Programming in

COBOL-85
For IBM Mainframe
System 390
Jyothi Sridhar Kini
E&R, Infosys
Mail-id: Jyothis@infosys.com
Phone: 52179

Course Plan

Day 1:

Introduction to COBOL

Day 2:

Cobol Language constructs

Day 3:

Sequential File Handling

Day 4: Index sequential file handling,

COPY, CALL

Day 5,6,7:

Working on project

Pre-requisites
Programming Fundamentals.
MVS Operating system and its subsystem TSO.
Job Control Language to submit jobs to MVS.
Navigating through ISPF.

Topics beyond the scope

Report writer feature of COBOL

References
TITLE
COBOL
Programming

AUTHOR

PUBLISHER

M.K.Roy and

Tata McGraw Hill

D. Ghosh
Dastidar
COBOL
Programming

Nancy Stern and John Wiley & Sons Inc

Robert Stern

Programming
with

Newcomer and
Lawrence

McGraw Hill Books

(Schaum Series)

Agenda for Day 1

Evolution and Features of COBOL.
General Coding and Format rules.
Language Fundamentals.
Input and Output verbs.
Arithmetic verbs.
Design and development of simple COBOL programs

History of
COBOL
Early years.
ANS Versions of COBOL.
Future of COBOL.
http://www.home.swbell.net/mck9/cobol/cobol.html
http://www.infogoal.com/cbd/cbdhome.html

History of
COBOL
1960 COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language)
initial specifications presented by CODASYL (Conference
on Data System Languages)
1964 revised to make COBOL more flexible
1968 ANSI (American National Standards Institute)
developed American National Standard (ANS) COBOL
Standardized form
Attempted to overcome incompatibilities of different
versions of COBOL
1974 ANSI published revised version of (ANS) COBOL
Business applications needed to manipulate character as
well as numeric data
String operations added

History of
COBOL
1985 ANSI published another revised
version of COBOL
Designed to take advantage of structured

programming techniques
Logic errors reduced with END statements
Case statement reduced nested IFs
Less English-like
Maintained readability and business orientation
Compatible with previous versions

COBOL
COBOL is an acronym which stands for
COmmon Business Oriented Language.
The name indicates the target area of COBOL
applications.
COBOL is used for developing business,
typically file-oriented, applications.
It is not designed for writing systems programs.
You would not develop an operating system or a
compiler using COBOL.
COBOL is one of the oldest computer languages
in use (it was developed in late 1950s).

CODSYL

Nature of COBOL
Business Oriented Language.
Standard Language.
Robust Language.
Structured Programming Language.
English-like Language.

Structure of a COBOL program

PROGRAM

SENTENCES

DIVISIONS

STATEMENTS

SECTIONS

PARAGRAPHS

RESERVED
WORDS

USER DEFINED
WORDS

CHARACTERS

COBOL Character set

Alphabets (Both upper and lower case)

Digits (0 to 9)

Special characters
b
/

;
<

$
.

>

The COBOL DIVISIONs

DIVISIONS are used to identify the principal
components of the program text. There are four
DIVISIONS in all.
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION.

// Optional

DATA DIVISION.

// Optional

PROCEDURE DIVISION.

IDENTIFICATION DIVISION
The purpose of the IDENTIFICATION
DIVISION is to provide information
about the program to the programmer
and to the compiler.
Most of the entries in the
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION are
directed at the programmer and are
treated by the compiler as comments.

IDENTIFICATION DIVISION...
An exception to this is the PROGRAMID clause. Every COBOL program must
have a PROGRAM-ID. It is used to
enable the compiler to identify the
program.
There are several other informational
paragraphs in the IDENTIFICATION
DIVISION but we will ignore them for
the moment.

IDENTIFICATION DIVISION...
The IDENTIFICATION DIVISION has
the following structure
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. PGM-NAME.
[AUTHOR. YourName.]
IDENTIFICATION
IDENTIFICATIONDIVISION.
DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID.
PROGRAM-ID.FIRSTPGM.
FIRSTPGM.
AUTHOR.
AUTHOR.Michael
MichaelCoughlan.
Coughlan.

IDENTIFICATION DIVISION...
The keywords IDENTIFICATION DIVISION
represent the division header and signal the
commencement of the program text.
The paragraph name PROGRAM-ID is a
keyword. It must be specified immediately after the
division header.
The program name can be up to 8 characters long
on MF(30 in case of windows).

