How to sort an array in cobol

sant532 · New User Joined: 02 Jun 2008 Posts: 48 Location: India

hi ,

In my requirement i am using an array which should get sort when i am loading data in to array.

but it is not loading into sorted order even my array declared like below

Bill O'Boyle · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 4:56 pm

Where are you getting each array-entry?

Are these entries already in sorted order? (apparently not

)

If not and you can't sort them using a COBOL Internal Sort, then you'd have to use a proven manual programmatic Sort method.

Try Googling SORT and you'll get millions of hits. Sort methods you may want to review (for example) are Bubble and Criss-Cross.

Bill

dbzTHEdinosauer · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 6:08 pm

the ascending/descending clause is used to describe the condition of the data contained in the COBOL INTERNAL TABLE.
arrays in COBOL are the db2 definition of a COBOL Internal Table used for rowset selects.

as bill mentioned, either

pre-sort the data before input to the cobol module (yup, that means a sort step)
or write your own sort logic

sant532 · New User Joined: 02 Jun 2008 Posts: 48 Location: India

Then can any body suggest me, what is the use of declaring array like above ( ASCENDING KEY IS WT-RELN-CIN )

as per Dick explanation it wont sort even we declare with
ASCENDING KEY IS WT-RELN-CIN

is my understanding is correct.

dbzTHEdinosauer · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 7:29 pm

well, I will save you the problem of reading the manual.

a prerequisite for the SEARCH ALL (Binary search) instruction
is that the COBOL INTERNAL TABLE
must have either a descending or ascending clause and that the values contained be appropriately sorted.

now,
why would you want to use a SEACH ALL instead of SEARCH,
for that you will have to read the manual - or do a search.

Robert Sample · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 7:42 pm

Your understanding is correct. COBOL will not sort the data in the array -- it expects you, the programmer, to ensure that the data is loaded into the table according to the key sequence. How you get it sorted is up to you -- SORT verb in COBOL, implementing a sort algorithm within your code, or even sorting the file via JCL before you read in the data. There are good reasons to use the ASCENDING (or DESCENDING) KEY phrase, but expecting COBOL to insert the data in sorted sequence is not one of those reasons.

Kjeld · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:25 pm

If the key values of your array set is contiguos you might even be able to calculate the index value for the array. But the again, then you do not have to search the array: You only need to calculate the index value again to reference the wanted element when you do lookup..

Bill O'Boyle · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:35 pm

Are you sure 1000 is a good maximum for your OCCURS DEPENDING ON array?

If you are loading the array from a SORTED file and the file is sorted prior to invoking your program, could you pass the number of records to your program as a parm?

You would then know immediately if the maximum occurs of 1000 will be enough.

Note that although the array is an ODO and the fact that it's defined to WS, the amount of storage allocated will still be (1000 * 10), regardless.

Have you considered moving the array to LINKAGE and obtain only the amount of storage you need, based upon the number of records in the file and allocate this storage, using the LE Callable Service routine "CEEGTST". This is referred to as "Dynamic Storage Allocation".

If so, you can increase the maximum in the ODO to a very large number, but the actual storage acquired will be a calculation. This will prevent you not getting a call in the middle of the night, because the 1000 maximum in your ODO WS array is too small.

ODO arrays in WS as opposed to LINKAGE are treated and allocated differently.

Something to consider....

Bill