The terms in this glossary are defined in accordance with their meaning
in COBOL. These terms may or may not have the same meaning in other languages.
This glossary includes terms and definitions from the following publications:
- American National Standard ANSI INCITS 23-1985, Programming languages
- COBOL as amended by ANSI INCITS 23a-1989, Programming Languages
- COBOL - Intrinsic Function Module for COBOL, and ANSI INCITS
23b-1993, Programming Languages - Correction Amendment for COBOL
- ANSI X3.172-1990, American National Standard Dictionary for Information
Systems
Copies can be purchased from the American National Standards Institute,
25 West 43rd Street, New York, New York 10036.
American National Standard definitions are preceded by an asterisk (*).
A
- * abbreviated combined relation condition
- The combined condition that results from the explicit omission of a common
subject or a common subject and common relational operator in a consecutive
sequence of relation conditions.
- abend
- Abnormal termination of a program.
- above the 16-MB line
- Storage above the so-called 16-MB line (or boundary) but
below the 2-GB bar. This storage is addressable only in 31-bit mode (AMODE 31).
Before IBM introduced the
MVS/XA™
architecture in the 1980s, the virtual storage for a program was limited to 16 MB.
Programs that have been compiled with 24-bit mode (AMODE 24) can address only 16 MB
of space, as though they were kept under an imaginary storage line. Since VS COBOL II,
a program that has AMODE 31 can address data above the 16-MB line.
- * access mode
- The manner in which records are to be operated upon within a file.
- * actual decimal point
- The physical representation, using the decimal point characters period
(.) or comma (,), of the decimal point position in a data item.
- * alphabet-name
- A user-defined word, in the SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph of the ENVIRONMENT
DIVISION, that assigns a name to a specific character set and/or collating
sequence.
- * alphabetic character
- A letter or a space character.
- * alphanumeric character
- Any character in the computer's single-byte character set.
- alphanumeric data item
- A general reference to a data item that is described implicitly or explicitly
as USAGE DISPLAY, and that has category alphanumeric, alphanumeric-edited,
or numeric-edited.
- alphanumeric-edited data item
- A data item that is described by a PICTURE character
string that contains at least one instance of the symbol A or X and
at least one of the simple insertion symbols B, 0,
or /. An alphanumeric-edited data item has USAGE
DISPLAY.
- * alphanumeric function
- A function whose value is composed of a string of one or more characters
from the computer's character set.
- * alternate record key
- A key, other than the prime record key, whose contents identify a record
within an indexed file.
- AMODE
- Provided by the linkage editor, the attribute of a load module that indicates
the addressing mode in which the load module should be entered.
- application
- A collection of one or more routines cooperating to achieve particular
objectives.
- ANSI (American National Standards Institute)
- An organization consisting of producers, consumers, and general interest
groups, that establishes the procedures by which accredited organizations
create and maintain voluntary industry standards in the United States.
- * argument
- (1) An expression used at the point of a call to specify a data item or
aggregate to be passed to the called routine. (2) The data passed to a called
routine at the point of call or the data received by a called routine.
- * arithmetic expression
- An identifier of a numeric elementary item, a numeric literal, such identifiers
and literals separated by arithmetic operators, two arithmetic expressions
separated by an arithmetic operator, or an arithmetic expression enclosed
in parentheses.
- * arithmetic operation
- The process caused by the execution of an arithmetic statement, or the
evaluation of an arithmetic expression, that results in a mathematically correct
solution to the arguments presented.
- * arithmetic operator
- A single character, or a fixed two-character combination that belongs
to the following set:
- Character
- Meaning
- +
- addition
- -
- subtraction
- *
- multiplication
- /
- division
- **
- exponentiation
- * arithmetic statement
- A statement that causes an arithmetic operation to be executed. The arithmetic
statements are the ADD, COMPUTE, DIVIDE, MULTIPLY, and SUBTRACT statements.