IDENTIFICATION DIVISION...
Is used to identify the program to the computer.
Is the least significant DIVISION of a COBOL
program.
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. Member-name. ( Max 8 chars, letters & digits only )
AUTHOR.
/ Optional entry
INSTALLATION.
/ Optional entry
DATE-WRITTEN.
/ Optional entry
DATE-COMPILED.
/ Optional entry

ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
The ENVIRONMENT DIVISION is totally
optional unless you want to use files /
specify special devices to the compiler in
ENVIRONMENT
DIVISION.
ENVIRONMENT
DIVISION.
your
program.
CONFIGURATION
CONFIGURATIONSECTION.
SECTION.
IsSOURCE-COMPUTER.
VAX-6410.
used to indicate the Specific
Computers
SOURCE-COMPUTER.
VAX-6410.
OBJECT-COMPUTER.
IBM-ES9000.
OBJECT-COMPUTER.
IBM-ES9000.
used
to develop and execute
the program.
INPUT-OUTPUT
SECTION.
INPUT-OUTPUT
SECTION.
The
general
format
of ED is
FILE-CONTROL.
FILE-CONTROL.
SELECT
SELECTEMPL-FILE
EMPL-FILEASSIGN
ASSIGNTO
TO
DISC.
DISC.
......

The DATA DIVISION

The DATA DIVISION is used to describe most of
the data that a program processes.
The DATA DIVISION has two main sections FILE SECTION.
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.

The FILE SECTION is used to describe most of

the data that is sent to, or comes from, the
computers peripherals.
The WORKING-STORAGE SECTION is used to
describe the general variables used in the program.

DATA DIVISION
Is used to describe the structure of the fields,
records, files and temporary variables used for
calculations.
DATA DIVISION.
/ Optional entry
FILE SECTION.
FD filename
. . . . . . .
SD sortfile
. . . . . . .
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
. . . . . . .

PROCEDURE DIVISION
Is the most significant DIVISION of a
COBOL program.
Includes statements and sentences
necessary for reading input, processing it
and writing the output. These are the
instructions that are executed by the
computer at the RUN TIME.

PROCEDURE DIVISION
The PROCEDURE DIVISION is where
all the data described in the DATA
DIVISION is processed and produced
desired results. It is here that the
programmer describes his algorithm.
The PROCEDURE DIVISION is
hierarchical in structure and consists of
Sections, Paragraphs, Sentences and
Statements.

PROCEDURE DIVISION...
Only the Section is optional. There must
be at least one paragraph, sentence and
statement in the PROCEDURE
DIVISION .
In the PROCEDURE DIVISION,
paragraph and section names are chosen
by the programmer.
The names used should reflect the
processing being done in the paragraph or
section.

Sections
A SECTION is a block of code made up of one
or more paragraphs.
A SECTION begins with the section-name and
ends where next section name is encountered or
where the program text ends.
A SECTION name consists of a name devised
by the programmer or defined by the language
followed by the word SECTION followed by a
full stop.
U0000-SELECT-USER-RECORDS SECTION.
FILE SECTION.

s
Each section consists of one or more paragraphs.
A PARAGRAPH is a block of code made up of
one or more sentences.
A PARAGRAPH begins with the paragraphname and ends with the next paragraph or section
name or the end of the program text.
The paragraph-name consists of a name devised
by the programmer or defined by the language
followed by a full stop.
P0000-PRINT-FINAL-TOTALS.
PROGRAM-ID.

Statements
A PARAGRAPH consists of one or more sentences.
A SENTENCE consists of one or more statements and is terminated by
a full stop.
MOVE .21 TO VAT-RATE
COMPUTE VAT-AMOUNT = PRODUCT-COST * VAT-RATE.
DISPLAY "Enter Name " WITH NO ADVANCING
ACCEPT STUDENT-NAME
DISPLAY "Name Entered was " STUDENT-NAME.
A STATEMENT consists of a COBOL verb and an operand or
operands.
SUBTRACT T-TAX FROM GROSS-PAY GIVING NET-PAY

