A Generalized Partial Pass Block Sort The design of a partial pass block sort with arbitrary range of key and number of work files is described. The design is a generalization of the Partial Pass Column Sort by Ashenhurst and the Amphisbaenic Sort by Nagler. The power of the sort is tabulated for various sizes of input file and number of work files. consideration is given to the problem of combining a block sort with internal sorts, and to the best use of direct access storage devices. CACM July, 1968 Bayes, A. block sort, partial pass sort, direct access devices, column sort, chaining, reverse chaining, sort, amphisbaenic 5.31 CA680705 JB February 22, 1978 12:12 PM 1724 5 1724 1724 5 1724 1724 5 1724