Transferring Control

If the condition tested is true, one of the following actions takes place:
  • Statement-1, if specified, is executed. If statement-1 contains a procedure branching statement, control is transferred, according to the rules for that statement. If statement-1 does not contain a procedure-branching statement, the ELSE phrase, if specified, is ignored, and control passes to the next executable statement after the corresponding (implicit or explicit) END-IF or separator period.
  • NEXT SENTENCE, if specified, is executed; that is, the ELSE phrase, if specified, is ignored, and control passes to the statement following the closest separator period.
If the condition tested is false, one of the following actions takes place:
  • ELSE statement-2, if specified, is executed. If statement-2 contains a procedure-branching statement, control is transferred, according to the rules for that statement. If statement-2 does not contain a procedure-branching statement, control is passed to the next executable statement after the corresponding END-IF or separator period.
  • ELSE NEXT SENTENCE, if specified, is executed and control passes to the statement following the closest separator period.
  • If ELSE NEXT SENTENCE is omitted, control passes to the next executable statement after the corresponding END-IF or separator period.
Note: When ELSE or ELSE NEXT SENTENCE are omitted, all statements following the condition and preceding the corresponding END-IF or the separator period for the sentence are considered to be part of statement-1.