sort question

[Doug Gwyn]

In article <810056 at hpsemc.HP.COM> gph at hpsemc.HP.COM (Paul Houtz) writes:
>What unix sort do you use if you have a data file with mixed binary
>and ascii fields?

Your first problem is to define exactly what constitutes a "record"
for such a case.  The other systems you mention support (require?)
file attributes such as record size; on UNIX files are just structureless
byte arrays.  The new-line terminator convention allows text files to
be dealt with on a line-oriented basis, but there is no widespread UNIX
convention for binary file structures.