Frequently asked questions

AHLSORT is a sort, merge, join and data transformation utility for Linux, Windows and Unix. It runs existing IBM DFSORT and Syncsort MFX control statements, so mainframe sort steps can move off the mainframe without being rewritten. It has been built and supported by Ahlbrandt Software in Little Rock, Arkansas since 1993.

Yes, that is what AHLSORT is for. It reads DFSORT control statements, including SORT, MERGE, COPY, INCLUDE, OMIT, INREC, OUTREC, OUTFIL, SUM, JOINKEYS and IFTHEN, as well as ICETOOL and SYMNAMES. Where a DFSORT option is not supported, it is listed up front in the supported options document, so you know before you start.

Yes. Besides DFSORT, it reads Syncsort MFX control statements, including SORTSUM and XSUM, and CA Sort statements.

Yes. AHLSORT has a second compatibility mode that reads Syncsort for UNIX and Windows command syntax. It can be installed behind the existing program name, so scripts that call the old sort keep working.

Yes. AHLSORT handles EBCDIC and ASCII, packed decimal (COMP-3), zoned decimal, binary and the other IBM mainframe data types, with fixed, variable and IBM variable-length records. Mainframe files can be sorted in their original EBCDIC encoding, so the sort order matches the mainframe.

That is the goal, and it is something you should prove on your own jobs rather than take on trust. Run the same input on both platforms and compare the output byte for byte, including record counts and the order of records with equal keys. Our white paper Same Input, Same Output sets out how to test it.

Linux and Windows, plus Unix platforms, on physical servers, virtual machines, containers and cloud instances. That includes Linux on IBM Z and LinuxONE, so sort can move off z/OS onto Linux on the same mainframe hardware. It is a single compact executable.

Yes. AHLJSORT services JCL sort calls from Micro Focus (now Rocket) Enterprise Server and can be set up as an alias for SORT, so your JCL barely changes.

Yes. It runs from the command line or a job scheduler, has Java and C/C++ APIs, and supports DFSORT-style E15 and E35 user exits.

It does not run on z/OS itself (it does run on Linux on IBM Z and LinuxONE), it does not read VSAM files, and it does not support Unicode or double-byte character set (DBCS) data. If your jobs depend on any of these, talk to us first.

As an annual subscription priced per processor core, from $4,000 a year with a minimum of four cores per machine. Test, development and disaster recovery machines are half price, with up to one for each production license; they are not sold on their own. Three-year terms get 10 percent off and five-year terms 15 percent. Support and every new release are included. Machines of four to eight cores can be bought online; larger estates are quoted.

Yes. The free trial is the full product: run it on your own control statements and data, and compare the results with your mainframe run.

It depends on when your sort runs and how you are billed. Under IBM sub-capacity pricing, the bill is set by the peak rolling four-hour average, so sort that runs outside the peak may cost nothing in software charges. Our white paper What Sort Really Costs on the Mainframe explains how to measure it from SMF data.

Ahlbrandt Software, Inc., founded in 1993 by Bill Ahlbrandt and based at 417 Main Street, Little Rock, Arkansas. Before founding the company, Bill was a systems programmer and later Director of R&D at Acxiom.