Sort does not create work files until it needs them. If Sort needs work files, it creates them, places them in the SYS$SCRATCH directory, and assigns them SORTWORKn logicals. Usually, there is no advantage to requesting more than one work file. However, if the available disks are too small or too full for Sort work files, you can increase the number of work files to make each work file smaller. High-performance Sort/Merge: You can also enhance performance by assigning each work file to a different disk.