READ STUDENT-FILE
AT END SET END-OF-FILE TO TRUE
END-READ

First COBOL program

IDENTIFICATION
IDENTIFICATIONDIVISION.
DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID.FIRSTPGM.
PROGRAM-ID.FIRSTPGM.
AUTHOR.
AUTHOR.Michael
MichaelCoughlan.
Coughlan.
DATA
DATADIVISION.
DIVISION.
WORKING-STORAGE
WORKING-STORAGESECTION.
SECTION.
01
PIC
01 WS-NUM-1
WS-NUM-1
PIC9(001)
9(001) VALUE
VALUEZEROS.
ZEROS.
01
PIC
01 WS-NUM-2
WS-NUM-2
PIC9(001)
9(001) VALUE
VALUEZEROS.
ZEROS.
01
01 WS-RESULT-1
WS-RESULT-1 PIC
PIC9(002)
9(002) VALUE
VALUEZEROS.
ZEROS.
PROCEDURE
PROCEDUREDIVISION.
DIVISION.
A0000-MAIN-PARA.
A0000-MAIN-PARA.
ACCEPT
ACCEPTWS-NUM-1
WS-NUM-1
ACCEPT
ACCEPTWS-NUM-2
WS-NUM-2
MULTIPLY
MULTIPLYWS-NUM-1
WS-NUM-1BY
BYWS-NUM-2
WS-NUM-2GIVING
GIVING
WS-RESULT-1
WS-RESULT-1
DISPLAY
DISPLAY"Result
"Resultisis==",",WS-RESULT-1
WS-RESULT-1
STOP
STOPRUN
RUN
..

The minimum COBOL program

IDENTIFICATION
IDENTIFICATIONDIVISION.
DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID.
PROGRAM-ID. SMALLPGM.
SMALLPGM.
PROCEDURE
PROCEDUREDIVISION.
DIVISION.
A0000-DISPLAY-PARA.
A0000-DISPLAY-PARA.
DISPLAY
DISPLAY"I"Idid
didit."
it."
STOP
STOPRUN
RUN
..

What is the model we have used to

describe the
TOP-DOWN
COBOL program structure?

COBOL coding rules

Almost all COBOL compilers treat a line of
COBOL code as if it contained two distinct areas.
These are known as; Area A and Area B
When a COBOL compiler recognizes these two
areas, all division, section, paragraph names, FD
entries and 01 level entries must start in Area A.
All other sentences/statements must start in Area B.
Area A is four characters wide and is followed by
Area B.

COBOL coding rules...

In some COBOL compilers these coding
restrictions are removed.
For example In Microfocus COBOL compiler

directive
$ SET SOURCEFORMAT"FREE" frees us
from
all formatting restrictions.
$ SET SOURCEFORMAT"FREE"

$ SET SOURCEFORMAT"FREE"
IDENTIFICATION
IDENTIFICATIONDIVISION.
DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID.
PROGRAM-ID. ProgramFragment.
ProgramFragment.
**This
Thisisisaacomment.
comment.ItItstarts
starts
**with
withan
anasterisk
asteriskinincolumn
column11

COBOL coding sheet

Column numbers
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Column
numbers

* Area A
/

7
2
Area B

8
0
I
D
E
N
T
I
F
I
C
A
T
I
O
N
A
R
E
A

COBOL coding rules

Each line is considered to be made up of 80
columns.
Columns 1 to 6 are reserved for line numbers.
Column 7 is an indicator column and has special
meaning to the compiler.
Asterisk ( * ) indicates comments
Hyphen ( - ) indicates continuation
Slash ( / ) indicates form feed

COBOL coding rules

Columns 8 to 11 are called Area A. All
COBOL DIVISIONs, SECTIONs,
paragraphs and some special entries must
begin in Area A.
Columns 12 to 72 are called Area B. All
COBOL statements must begin in Area B.
Columns 73 to 80 are identification area.

COBOL data description

COBOL uses what could be described as a
declaration by example strategy.
In effect, the programmer provides the
system with an example, or template, or
PICTURE of what the data item looks like.
From the picture the system derives the
information necessary to allocate it.

Basic data types

Alphabetic
Numeric
Alphanumeric
Edited numeric
Edited alphanumeric

Literals
Literals are symbols whose value does not
change
in a program.
There are 3 types of literals namely
(1) Numeric literals.
(2) Non-numeric literals.
(3) Figurative constants.

Literals
Numeric literals
Are formed using digits only.
May include a sign which must be the extreme
left character.
There must not be any blank between the sign
and
the first digit.
May include a decimal point which can not be
the
right most character.
Can have at most 18 digits.

