VMS Help  —  CONVERT  file  Qualifiers  /SORT
    Specifies whether the input file is to be sorted before being
    loaded into an indexed file. The sort is done according to the
    primary key of the output file.

    Format

      /SORT [=FORCE]  (DEFAULT)

      /NOSORT

    Two procedures can improve the sort performance:

    o  Increasing the size of the working set for the duration of the
       sort.

    o  Placing the input file, the output file, and the temporary
       work files on separate disk devices.

    By default, when there is a single indexed input file with
    the same primary key definition as the output file, CONVERT
    does not perform a sort of the primary key. If you specify the
    keyword FORCE, it forces a sorting operation for the primary key.

    If you specify /NOSORT with /FAST_LOAD, only the SORT of the
    primary key is disabled. Alternate or secondary keys are
    always sorted. The /NOSORT qualifier is useful when you know
    the input file is already in primary key order.
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