Considerations when using SORTCOLS in e3270ui

On an earlier post I demonstrated an example of how you can add sort capability to a column on an e3270ui panel using the SORTCOLS statement. 

http://tivoliwithaz.blogspot.com/2013/04/adding-more-sort-columns-to-e3270ui.html

This can be nice to add when you need a specific sort sequence on a display, but the panel did not provide a sort option for that particular field out of the box.

There are a couple things to be aware when adding columns to SORTCOLS.  First you can have a maximum of 15 columns on the SORTCOLS statement.  If you add more than 15 columns, you will not necessarily see an obvious eyecatcher or message.

Another thing to be aware of is that when adding a column to SORTCOLS, the e3270ui interface will keep information sorted within the e3270ui address space (commonly called the TOM).  This may be a concern when displaying a table with a large number of rows of information.  So be advised.  SORTCOLS is useful, but be aware of how much data you may be sorting.