Literals
Non-numeric literals
Are used display headings or messages.
Are a sequence of characters (except quotes)
from
the COBOL character set enclosed within
quotes.
May contain up to 160 characters including
spaces.

Literals

Figurative
constants
Figurative constants

Meaning

ZERO(S) or ZEROES

Represents the value 0, one or

more depending on the context

SPACE(S)

Represents one or more spaces

HIGH-VALUE(S)

Represents the highest value

LOW-VALUE(S)

Represents the lowest value

QUOTE(S)

Represents single or double

quotes

Data names
Are named memory locations.
Must be described in the DATA DIVISION
before they can be used in the PROCEDURE
DIVISION.
Can be of elementary or group type.
Can be subscripted.
Are user defined words.

Rules for forming User-defined

words
Are used to form section, paragraph and data
names.
Can be at most 30 characters in length.
Only alphabets, digits and hyphen are allowed.
Blanks are not allowed.
May not begin or end with a hyphen.
Should not be a COBOL reserved word.

Description of data names

All the data names used in the PROCEDURE
DIVISION must be described in the DATA
DIVISION.
The description of a data name is done with the
aid of
(1) Level number
(2) PICTURE clause
(3) VALUE clause

Description of data names

Level number
Is used to specify the the data hierarchy.
Level Number
01
02 to 49

Purpose
Record description and independent items
Fields within records and sub items

66

RENAMES clause

77

Independent items

88

Condition names

Description of data names

PICTURE clause
Is used to specify the following
(1) The data type
(2) The storage requirement.
Can be abbreviated as PIC.
Can be abbreviated in case of recurring symbols.
Is used only elementary items.

Description of data names

PICTURE clause
Code

Meaning

Numeric

Alphabetic

Alphanumeric

Decimal Point

Sign bit

Description of data names

VALUE clause
Is used to assign an initial value to a
elementary data item.
The initial value can be numeric literal,
non- numeric literal or figurative constant.
Is an optional clause.

Group and elementary items

In COBOL the term group item is used to
describe a data item which has been further
subdivided.
A Group item is declared using a level
number and a data name. It cannot have
a picture clause.
Where a group item is the highest item in
a data hierarchy it is referred to as a
record and uses the level number 01.

Group and elementary items..

The term elementary item is used to describe
data items which are atomic, that is, not further
subdivided.
An elementary item declaration consists of;
a level number,
a data name
picture clause.
An elementary item must have a picture clause.
Every group or elementary item declaration must
be followed by a full stop.

PICTURE Clauses for Group Items

Picture clauses are NOT specified for group
data items because the size of a group item is
the sum of the sizes of its subordinate,
elementary items and its type is always
assumed to be PIC X.
The type of a group items is always assumed to
be PIC X, because group items may have
several different data items and types
subordinate to them.
An X picture is the only one which could
support such collections.

Group Items/Records - Example

WORKING-STORAGE
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
SECTION.
01
STUDENT-DETAILS
PIC
01 STUDENT-DETAILS
PIC X(026).
X(026).

STUDENT-DETAILS
H E N N E S S Y R M 9 2 3 0 1 6 5 L M 5 1 0 5 5 0 F

Group Items/Records - Example

WORKING-STORAGE
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
SECTION.
01
STUDENT-DETAILS.
01 STUDENT-DETAILS.
02
PIC
02 STUDENT-NAME
STUDENT-NAME
PIC X(010).
X(010).
02
STUDENT-ID
PIC
9(007).
02 STUDENT-ID
PIC 9(007).
02
PIC
02 COURSE-CODE
COURSE-CODE
PIC X(004).
X(004).
02
GRANT
PIC
9(004).
02 GRANT
PIC 9(004).
02
GENDER
PIC
02 GENDER
PIC X(001).
X(001).

STUDENT-DETAILS
H EN N E S S Y RM 9 2 3 0 1 6 5 L M 5 1 0 5 5 0 F
STUDENT-NAME

STUDENT-ID

COURSE-CODE GRANT GENDER

Items/Records
WORKING-STORAGE
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
SECTION.
01
STUDENT-DETAILS.
01 STUDENT-DETAILS.
02
02 STUDENT-NAME.
STUDENT-NAME.
03
PIC
03 SURNAME
SURNAME
PIC X(008).
X(008).
03
PIC
03 INITIALS
INITIALS
PIC X(002).
X(002).
02
STUDENT-ID
PIC
9(007).
02 STUDENT-ID
PIC 9(007).
02
COURSE-CODE
PIC
02 COURSE-CODE
PIC X(004).
X(004).
02
PIC
02 GRANT
GRANT
PIC 9(004).
9(004).
02
GENDER
PIC
X(001).
02 GENDER
PIC X(001).

