| >ALTSEQ | >A | The >ALTSEQ command defines a collating sequence by modifying the standard ASCII (or EBCDIC) collating sequence. |
| >DATA | — | The >DATA command specifies the type of input data (ASCII or EBCDIC) and the basic collating sequence to be used in the sort or merge operation. |
| >END | >E | The >END command indicates that all specifications of SORT/XL or MERGE/XL commands are concluded and the operation specified should be performed. |
| >EXIT | >EX | The >EXIT command terminates the SORT/XL or MERGE/XL program. Once issued it prevents any sort or merge operation from being performed. |
| >INPUT(MERGE/XL) | >I | In MERGE/XL, the >INPUT command specifies the sorted input files to be merged. |
| >INPUT(SORT/XL) | >I | In SORT/XL, the >INPUT command specifies the input file(s) to be sorted. |
| >KEY | >K | The >KEY command specifies the location in the record of the key data items to be used as the basis for the sort or merge operation. |
| >LANGUAGE | >L | The >LANGUAGE command defines the configured native language collating sequence to be used. |
| >OUTPUT(MERGE/XL) | >O | In MERGE/XL, the >OUTPUT command defines and creates the output file which will contain the merged records. |
| >OUTPUT(SORT/XL)>O | In SORT/XL, the >OUTPUT command defines and creates the output file which will contain the sorted records. | |
| >RESET | — | The>RESET command corrects errors made while issuing the >KEY command. |
| >SHOW | >SH | The >SHOW command displays the collating sequence or the translation table. |
| >VERIFY | >V | The >VERIFY command displays the various options specified for a particular sort or merge operation. |
| >:MPE Command | — | The colon command (:) is entered prior to issuing MPE XL system commands from within either SORT/XL or MERGE/XL. |
| >:EOD | — | The >:EOD command terminates the list of input records to SORT/XL when the terminal ($STDIN) is used as the input file. |
