INITIAL Clause

Specifies that when program-name is called, program-name and any programs contained within it are set to their initial state. (All working storage items are reset to their initial values and all INTERNAL files are closed.)

A program is set to its initial state:
When a program is set to its initial state, the following occur: The INITIAL clause shall not be specified if any program that directly or indirectly contains this program is a recursive program.