Specifying an esoteric (group) name for the SORTDEV= option will result in a WARNING message when issued in a single executive environment. It will result in an error message when issued in a multiple executive environment.

Example: OPTIONS SORTDEV=SYSDA;

in a single executive environment will cause the following WARNING to be written to the SAS Log:

WARNING: SORTDEV=SYSDA is a group (esoteric) unit name, which may
        include more than one device type. To calculate the space
        requirements of the sort work files, the device
        characteristics of the WORK file (generic device type
        dddddd) will be used instead, which may not match the
        device type to which the sort work files will be allocated.
        Specify a device type (generic) unit name instead.

Circumvention: Specify the NOSORTDEVWARN SAS system option.

In a multiple executive environment, the following ERROR message is issued:

ERROR: Host sort cannot be used.

Circumvention: If your host sort interface supports dynamic allocation of sortwork datasets, specify the DYNALLOC SAS system option or change the SORTDEV= option to a specify a valid device type unit name, such as 3390.