SAS System Options

SORTSIZE= System Option

Specifies the amount of memory that is available to the SORT procedure.

Valid in:	configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window
Category:	Sort: Procedure options
	System administration: Memory
PROC OPTIONS GROUP=	MEMORY
	SORT
See:	SORTSIZE= System Option under Windows OpenVMS z/OS

Syntax
Syntax Description
Details
See Also

Syntax

SORTSIZE=n | nK | nM | nG | nT | hexX | MIN | MAX

Syntax Description

n | nK | nM | nG | nT: specifies the amount of memory in terms of 1 (byte); 1,024 (kilobytes); 1,048,576 (megabytes); 1,073,741,824 (gigabytes); or 1,099,511,627,776 (terabytes). For example, a value of 4000 specifies 4,000 bytes and a value of 2m specifies 2,097,152 bytes. If n=0, the sort utility uses its default. Valid values for SORTSIZE range from 0 to 9,223,372,036,854,775,807.
hexX: specifies the amount of memory as a hexadecimal number. This number must begin with a number (0-9), followed by an X. For example, 0fffx specifies 4095 bytes of memory.
MIN: specifies the minimum amount of memory available.
MAX: specifies the maximum amount of memory available.

Operating Environment Information: Values for MIN and MAX will vary, depending on your operating environment. For details, see the SAS documentation for your operating environment [cautionend]

Details

Generally, the value of the SORTSIZE= system option should be less than the physical memory available to your process. If the SORT procedure needs more memory than you specify, the system creates a temporary utility file.

PERFORMANCE NOTE: Proper specification of SORTSIZE= can improve sort performance by restricting the swapping of memory that is controlled by the operating environment.