The DELIMIT option specifies whether the input file contains field delimiters or not. A field delimiter is a blank or a user-defined character that separates the fields in a record. This is applicable for sort input files only.
.-N-. >>-DELIMIT--(-+-Y-+-)------------------------------------------><
The sort utility distinguishes text files from binary files with the presence of field delimiters. Input files that contain field delimiters are processed as text files; otherwise, they are considered to be binary files. The library needs this information in order to pass the correct parameters to the sort utility.