SORTSIZE

SORTSIZE

Limits the amount of memory available to the SORT procedure

Default: 2,097,152 bytes

Valid in: configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window

Windows specifics: Default value

Syntax
Details
See Also

Syntax

-SORTSIZE n | nK | nM | | nG | | hexX | MAX | MIN

n | nK | nM | nG: specifies the amount of memory in multiples of 1; 1,024 (kilobytes); 1,048,576 (megabytes); and 1,073,741,824 (gigabytes) respectively. For example, a value of 8 specifies 8 bytes and a value of 3M specifies 3,145,728 bytes.
hexX: specifies the amount of memory as a hexadecimal number. This number must be followed by an X.
MAX: specifies the maximum amount of memory available.
MIN: specifies the minimum amount of memory available.

Details

By default, this option is set to 2 megabytes. The SORTSIZE system option can reduce the amount of swapping the SAS System must do to sort the data set. If PROC SORT needs more memory than you specify, it creates a temporary utility file in your SASWORK directory in which to store the data. The SORT procedure's algorithm can swap unneeded data more efficiently than Windows can.

A value of 2M is optimal for all memory configurations. If your machine has more than 12 MB of physical memory and you are sorting large data sets, setting this option to a value between 2 MB and 8 MB may improve performance.

See Also

SORTSIZE system option in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary
Procedure: SORT
Improving Performance of the SORT Procedure

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Default:	2,097,152 bytes
Valid in:	configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window
Windows specifics:	Default value