ICETOOL & DFSORT

[hsivarama]

It is known that DFsort + added functionalities -> ICETOOL

What operations are specific to ICETOOl which the DFSORT in normal can't perform

[Frank Yaeger]

It is known that DFsort + added functionalities -> ICETOOL

No, that's not the right way to describe it. DFSORT's ICETOOL has its own set of functions, some of which can be done directly by DFSORT and many of which can't. ICETOOL actually uses its own code and logic along with calls to DFSORT.

What operations are specific to ICETOOl which the DFSORT in normal can't perform

DFSORT's ICETOOL has many unique functions that DFSORT can't perform at all, or that require more effort or passes to perform with DFSORT than with ICETOOL, e.g., SELECT, SPLICE, DISPLAY, OCCUR, DEFAULTS, etc. ICETOOL does a lot of things automatically that you would need to know about and set up specifically with DFSORT alone; in many cases that would require you to write your own exit code to use DFSORT instead of ICETOOL.

ICETOOL can do multiple operations in a single step. So, for example, you could do three SORT operations in one ICETOOL step, whereas you would need three DFSORT steps to do the same thing. And you could combine different operations in one ICETOOL step as well (e.g. COPY, COPY, SPLICE).

If you're not familiar with DFSORT and DFSORT's ICETOOL, I'd suggest reading through "z/OS DFSORT: Getting Started". It's an excellent tutorial, with lots of examples, that will show you how to use DFSORT, DFSORT's ICETOOL and DFSORT Symbols. You can access it online, along with all of the other DFSORT books, from:

www.ibm.com/servers/storage/support/sof ... tmpub.html