDURE IS SummariseSales.

Creating an An OUTPUT PROCEDURE uses the RETURN verb to read sorted records
OUTPUT from the work file declared in the Sort's SD entry. The syntax of the
PROCEDURE RETURN verb is;

RETURN SDFileName RECORD [INTO Identifier]

AT END StatementBlock
END-RETURN

where SDFileName is the name of the file declared in the SD entry.

An operational template for an OUTPUT PROCEDURE, which gets records

from the work file and writes them to an output file, is shown in the table
below. Notice that the work file is not opened by the code in the OUTPUT
PROCEDURE. The work file is automatically opened by the SORT.

OPEN OUTPUT OutFile

RETURN SDWorkFile RECORD
PERFORM UNTIL TerminatingCondition
Setup OutRec
WRITE OutRec
RETURN SDWorkFile RECORD
END-PERFORM
CLOSE OutFile

Sales The example below creates a sorted SalesSummaryFile from an unsorted

summary file SalesFile. The SalesSummaryFile is a sequential file, sorted on ascending
- example salesperson-number. Each record in the summary file is the sum of all the
program items sold by a particular salesperson. An OUTPUT PROCEDURE is used,
because until the records have been sorted into salesperson number order,
the salesperson records cannot be summarized.

$ SET SOURCEFORMAT"FREE"
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. MakeSummaryFile.
AUTHOR. Michael Coughlan.
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION.
INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION.
FILE-CONTROL.
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SELECT WorkFile ASSIGN TO "WORK.TMP".

SELECT SalesFile ASSIGN TO "SALES.DAT"

ORGANIZATION IS LINE SEQUENTIAL.

SELECT SalesSummaryFile ASSIGN TO "SUMMARY.DAT"

ORGANIZATION IS LINE SEQUENTIAL.

DATA DIVISION.
FILE SECTION.

FD SalesFile.
01 SalesRec PIC X(10).

SD WorkFile.
01 WorkRec.
88 EndOfWorkFile VALUE HIGH-VALUES.
02 SalespsnNumWF PIC X(5).
02 QtySoldWF PIC 9(4).

FD SalesSummaryFile.
01 SummaryRec.
02 SalespsnNum PIC 9(5).
02 TotalQtySold PIC 9(6).

PROCEDURE DIVISION.
Begin.
SORT WorkFile ON ASCENDING KEY SalespsnNumWF
USING SalesFile
OUTPUT PROCEDURE IS SummariseSales
STOP RUN.

SummariseSales.
OPEN OUTPUT SalesSummaryFile
RETURN WorkFile
AT END SET EndOfWorkFile TO TRUE
END-RETURN
PERFORM UNTIL EndOfWorkFile
MOVE SalespsnNumWF TO SalespsnNum
MOVE ZEROS TO TotalQtySold
PERFORM UNTIL SalespsnNumWF NOT = SalespsnNum
OR EndOfWorkFile
ADD QtySoldWF TO TotalQtySold
RETURN WorkFile
AT END SET EndOfWorkFile TO TRUE
END-RETURN
END-PERFORM
WRITE SummaryRec
END-PERFORM
CLOSE SalesSummaryFile.
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Revised This example program is a revised version of the Foreign Guest Report
Foreign program. In this example, instead of creating a sorted file which is read to
Guests create the report; the report is created directly from the OUTPUT
Report - PROCEDURE. This has the effect of making the program simpler and
example shorter, since we no longer need all the sorted file declarations.
program
$ SET SOURCEFORMAT"FREE"
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. ForeignGuestsRpt2.
AUTHOR. Michael Coughlan.
* This program analyses the CSIS web site GuestBook file
* and uses an OUTPUT PROCEDURE to print a report showing
* the number of visitors to the web site from each
* foreign country.

ENVIRONMENT DIVISION.
INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION.
FILE-CONTROL.
SELECT GuestBookFile
ASSIGN TO "GuestBook.Dat"
ORGANIZATION IS LINE SEQUENTIAL.

SELECT WorkFile
ASSIGN TO "Work.Tmp".

SELECT ForeignGuestReport
ASSIGN TO "ForeignGuest.Rpt"
ORGANIZATION IS LINE SEQUENTIAL.

DATA DIVISION.
FILE SECTION.
FD GuestBookFile.
01 GuestRec.
88 EndOfFile VALUE HIGH-VALUES.
02 GuestNameGF PIC X(20).
02 CountryNameGF PIC X(20).
88 CountryIsIreland VALUE "IRELAND".
02 GuestCommentGF PIC X(40).

SD WorkFile.
01 WorkRec.
88 EndOfWorkFile VALUE HIGH-VALUES.
02 CountryNameWF PIC X(20).

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FD ForeignGuestReport.
01 PrintLine PIC X(38).

WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
01 Heading1 PIC X(37)
VALUE "CSIS Web site - Foreign Guests Report".

01 Heading2.
02 FILLER PIC X(25) VALUE " Country".
02 FILLER PIC X(8) VALUE "Visitors".

01 CountryLine.
02 FILLER PIC X(3) VALUE SPACES.
02 PrnCountryName PIC X(20).
02 PrnVisitorCount PIC BBBZZ,ZZ9.

01 ReportFooting PIC X(36)

VALUE "*** End of Foreign Guests report ***".

01 VisitorCount PIC 9(5).

PROCEDURE DIVISION.
PrintForeignGuestReport.
SORT WorkFile ON ASCENDING CountryNameWF
INPUT PROCEDURE IS SelectForeignGuests
OUTPUT PROCEDURE IS PrintGuestReport.
STOP RUN.

