EBCDIC Data in ASCII Order

   I need OPNQRYF and embedded SQL help to provide EBCDIC data to a program's 
input file but in ASCII order (numerics before alphabetics).
   I found a feature of the COBOL sort statement which allows me to release 
EBCDIC data to a sort file and return EBCDIC data from the sort file but in 
ASCII order.
   I have built an OPNQRYF routine to sort by key fields the same EBCDIC data 
and input it to a COBOL program. But, I can't figure out how to order the 
EBCDIC data in ASCII order like I did in the COBOL sort statement. I thought 
that 
CCSID might be used in some way or SRTSEQ.
   I would also like to apply the same kind of ASCII sort solution to 
embedded SQL routines.
   Could you point me to a sample that I could use to solve these problems.
         Thanks,
          Roger