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LIST SORT <list> BY <sort keys> TO <new list> 
sorts a structured list consisting of records of varying length in an order
given by <sort keys> and saves the sorted list in a series of other edit files
as <new list>.

<sort keys> is a sequence of the form X,Y,Z,...
where X,Y,Z... are defined as fields in a structured <list> definition.

<new list> gives a common forepart for the new edit files needed for
the sorted records. For example, if <new list> is D:OLIST, then files
D:OLIST1.EDT, D:OLIST2.EDT, D:OLIST3.EDT,... will be used for the
result. The output files will contain DEF definitions which specify
a new list LIST OLIST: A,OLIST1-xxx END .
The definition file of <new list> has the same structure as <list>.

By default the sizes of the edit fields in <new list> correspond to
those of <list>. This is changed by the specification
LISTDIM=<#_lines>,<#_columns>,<max_#_shadow_lines>.

LIST SORT (continued)

LIST SORT permits records of variable number of lines to be sorted.
The records are specified in the .LST file defining <list>.

The records can be treated conditionally by using the same SELECT
specification as in conditional processing of Survo data files.

By the specification NSORT=n only n first of the sorted cases will be
saved as a new list.

As a checking procedure, active cases are displayed as well values of
selected fields by giving a specification
SHOW=<list_of_fields> .

LIST SORT (continued)

By the specification FILE=<name_of_a_new_text_file>[,<delimiter>]
all fields defined in <list> can be saved in a text file in a form
of a data matrix. The first line in the text file will consist of
the names of the fields. Each active record (case) is saved as its
own line thereafter. The fields are separated by character <delimiter>.
Default is the character | .
Thus the data in the text file can be copied to a (new) Survo data
file simply by the command
FILE SAVE <text_file> TO <data_file> / DELIMITER=|

  L = More information on LIST operations