- array
- In Language Environment,
an aggregate consisting of data objects, each of which may be uniquely referenced
by subscripting. Roughly analogous to a COBOL table.
- * ascending key
- A key upon the values of which data is ordered, starting with the lowest
value of the key up to the highest value of the key, in accordance with the
rules for comparing data items.
- ASCII
- American National Standard Code for Information Interchange. The standard
code, using a coded character set consisting of 7-bit coded characters (8
bits including parity check), used for information interchange between data
processing systems, data communication systems, and associated equipment.
The ASCII set consists of control characters and graphic characters.
Extension: IBM has defined an extension to ASCII code
(characters 128-255).
- assignment-name
- A name that identifies the organization of a COBOL file and the name by
which it is known to the system.
- * assumed decimal point
- A decimal point position that does not involve the existence of an actual
character in a data item. The assumed decimal point has logical meaning with
no physical representation.
- * AT END condition
- A condition caused by one of the following operations:
- A READ statement for a sequentially accessed file, when one of the following
conditions is encountered:
- No next logical record exists in the file.
- The number of significant digits in the relative record number is larger
than the size of the relative key data item.
- An optional input file is not present.
- A RETURN statement, when no next logical record exists for the associated
sort or merge file.
- A SEARCH statement, when the search operation terminates without satisfying
the condition specified in any of the associated WHEN phrases.
B
- basic document encoding
- For an XML document, one of the following encoding categories that the
XML parser determines by examining the first few bytes of the document:
- ASCII
- EBCDIC
- Unicode UTF-16, either big-endian or little-endian
- Other unsupported encoding
- No recognizable encoding
- big-endian
- The default format that the mainframe and the
AIX®
workstation use to store
binary data and UTF-16 characters. In this format, the least significant byte
of a binary data item is at the highest address and the least significant
byte of a UTF-16 character is at the highest address. Compare with little-endian.
- binary item
- A numeric data item represented in binary notation (on the base 2 numbering
system). Binary items have a decimal equivalent consisting of the decimal
digits 0 through 9, plus an operational sign. The leftmost bit of the item
is the operational sign.
- binary search
- A dichotomizing search in which, at each step of the search, the set of
data elements is divided by two; some appropriate action is taken in the case
of an odd number.
- * block
- A physical unit of data that is normally composed of one or more logical
records. For mass storage files, a block may contain a portion of a logical
record. The size of a block has no direct relationship to the size of the
file within which the block is contained or to the size of the logical record(s)
that are either contained within the block or that overlap the block. The
term is synonymous with physical record.
- breakpoint
- A place in a program, usually specified by a command or condition, where
execution may be interrupted and control given to the workstation user or
to a specified debug program.
- Btrieve
- A key-indexed record management system that allows applications to manage
records by key value, sequential access method, or random access method.
Enterprise COBOL supports COBOL sequential and indexed file I-O language through
Btrieve.
- buffer
- An area of storage into which data is read or from which it is written.
Typically, buffers are used only for temporary storage.
- built-in function
- See "intrinsic function".
- byte
- The basic unit of storage addressability. It has a length of 8 bits.
C
- C language
- A high-level language used to develop software applications in compact,
efficient code that can be run on different types of computers with minimal
change.
- C++ language
- An object-oriented high-level language that evolved from the C language.
C++ exploits the benefits of object-oriented technology such as code modularity,
portability, and reuse.
- callable services
- A set of services that can be invoked by a Language Environment, featuring
defined call interface, and usable by all programs sharing the Language Environment
conventions.
- cataloged procedure
- A set of job control statements placed in a partitioned data set called
the procedure library (SYS1.PROCLIB) You can use cataloged procedures to save
time and reduce errors coding JCL.
- called program
- A program that is the object of a CALL statement.
- * calling program
- A program that executes a CALL to another program.
- case structure
- A program processing logic in which a series of conditions is tested in
order to make a choice between a number of resulting actions.
