SSORT 1.4, Samuel R. Blackburn

SSORT will sort any sized file no matter how much RAM your system has. Its only
limitation is the amount of disk space you have. SSORT requires approximately
twice as much free space on your hard disk as the size of your file. Example:
the file to be sorted is 1MB in length, you will need 2MB of free disk space to
sort it. SSORT isn't the fastest sorter around but it will get the job done.

It provides for several types of sorts.

/L sorts on line length so that the shortest lines are at the begining
/LD sorts so that the longest lines are at the begining
/Cfilename uses the custom alphabet on the first line of filename
/S#,# starts sorting on the # column and continues for # characters

If the /L or /LD options are used then the /S option is negated.

The custom alphabet feature allows you to sort a file in any order you want. If
you want to sort with 'Q' being the first letter of the alphabet then construct
an alphabet with Q at the begining. SSORT will only read the first line of the
custom alphabet file. SSORT distinguishes between upper and lower case letters
so you should include both when cunstructing an alphabet.

The /S option requires a little explaining. Say you have a list of dates:
01/01/90
12/31/89
06/01/87
If you were to sort this file using DOS's sort then the dates would be sorted on
their month. But with SSORT you may specify which columns will be sorted first.
By saying SSORT /s7,2 /s1,5 you will sort the file first on columns 7 & 8 (the
year) then columns 1 through 5. The first column is number 1 not number 0. You
may specify up to 128 different column areas to sort on.

You've probably noticed that input and output filenames are not mandatory. This
means that SSORT supports pipes. Executing TYPE BIG_FILE | SSORT /LD | UNIQ is
perfectly legal.

Executing SSORT ? will give you a nice little help screen.

Any questions/comments/suggestions should be directed to me here at Programmer's
Corner or on GEnie (S.BLACKBURN2). Happy Sorting.