BINARY Phrase

The BINARY phrase is specified for binary data items. Such items have a decimal equivalent consisting of the decimal digits 0 through 9, plus a sign.

The amount of storage occupied by a binary item depends on the number of decimal digits defined in its PICTURE clause:
Digits in PICTURE Clause
Storage Occupied
1 through 4
2 bytes
5 through 9
4 bytes
10 through 18
8 bytes

The leftmost bit of the storage area is the operational sign.