To MICS-lurkers and MICS-listers:
Here's a tip for DFSORT users in particular (may also work with SYNCSORT - check with the vendor, if curious and post a reply here!)
IBM's DFSORT will take advantage of SORTWKnn allocations larger than the legacy z/OS - MVS maximum of 4369 cylinders, but only when DSNTYPE=LARGE is specified in the JCL DD allocation. From what I learned through IBM's DFSORT home page and Internet contributions by Frank Yaeger and his technical team, DFSORT does not necessarily work more efficient with "more" and "smaller-sized" SORTWKnn allocations, so it's preferred to allocate what's needed (ball-park) in your JCL, specifically for the MICS/SAS sorting application approach.
And for MICS, that condition requires you to use the JCLDEFC/JCLDEF parameter SORTSMSPARMS and adding/specifying the value: DSNTYPE=LARGE. Also, you will want to code a MICS-maximum SORTCYL 999; hopefully it will be increased some day - yes, there is an open DAR.
Another DFSORT tip is the specification of SEC=nnn (where "nnn" is a percentage of the primary allocation amount), which DFSORT will automatically allocate, if needed. You will need to add this to the MICS-distributed "sample" DFSORT parameter member in sharedprefix.PARMS -- also, put a local mod into sharedprefix.MICS.HOLD.PARMS(DFSORT) as well, and don't forget to document it in your MICS LOCALMOD.CNTL library for future reference.
Regards,
Scott Barry
SBBWorks, Inc.