STUDENT-DETAILS
H EN N E S S Y RM 9 2 3 0 1 6 5 L M 5 1 0 5 5 0 F
STUDENT-NAME

SURNAME

STUDENT-ID

INITIALS

COURSE-CODE GRANT GENDER

LEVEL Numbers & DATA

hierarchy
In COBOL, level numbers are used to decompose
a structure into its constituent parts.
In this hierarchical structure the higher the level
number, the lower the item is in the hierarchy. At
the lowest level the data is completely atomic.
The level numbers 01 through 49 are general level
numbers, but there are also special level numbers
such as 66, 77 and 88.
In a hierarchical data description what is important
01 STUDENT-DETAILS.
01 STUDENT-DETAILS.
01 02
STUDENT-DETAILS.
01 05
STUDENT-DETAILS.
STUDENT-NAME.
STUDENT-NAME.
isSURNAME
the relationship
of
the
level
numbers to
one
02 03
STUDENT-NAME.
05 10
STUDENT-NAME.
PIC X(008).
SURNAME
PIC X(008).
03INITIALS
SURNAME
PICX(002).
X(008).
10INITIALS
SURNAME
PICX(002).
X(008).
03
PIC
10
PIC
another,
not
the
actual
level
numbers
used.
03 INITIALS
PIC9(007).
X(002).
10 INITIALS
PIC9(007).
X(002).
02 STUDENT-ID
PIC
05 STUDENT-ID
PIC
02 COURSE-CODE
STUDENT-ID
02
02
COURSE-CODE
02 GRANT
02
GRANT
02 GENDER
02 GENDER

PICX(004).
9(007).
PIC
PIC
X(004).
PIC 9(004).
PIC
9(004).
PIC X(001).
PIC X(001).

05 COURSE-CODE
STUDENT-ID
05
05
COURSE-CODE
05 GRANT
05
GRANT
05 GENDER
05 GENDER

PICX(004).
9(007).
PIC
PIC
X(004).
PIC 9(004).
PIC
9(004).
PIC X(001).
PIC X(001).

Description of data names

Example
DATA DIVISION.
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
01 WS-REGNO
PIC X(5).
01 WS-NAME.
05 WS-FIRST-NAME PIC A(15).
05 WS-MID-NAME PIC A(15).
05 WS-LAST-NAME PIC A(10).
01 WS-AGE
PIC 99V99.
01 WS-SCHOLARSHIP
PIC 9(4)
VALUE 1000.

Break

Edited picture symbols

Edit symbol

Meaning

Zero suppression

Check protection

Comma insertion

Minus sign insertion

Plus or minus sign insertion

Edited picture symbols

Edit symbol
$

Meaning
Dollar sign insertion

CR

Credit symbol

DB

Debit symbol

Blank insertion

Slash insertion

Decimal point insertion

BLANK WHEN ZERO

Blank insertion when

the value is zero.

PROCEDURE DIVISION Verbs

Data movement verb.
Arithmetic Verbs.
Input / Output Verbs.
Sequence control verbs.
File handling verbs.

Input / Output Verbs

ACCEPT Verb
Syntax
ACCEPT identifier [ FROM { DATE,
DAY, TIME, mnemonic-name }].
Examples
(1) ACCEPT NUMBER-1.
(2) ACCEPT TODAY-DATE FROM
DATE.

Input / Output Verbs

DISPLAY Verb
Syntax
DISPLAY { identifier-1, literal-1 } , . . .

Examples
(1) DISPLAY The sum is SUM.

Arithmetic Verbs
ADD
SUBTRACT
MULTIPLY
DIVIDE
COMPUTE

ADD Verb
Syntax-1
ADD { identifier-1, literal-1 } [ , identifier-2,
literal-2 ] . . . TO identifier-3 [ , identifier-4 ] . . .

Syntax-2
ADD { identifier-1, literal-1 } { identifier-2, literal2 } [ identifier-3, literal-3 ] GIVING identifier-4 . . .

