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Can the sort output destroy (reuse) the sort input file?

April 26, 2017destroy file input output reuse sort

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Can the sort output destroy (reuse) the sort input file?

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For the Daytona sorts, destroying or overwriting the input file is never allowed. For the Indy sorts, the input file can be overwritten or destroyed if there is not sufficient disk space to hold both the input and output files. However the sort must always create a new output file and allocate space for it. It can delete the input file after reading it and reclaim that space. That is at the end of phase 1 (when the runs have been generated) the program could delete the input file and then create the output file and merge the runs into that new file.