SelectForeignGuests.
OPEN INPUT GuestBookFile.
READ GuestBookFile
AT END SET EndOfFile TO TRUE
END-READ
PERFORM UNTIL EndOfFile
IF NOT CountryIsIreland
MOVE CountryNameGF TO CountryNameWF
RELEASE WorkRec
END-IF
READ GuestBookFile
AT END SET EndOfFile TO TRUE
END-READ
END-PERFORM
CLOSE GuestBookFile.

PrintGuestReport.
OPEN OUTPUT ForeignGuestReport
WRITE PrintLine FROM Heading1
AFTER ADVANCING PAGE
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WRITE PrintLine FROM Heading2

AFTER ADVANCING 2 LINES
RETURN WorkFile
AT END SET EndOfWorkFile TO TRUE
END-RETURN
PERFORM PrintReportBody UNTIL EndOfWorkFile
WRITE PrintLine FROM ReportFooting
AFTER ADVANCING 3 LINES
CLOSE ForeignGuestReport.

PrintReportBody.
MOVE CountryNameWF TO PrnCountryName
MOVE ZEROS TO VisitorCount
PERFORM UNTIL CountryNameWF NOT EQUAL TO PrnCountryName
OR EndOfWorkFile
ADD 1 TO VisitorCount
RETURN WorkFile
AT END SET EndofWorkFile TO TRUE
END-RETURN
END-PERFORM
MOVE VisitorCount TO PrnVisitorCount
WRITE PrintLine FROM CountryLine
AFTER ADVANCING 1 LINE.

MERGEing files
Introduction It is often useful to combine two or more files into a single large file. If the
files are unordered, this is easy to accomplish because we can simply
append the records in one file to the end of the other. But if the files are
unordered, the task is somewhat more complicated, especially if there are
more than two files, because we must preserve the ordering in the
combined file.

In COBOL, instead of having to write special code every time we want to

merge files, we can use the MERGE verb. The MERGE verb takes two or
more identically sequenced files and combines them, according to the key
values specified. The combined file is then sent to an output file or an
OUTPUT PROCEDURE.

MERGE
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syntax

e.g.

MERGE MergeWorkFile
ON ASCENDING KEY TransDateWF, TransCodeWF, StudentIdWF
USING InsertTransFile, DeleteTransFile, UpdateTransFile
GIVING CombinedTransFile.

MERGE notes
The results of the MERGE verb are predictable only when the records in
the input files are ordered as described in the KEY clause associated with
the MERGE statement. For instance, if the MERGE statement has an ON
DESCENDING KEY StudentId clause, then all the USING files must be
ordered on descending StudentId.

As with the SORT, the SDWorkFileName is the name of a temporary file,

with an SD entry in the FILE SECTION, a SELECT and ASSIGN entry in the
INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION, and an organization of RECORD SEQUENTIAL.

Each MergeKeyIdentifier identifies a field in the record of the work file.

The sorted file will be in sequence on this key field(s).

When more than one MergeKeyIdentifier is specified, the keys decrease in

significance from left to right (leftmost key is most significant, rightmost
is least significant).

InFileName and OutFileName, are the names of the input and output files
respectively. These files are automatically opened by the MERGE. When
the MERGE executes they must not be already open.

AlphabetName is an alphabet-name defined in the SPECIAL-NAMES

paragraph of the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION. This clause is used to select
the character set the SORT verb uses for collating the records in the file.
The character set may be ASCII (8 or 7 bit ), EBCDIC,or user-defined.

The MERGE can use an OUTPUT PROCEDURE and the RETURN verb to
get merged records from the SDWorkFileName.
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The OUTPUT PROCEDURE only executes after the files have been merged
and must contain at least one RETURN statement to get the records from
the SortFile.

MERGE In this example program, instead of writing code to insert records from a
example transaction file into an ordered master file, we have used the MERGE verb
to merge the files.

$ SET SOURCEFORMAT "FREE"

IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. MergeFiles.
AUTHOR. MICHAEL COUGHLAN.
* Example program demonstrating the use of the MERGE.
* The program merges the file Students.Dat and
* Transins.Dat to create a new file Students.New

ENVIRONMENT DIVISION.
INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION.
FILE-CONTROL.
SELECT StudentFile ASSIGN TO "STUDENTS.DAT"
ORGANIZATION IS LINE SEQUENTIAL.

SELECT InsertionsFile ASSIGN TO "TRANSINS.DAT"

ORGANIZATION IS LINE SEQUENTIAL.

SELECT NewStudentFile ASSIGN TO "STUDENTS.NEW"

ORGANIZATION IS LINE SEQUENTIAL.

SELECT WorkFile ASSIGN TO "WORK.TMP".

DATA DIVISION.
FILE SECTION.
FD StudentFile.
01 StudentRec PIC X(30).

FD InsertionsFile.
01 InsertionRec PIC X(30).

FD NewStudentFile.
01 NewStudentRec PIC X(30).

SD WorkFile.
01 WorkRec.
02 StudentIdWF PIC 9(7).
02 FILLER PIC X(23).

PROCEDURE DIVISION.

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Begin.
MERGE WorkFile
ON ASCENDING KEY StudentIdWF
USING InsertionsFile, StudentFile
GIVING NewStudentFile.
STOP RUN.

Copyright Notice
These COBOL course materials are the copyright property of Michael Coughlan.

All rights reserved. No part of these course materials may be reproduced in any form or by any means
- graphic, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording, taping or stored in an information
storage and retrieval system - without the written permission of the author.

(c) Michael Coughlan

Last updated : April 1999

e-mail : [email protected]

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