Re: QLGSORT and CPF3BD6 - Key field 01 is not valid for key number 1

While I'm sure FMTDTA is fine, it sounds like it wouldn't be all that
hard to read the whole flat file into an array and sort it in memory.
Yeah, you would need to do a little finagling (perhaps with data
structures and overlays) to set up the key, but it doesn't strike me
as particularly hairy.

More straightforward is probably creating a keyed PF with the desired
fields and dumping the flat file into that. (Or the SQL equivalent.)

There are so many ways to skin this cat. If you have access to the
Unix box that's generating this, there are plenty of tools there for
sorting. If you must do all your processing on the AS/400, there is
always my favorite, iSeries Python.

But if you're not using those already, it's probably because you're
not familiar with them, and thus you are stuck in a similar position
as with FMTDTA: needing to do a bunch of reading to figure it out. I
think the sweet spot in terms of effort, complication, and total time
to implement (including learning if necessary) is the PF or SQL-based
approach.

John