About the MERGE verb,which one of the following is true?
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Can merge a maximum of three files.
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Does not require that the input file to be merged be sorted on the merge keys.
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Requires that all files mentioned in the statement must have records of same size
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Does not require that the position of the merge keys with in the records descriptions of each of the files must be same.
The MERGE verb in COBOL requires all input files and the output file to have records of the same size. This is because MERGE combines already-sorted files into a single sorted output, and record size compatibility is essential for proper merging. The input files must be sorted on merge keys before MERGE executes, and key positions must match across files.
To answer this question, let's go through each option to understand why it is correct or incorrect:
Option A) Can merge a maximum of three files. - This option is incorrect. The MERGE verb in most programming languages does not have a maximum limit on the number of files that can be merged. It can merge any number of files as long as the system resources allow it.
Option B) Does not require that the input file to be merged be sorted on the merge keys. - This option is incorrect. The MERGE verb typically requires that the input files to be merged are sorted on the merge keys. This ensures that the merging process can efficiently compare and merge the records based on the specified keys.
Option C) Requires that all files mentioned in the statement must have records of the same size. - This option is correct. The MERGE verb usually requires that all the files mentioned in the statement must have records of the same size. This is because the merging process relies on aligning and comparing records at corresponding positions, and having different record sizes would lead to alignment issues and incorrect merging.
Option D) Does not require that the position of the merge keys within the record descriptions of each of the files must be the same. - This option is incorrect. The MERGE verb typically requires that the position of the merge keys within the record descriptions of each file must be the same. This allows the merging process to correctly identify and compare the merge keys in each record.
The correct answer is C) Requires that all files mentioned in the statement must have records of the same size. This option is correct because the MERGE verb requires the input files to have records of the same size for proper merging.