- CEEDUMP
- A dump of the runtime environment for Language Environment and the member
language libraries. Sections of the dump are selectively included, depending
on options specified on the dump invocation. This is not a dump of the full
address space, but a dump of storage and control blocks that Language Environment
and its members control.
- cataloged procedure
- A set of job control statements placed in a partitioned data set called
the procedure library (SYS1.PROCLIB). You can use cataloged procedures to
save time and reduce errors coding JCL.
- century window
- The 100-year interval in which Language Environment assumes all 2-digit
years lie. The Language Environment default century window begins 80 years
before the system date.
- * character
- A letter, digit, or other symbol that is used as part of the organization,
control, or representative of data. A character is often in the form of a
spatial arrangement of adjacent or connected strokes.
- character position
- The amount of physical storage required to store a single standard data
format character described as USAGE IS DISPLAY.
- character set
- All the valid characters for a programming language or a computer system.
- * character-string
- A sequence of contiguous characters that form a COBOL word, a literal,
a PICTURE character-string, or a comment-entry. Must be delimited by separators.
- checkpoint
- A point at which information about the status of a job and the system
can be recorded so that the job step can be later restarted.
- CICS
- Customer Information Control System.
- CICS translator
- A routine that accepts as input an application containing EXEC CICS commands
and produces as output an equivalent application in which each CICS command
has been translated into the language of the source.
- * class
- The entity that defines common behavior and implementation for zero, one,
or more objects. The objects that share the same implementation are considered
to be objects of the same class.
- * class condition
- The proposition, for which a truth value can be determined, that the content
of an item is wholly alphabetic, is wholly numeric, or consists exclusively
of those characters listed in the definition of a class-name.
- * Class Definition
- The COBOL source unit that defines a class.
- * class identification entry
- An entry in the CLASS-ID paragraph of the IDENTIFICATION DIVISION which
contains clauses that specify the class-name and assign selected attributes
to the class definition.
- * class-name
- A user-defined word defined in the SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph of the ENVIRONMENT
DIVISION that assigns a name to the proposition for which a truth value can
be defined, that the content of a data item consists exclusively of those
characters listed in the definition of the class-name.
- class object
- The runtime object that represents a class.
- * clause
- An ordered set of consecutive COBOL character-strings whose purpose is
to specify an attribute of an entry.
- CMS (Conversational Monitor System)
- A virtual machine operating system that provides general interactive,
time-sharing, problem solving, and program development capabilities, and that
operates only under the control of the VM/SP control program.
- * COBOL character set
- The complete COBOL character set consists of the characters listed below:
- Character
- Meaning
- 0,1...,9
- digit
- A,B,...,Z
- uppercase letter
- a,b,...,z
- lowercase letter
- ?
- space
- +
- plus sign
- -
- minus sign (hyphen)
- *
- asterisk
- /
- slant (virgule, slash)
- =
- equal sign
- $
- currency sign
- ,
- comma (decimal point)
- ;
- semicolon
- .
- period (decimal point, full stop)
- "
- quotation mark
- (
- left parenthesis
- )
- right parenthesis
- >
- greater than symbol
- <
- less than symbol
- :
- colon
- * COBOL word
- See "word".
- code page
- An assignment of graphic characters and control function meanings to all
code points; for example, assignment of characters and meanings to 256 code
points for 8-bit code, assignment of characters and meanings to 128 code points
for 7-bit code.
- * collating sequence
- The sequence in which the characters that are acceptable to a computer
are ordered for purposes of sorting, merging, comparing, and for processing
indexed files sequentially.
- * column
- A character position within a print line. The columns are numbered from
1, by 1, starting at the leftmost character position of the print line and
extending to the rightmost position of the print line.
- * combined condition
- A condition that is the result of connecting two or more conditions with
the AND or the OR logical operator.
- * comment-entry
- An entry in the IDENTIFICATION DIVISION that may be any combination of
characters from the computer's character set.
