VMS Help SORT, /WORK_FILES  *Conan The Librarian (sorry for the slow response - running on an old VAX)

    Increases the number of Sort work files by any number from 1 to
    10 inclusively to make each work file smaller. If the available
    disks are too small or too full for work files, increasing the
    number of files can improve the efficiency of the sort operation.
    Use only with the SORT command.

    High-performance Sort/Merge: The high-performance Sort/Merge
    utility allows you to specify from 1 to 255 work files.

    Format

      /WORK_FILES=n

1 - Qualifier Value

 n

    Specifies the number of work files requested; 1 to 10 files may
    be specified. The default value is 2.

    High-performance Sort/Merge: The high-performance Sort/Merge
    utility allows you to specify from 1 to 255 work files. The
    default value is 1.

2 - Full Description

    Sort does not create work files until it needs them. If Sort
    needs work files, it creates them, places them in the SYS$SCRATCH
    directory, and assigns them SORTWORKn logicals. Usually, there
    is no advantage to requesting more than one work file. However,
    if the available disks are too small or too full for Sort work
    files, you can increase the number of work files to make each
    work file smaller.

    High-performance Sort/Merge: You can also enhance performance by
    assigning each work file to a different disk.

3 - Examples

    1.$ ASSIGN DRA5: SORTWORK0
      $ ASSIGN DB0: SORTWORK1
      $ ASSIGN DB1: SORTWORK2
      $ SORT/KEY=(POS:1,SIZ:80)/WORK_FILES=3 -
      _$ STATS1,STATS2,STATS3,STATS4 SUMMARY.LIS

      Because the input files in this sort operation are large files,
      specifying three work files improves the efficiency of the sort
      operation.

      Note that you can also assign the work files to a specific
      directory on a device by including the directory name. For
      example, to assign SORTWORK0 to the [WORKSPACE] directory on
      DRA5, enter the following command:

      $ ASSIGN DRA5:[WORKSPACE] SORTWORK0