Editing Unit record equipment (section)

==Sorting==
{{main|Punched card sorter}}
{{See also|IBM 80 series Card Sorters|IBM 101|l2=IBM 101 Electronic Statistical Sorting Machine}}
[[File:Punch card sorter.JPG|thumb|left|IBM 082 Sorter.]]
An activity in many unit record shops was [[Sorting algorithm|sorting]] card decks into the order necessary for the next processing step.  Sorters, like the [[IBM 80 series Card Sorters]], sorted input cards into one of 13 pockets depending on the holes punched in a selected column and the sorter's settings. The 13th pocket was for blanks and rejects. Cards were sorted on one card column at a time; sorting on, for example, a five digit zip code required that the card deck be processed five times. Sorting an input card deck into ascending sequence on a multiple column field, such as an employee number, was done by a [[radix sort]], [[bucket sort]], or a combination of the two methods.

Sorters were also used to separate decks of interspersed master and detail cards, either by a significant hole punch or by the cards corner-cut.<ref>{{cite book |title= Reference Manual, IBM 82, 83, and 84 Sorters |year= 1962|page= 25}}</ref>

More advanced functionality was available in the [[IBM 101|IBM 101 Electronic Statistical Machine]], which could
* Sort
* Count
* Accumulate totals
* Print summaries
* Send calculated results (counts and totals) to an attached [[IBM 524]] ''Duplicating Summary Punch''.<ref>{{cite book  |title=IBM 101 Electronic Statistical Machine - Reference Manal
|url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/punchedCard/ElectronicStatisticalMachine/A22-0502-0_101_ElectronicStatisticalMachine.pdf}}</ref>{{rp|pp. 5–6}}