ILE COBOL Syntax Notation
ILE COBOL basic formats are presented in a uniform system of syntax notation.
This notation, designed to assist you in writing COBOL source statements,
is explained in the following paragraphs:
- COBOL keywords and optional words appear in uppercase letters; for example:
MOVEThey must be spelled exactly as shown. If any keyword is missing, the compiler considers it as an error.
- Variables representing user-supplied names or values appear in all lowercase
letters; for example:
parmx - For easier text reference, some words are followed by a hyphen and a digit
or a letter, as in:
This suffix does not change the syntactical definition of the word.identifier–1 - Arithmetic and logical operators (+, -, *, /, **, >, <, =, >=, and <=) that appear in syntax formats are required. These operators are special character reserved words. For a complete listing of ILE COBOL reserved words, see Appendix E. ILE COBOL Reserved Word List.
- All punctuation and other special characters appearing in the diagram are required by the syntax of the format when they are shown; if you leave them out, an error occurs in the program.
- You must write the required clauses and the optional clauses (when used) in the order shown in the diagram unless the associated rules explicitly state otherwise.