ADD Verb
Examples
(1) ADD NUM-1 TO NUM-2.
(2) ADD NUM-1, NUM-2 TO NUM-3.
(3) ADD 12, NUM-1, NUM-2 TO NUM-3, NUM-4.
(4) ADD NUM-1, NUM-2 GIVING NUM-3.
(5) ADD 12, NUM-1 GIVING NUM-2, NUM-3.

ADD
Examples
Before
Before
After
After
Before
Before
After
After
Before
Before
After
After
Before
Before
After
After

ADD
ADD Cash
Cash TO
TO Total.
Total.
33
1000
1000
3
1003
ADD
ADD Cash,
Cash, 20
20 TO
TO Total,
Total, Wage.
Wage.
1000
1000123 100
100
333
1023
ADD
ADD Cash,
Cash, Total
TotalGIVING
GIVINGResult.
Result.
1000
1000
0015
333 1000
10030015
ADD
ADDMales
MalesTO
TOFemales
FemalesGIVING
GIVING TotalStudents.
TotalStudents.
1500
0625
2125
1500
0625
1234
1500
0625
1234

SUBTRACT Verb
Syntax
SUBTRACT { identifier-1, literal-1 } [ identifier-2,
literal-2 ] . . . FROM identifier-3 [ , identifier-4 ]
[ , GIVING identifier-5 [ , identifier-6 ] . . . ]

SUBTRACT Verb
Examples
(1) SUBTRACT NUM-1 FROM NUM-2.
(2) SUBTRACT NUM-1, NUM-2 FROM NUM-3.
(3) SUBTRACT 5, NUM-1 FROM NUM-2, NUM-3.
(4) SUBTRACT 12 FROM NUM-1 GIVING NUM2.
(5) SUBTRACT NUM-1 FROM NUM-2 GIVING
NUM-3.

SUBTRACT Examples
Before
Before
After
After

Before
Before
After
After

Before
Before
After
After

SUBTRACT
SUBTRACT Tax
Tax FROM
FROMGrossPay,
GrossPay,Total.
Total.
120
4000
9120
120
4000
9120
120

3880 9000

SUBTRACT
SUBTRACT Tax,
Tax,80
80FROM
FROMTotal.
Total.
100
300 480
100
100
480
750
1000
0250
SUBTRACT
SUBTRACT Tax
Tax FROM
FROMGrossPay
GrossPayGIVING
GIVINGNetPay.
NetPay.
750
1000
0012
750
1000
0012

MULTIPLY Verb
Syntax
MULTIPLY { identifier-1, literal-1 } BY identifier-2

[ identifier-3 ] . . . [ , GIVING identifier-4

[ , identifier-5 ] . . . ]

MULTIPLY Verb
Examples
(1) MULTIPLY NUM-1 BY NUM-2.
(2) MULTIPLY NUM-1 BY NUM-2 GIVING
NUM-3.
(3) MULTIPLY 5 BY NUM-1 GIVING NUM-2.
(4) MULTIPLY NUM-1 BY NUM-2 GIVING
NUM-4, NUM-5.

DIVIDE Verb
Syntax-1
DIVIDE { identifier-1, literal-1 } INTO identifier-2
[ , identifier-2 ] . . . [ GIVING identifier-4
[ , identifier-5 ] . . . ] ..

Syntax-2
DIVIDE { identifier-1, literal-1 } BY { identifier-2,
literal-2 } GIVING identifier-3 [ , identifier-4 ].

DIVIDE Verb
Syntax-3
DIVIDE { identifier-1, literal-1 } { INTO , BY }
{ identifier-2, literal-2 } GIVING identifier-3
REMAINDER identifier-4 .

DIVIDE Verb
Examples
(1) DIVIDE 5 INTO NUM-1.
(2) DIVIDE 6 INTO NUM-1 GIVING NUM-2,
NUM-3.
(3) DIVIDE NUM-1 BY 3 GIVING NUM-2, NUM-3.
(4) DIVIDE NUM-1 BY NUM-2 GIVING NUM-3.
(5) DIVIDE NUM-1 BY NUM-2 GIVING NUM-3
REMAINDER NUM-4.

