Easytrieve match two files - is SEARCH the right tool?

Inherited a program that GET file1, then SEARCH through all of file2 looking for a hit, every time. Runs forever on real volumes.

Someone muttered "synchronized JOB" or "two-file match." What should this actually look like?

Nested full scan of file2 is the worst option. Sort both on the key and do a proper match/merge with GET on each side under JOB INPUT NULL, or use synchronized file processing if both are in key order:

JOB INPUT (FILE1 KEY(ACCT) FILE2 KEY(ACCT))
then IF MATCHED / IF FILE1 / IF FILE2 logic.

Files must be ascending on those keys.

Synced JOB cut runtime from 40 minutes to under 2. Reviewers were right to hate the old code.