GCSORT

I heard about GCSORT on Moshix’s YouTube Channel titled “Sorting with GnuCOBOL Sort”. What I don’t exactly understand is it’s association with GnuCOBOL. It’s even described in GnuCOBOL’s FAQ as “A powerful external sort utility, for use with sequential (fixed length record) files.”

Perhaps it’s because…

  • oftentimes in mainframe batch jobs, the sort is a separate step.
  • of the “fixed length record”

GnuCOBOL already has a SORT built into it. I’ve used it a few times.