MULTIPLY and DIVIDE

MULTIPLY
MULTIPLY Subs
SubsBY
BYMembers
MembersGIVING
GIVINGTotalSubs
TotalSubs
ON
ONSIZE
SIZEERROR
ERRORDISPLAY
DISPLAY"TotalSubs
"TotalSubstoo
toosmall"
small"
END-MULTIPLY.
END-MULTIPLY.
Before
Before
After
After

Subs
Subs

15.50
15.50
15.50
100
3550

Before
Before
After
After

Before
Before
After
After

Members
Members TotalSubs
TotalSubs

100
100
1550.00

0123.45
0123.45

1250

MULTIPLY
MULTIPLY10
10BY
BYMagnitude,
Magnitude, Size.
Size.
355
125
355
125
9234.55

100

92.35

DIVIDE
DIVIDE Total
Total BY
BY Members
MembersGIVING
GIVINGAverage
Average ROUNDED.
ROUNDED.
9234.55
100
1234.56
9234.55
100
1234.56

ROUNDED Option
Syntax
Arithmetic statement [ ROUNDED ].

Examples
(1) ADD NUM-1, NUM-2, NUM-3 GIVING NUM-4
ROUNDED.
(2) DIVIDE NUM-1 BY NUM-2 GIVING NUM-3
ROUNDED.

The ROUNDED
option
Receiving Field Actual Result Truncated Result Rounded Result
PIC 9(3)V9.

123.25

123.2

123.3

PIC 9(3).

123.25

123

123

The ROUNDED option takes effect when, after

decimal point alignment, the result calculated
must be truncated on the right hand side.

The option adds 1 to the receiving item when the

leftmost truncated digit has an absolute value of 5
or greater.

ON SIZE ERROR Option

Syntax
Arithmetic statement [ON SIZE ERROR imperative
statement . . .]

Examples
(1) ADD NUM-1, NUM-2, NUM-3 TO NUM-4 ON SIZE
ERROR PERFORM 900-EXIT-PARA.
(2). DIVIDE NUM-1 BY NUM-2 ON SIZE ERROR
PERFORM 800-ERROR-PARA.

On size error option

Receiving Field
PIC 9(3)V9.
PIC 9(3)V9.

Actual Result
245.96
1245.9

PIC 9(3).

124

PIC 9(3).

1246

PIC 9(3)V9 Not Rounded

124.45

PIC 9(3)V9 Rounded

124.45

PIC 9(3)V9 Rounded

3124.45

SIZE ERROR

Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes

A size error condition exists when, after decimal

point alignment, the result is truncated on either
the left or the right hand side.

If an arithmetic statement has a rounded phrase

then a size error only occurs if there is truncation
on the left hand side (most significant digits).

COMPUTE Verb
Syntax
COMPUTE identifier-1 . . . [ ROUNDED ]
= algebraic expression [ ON SIZE ERROR ]
imperative statement.

Example
COMPUTE VOLUME = ( 4 / 3) * ( 22 / 7 ) * R ** 3.
Note: If the ROUNDED and ON SIZE ERROR both
appear, then the ROUNDED option should precede the
ON SIZE ERROR.

The
COMPUTE

COMPUTE Identifier [ ROUNDED ] ... = ArithmeticExpression

ON SIZE ERROR

NOT ON SIZE ERROR

StatementBlock END - COMPUTE

Precedence
Precedence Rules.
Rules.
1.
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.

Before
Before
After
After

****
**
//
++
--

== POWER
POWER
== MULTIPLY
MULTIPLY
== DIVIDE
DIVIDE
== ADD
ADD
== SUBTRACT
SUBTRACT

NNNN
xx

++
--

Compute
ComputeIrishPrice
IrishPrice==SterlingPrice
SterlingPrice//Rate
Rate ** 100.
100.
1000.50
156.25
87
1000.50
156.25
87
179.59

156.25

87

Review
Features of COBOL.
General Coding and Format rules.
Language Fundamentals.
Input and Output verbs.
Arithmetic verbs.

Review questions
If an entry must begin in area A ,it must begin in
Column number 8,9,10,11

If an entry must begin in area B,it must begin in position

12 to 72 any where;
Program-id is the paragraph name that appears in the
identification
division
The word rounded (precedes, follows) the ON SIZE
ERROR clause in an arithmetic statement precedes

Review questions
A numeric literal in COBOL can have at most18 digits
A Non numeric literal can have maximum
160 characters including spaces
Indicate True or False
False
A 01 level entry cannot have a picture class
In COBOL a data name must contain at least 8
characters False
A COBOL sentence consists of one or more than one
statement the last of which is terminated by a period
True

Any
Questions ????

Thank you

Jyothi Sridhar Kini

E&R, Infosys
Mail-id: Jyothis@infosys.com
Phone: 52179