If you do not reference SORT-RETURN in your program, and the completion code from a sort or merge operation is 16, COBOL for Windows issues a runtime diagnostic message that contains one of the nonzero error numbers shown in the table below.
| Error number | Description |
|---|---|
| 0 | No error |
| 1 | Record is out of order. |
| 2 | Equal-keyed records were detected. |
| 3 | Multiple main functions were specified (internal error). |
| 4 | Error in the parameter file |
| 5 | Parameter file could not be opened. |
| 6 | Operand missing from option |
| 7 | Operand missing from extended option |
| 8 | Invalid operand in option |
| 9 | Invalid operand in extended option |
| 10 | An invalid option was specified. |
| 11 | An invalid extended option was specified. |
| 12 | An invalid temporary directory was specified. |
| 13 | An invalid file-name was specified. |
| 14 | An invalid field was specified. |
| 15 | A field was missing in the record. |
| 16 | A field was too short in the record. |
| 17 | Syntax error in SELECT specification |
| 18 | An invalid constant was specified in SELECT. |
| 19 | Invalid comparison between constant and data type in SELECT |
| 20 | Invalid comparison between two data types in SELECT |
| 21 | Syntax error in format specification |
| 22 | Syntax error in reformat specification |
| 23 | An invalid constant was specified in the reformat specification. |
| 24 | Syntax error in sum specification |
| 25 | A flag was specified multiple times. |
| 26 | Too many outputs were specified. |
| 27 | No input source was specified. |
| 28 | No output destination was specified. |
| 29 | An invalid modifier was specified. |
| 30 | Sum is not allowed. |
| 31 | Record is too short. |
| 32 | Record is too long. |
| 33 | An invalid packed or zoned field was detected. |
| 34 | Read error on file |
| 35 | Write error on file |
| 36 | Cannot open input file. |
| 37 | Cannot open message file. |
| 38 | VSAM file error |
| 39 | Insuficient space in target buffers |
| 40 | Not enough temporary disk space |
| 41 | Not enough space for output file |
| 42 | An unexpected signal was trapped. |
| 43 | Error was returned from the input exit. |
| 44 | Error was returned from the output exit. |
| 45 | Unexpected data was returned from the output user exit. |
| 46 | Invalid bytes used value was returned from input exit. |
| 47 | Invalid bytes used value was returned from output exit. |
| 48 | SMARTsort is not active. |
| 49 | Insufficient storage to continue execution |
| 50 | Parameter file was too large. |
| 51 | Nonmatching single quotation mark |
| 52 | Nonmatching quotation mark |
| 53 | Conflicting options were specified. |
| 54 | Length field in record is invalid. |
| 55 | Last field in record is invalid. |
| 56 | Required record format was not specified. |
| 57 | Cannot open output file. |
| 58 | Cannot open temporary file. |
| 59 | Invalid file organization |
| 60 | User exit is not supported with the specified file organization. |
| 61 | Locale is not known to the system. |
| 62 | Record contains an invalid multibyte character. |
| 63 | A VSAM organization was specified for the file, but the file is not VSAM. |
| 64 | No key specified to SORT is usable for definition of indexed output file. |
| 65 | VSAM fixed record length for the file does not agree with the specified record format. |
| 66 | The SMARTsort options file creation failed. |
| 67 | A fully qualified, nonrelative path name must be specified as a work directory. |
| 68 | A required option must be specified. |
| 69 | Path name is not valid. |
| 79 | Maximum number of temporary files has been reached. |
| 501 | Invalid function |
| 502 | Invalid record type |
| 503 | Invalid record length |
| 504 | Type length error |
| 505 | Invalid type |
| 506 | Mismatched number of keys |
| 507 | Type is too long. |
| 508 | Invalid key offset |
| 509 | Invalid ascending or descending key |
| 510 | Invalid overlapping keys |
| 511 | No key was defined. |
| 512 | No input file was specified. |
| 513 | No output file was specified. |
| 514 | Mixed-type input files |
| 515 | Mixed-type output files |
| 516 | Invalid input work buffer |
| 517 | Invalid output work buffer |
| 518 | COBOL input I/O error |
| 519 | COBOL output I/O error |
| 520 | Unsupported function |
| 521 | Invalid key |
| 522 | Invalid USING file |
| 523 | Invalid GIVING file |
| 524 | No work directory was supplied. |
| 525 | Work directory does not exist. |
| 526 | Sort common was not allocated. |
| 527 | No storage for sort common |
| 528 | Binary buffer was not allocated. |
| 529 | Line-sequential file buffer was not allocated. |
| 530 | Work space allocation failed. |
| 531 | FCB allocation failed. |