Choosing alternate collating sequences

You can sort or merge records on the EBCDIC or ASCII collating sequence, or on another collating sequence. The default collating sequence is EBCDIC unless you code the PROGRAM COLLATING SEQUENCE clause in the OBJECT-COMPUTER paragraph.

About this task

To override the default sequence, use the COLLATING SEQUENCE phrase of the SORT or MERGE statement. You can use different collating sequences for each SORT or MERGE statement in your program.

The PROGRAM COLLATING SEQUENCE clause and the COLLATING SEQUENCE phrase apply only to keys of class alphabetic or alphanumeric.

When you sort or merge an ASCII file, you have to request the ASCII collating sequence. To do so, code the COLLATING SEQUENCE phrase of the SORT or MERGE statement, and define the alphabet-name as STANDARD-1 in the SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph.

Related references  
OBJECT-COMPUTER paragraph (Enterprise COBOL for z/OS® Language Reference)  
SORT statement (Enterprise COBOL for z/OS Language Reference)  
Classes and categories of data (Enterprise COBOL for z/OS Language Reference)