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                    SORTXL - Sort large ASCII files                   
                 Ver 3.1 (c) 1993..99 Horst Schaeffer                 
    

    Syntax:
              SORTXL source_file [product_file] [Options]

    As an alternative you may use DOS redirections (see below).

    Up to 8 sort criteria (fields) may be specified by option, each
    ascending or descending. By default the file will be sorted by the
    complete lines in ascending order.

    Options:

    /+p,l     ascending order:
              p: position of sort field (1...)
              l: length of field

              Example:   /+44,6

    /-p,l     descending (reverse) order

    /R        reverse order, applies to the first field only
              (for compatibility with DOS sort)

    Redirection:

    SORTXL will detect redirections (STDIN/STDOUT), when the < | >
    symbols are used, even in combination with direct specifications.
    Examples:
              SORTXL < file.in > file.out /+9,5
              Program | SORTXL product.ext /+1,32

    Note: Long filenames (WIN95) can only be used with redirections.


    Sort order:

    Characters are converted using the DOS sort table for country set
    437 (lower to upper case, "Umlauts" to standard ASCII equivalents
    etc.). For equal field data the order remains unchanged.

    The file should not include TAB (Ctrl-I) characters, because they
    will not be translated to the proper number of spaces.

    Limits:

    SORTXL runs under DOS 3.3 or better, even on an old XT (8086).

    The ASCII file must consist of lines terminated by CR+LF or just CR.
    Max. line length: 2 KB incl. CR+LF. The maximum file size is not
    limited.

    Performance:

    SORTXL repeatedly sorts a chunk of the source file in (conventional)
    memory, and merges each one with the previously sorted chunks stored
    in a temporary file. Though SORTXL is not optimized for handling a
    great number of chunks, it is still faster than SORT.EXE supplied
    with WIN95.

    Errors:

    In case of errors SORTXL will abort with an error message (STDERR)
    and an errorlevel > 0. If a read/write error occurrs, temporary
    files named SORTXL$?.TMP may be left over in the TEMP directory.

    Copyright, Disclaimer:

    SORTXL is distributed as "freeware," that is, SORTXL is a free
    program with copyright reserved by the author, Horst Schaeffer.
    There is no restriction on its use within private corporations,
    nor on its use in governmental agencies. There are no warranties
    of any kind, nor any liability by the author.  Users accept full
    responsibility for the use they make of the software and for any
    damage caused thereby.

    SORTXL Ver 3.1 (c) 1993..99 Horst Schaeffer,
           Email: horst.schaeffer@gmx.net

11 JUN 1999
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