A data item defined with the PROCEDURE-POINTER phrase is a
procedure-pointer data item. It is a 16-byte elementary item containing
the address of an entry point to an ILE procedure or program object (*PGM),
such as:
- The entry point of the outermost ILE COBOL program (an ILE procedure) in
the compilation unit defined by the PROGRAM-ID statement
- An entry point of a non-COBOL program, such as an ILE C function
(an ILE procedure)
- An entry point of a program (*PGM).
A procedure-pointer data item may only be used in:
- The SET statement
- A relation condition
- The USING phrase of a CALL statement, or the Procedure Division header
- Expressions involving ADDRESS OF and LENGTH OF
- The CALL statement as a target
- The argument on an intrinsic function
Like pointer data items, procedure-pointer data items must be in alignment.