- * comment line
- A source program line represented by an asterisk (*) in the indicator
area of the line and any characters from the computer's character set in area
A and area B of that line. The comment line serves only for documentation
in a program. A special form of comment line represented by a slant (/) in
the indicator area of the line and any characters from the computer's character
set in area A and area B of that line causes page ejection prior to printing
the comment.
- * common program
- A program which, despite being directly contained within another program,
may be called from any program directly or indirectly contained in that other
program.
- * compile
- (1) To translate a program expressed in a high-level language into a program
expressed in an intermediate language, assembly language, or a computer language.
(2) To prepare a machine language program from a computer program written
in another programming language by making use of the overall logic structure
of the program, or generating more than one computer instruction for each
symbolic statement, or both, as well as performing the function of an assembler.
- * compile time
- The time at which a COBOL source program is translated, by a COBOL compiler,
to a COBOL object program.
- compiler
- A program that translates a program written in a higher level language
into a machine language object program.
- compiler-directing statement
- A statement, beginning with a compiler-directing verb, that causes the
compiler to take a specific action during compilation. Compiler directives
are contained in the COBOL source program. Therefore, you can specify different
suboptions of the directive within the source program by using multiple compiler-directive
statements.
- compiler options
- Keywords that can be specified to control certain aspects of compilation.
Compiler options can control the nature of the load module generated by the
compiler, the types of printed output to be produced, the efficient use of
the compiler, and the destination of error messages. See also compiler-time
options.
- compiler-time options
- Keywords that can be specified to control certain aspects of compilation.
Compiler options can control the nature of the load module generated by the
compiler, the types of printed output to be produced, the efficient use of
the compiler, and the destination of error messages.
- * complex condition
- A condition in which one or more logical operators act upon one or more
conditions. (See also "negated simple condition", "combined condition",
and "negated combined condition".)
- * computer-name
- A system-name that identifies the computer upon which the program is to
be compiled or run.
- condition
- An exception that has been enabled, or recognized, by Language Environment and
thus is eligible to activate user and language condition handlers. Any alteration
to the normal programmed flow of an application. Conditions can be detected
by the hardware/operating system and results in an interrupt. They can also
be detected by language-specific generated code or language library code.
- * condition
- A status of a program at run time for which a truth value can be determined.
Where the term 'condition' (condition-1, condition-2,...) appears in these
language specifications in or in reference to 'condition' (condition-1, condition-2,...)
of a general format, it is a conditional expression consisting of either a
simple condition optionally parenthesized, or a combined condition consisting
of the syntactically correct combination of simple conditions, logical operators,
and parentheses, for which a truth value can be determined.
- * conditional expression
- A simple condition or a complex condition specified in an EVALUATE, IF,
PERFORM, or SEARCH statement. (See also "simple condition" and "complex
condition".)
- * conditional phrase
- A conditional phrase specifies the action to be taken upon determination
of the truth value of a condition resulting from the execution of a conditional
statement.
- * conditional statement
- A statement specifying that the truth value of a condition is to be determined
and that the subsequent action of the object program is dependent on this
truth value.
- * conditional variable
- A data item one or more values of which has a condition-name assigned
to it.
- * condition-name
- A user-defined word that assigns a name to a subset of values that a conditional
variable may assume; or a user-defined word assigned to a status of an implementor
defined switch or device. When 'condition-name' is used in the general formats,
it represents a unique data item reference consisting of a syntactically correct
combination of a 'condition-name', together with qualifiers and subscripts,
as required for uniqueness of reference.
- * condition-name condition
- The proposition, for which a truth value can be determined, that the value
of a conditional variable is a member of the set of values attributed to a
condition-name associated with the conditional variable.
- * CONFIGURATION SECTION
- A section of the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION that describes overall specifications
of source and object programs and class definitions.
- CONSOLE
- A COBOL environment-name associated with the operator console.
- * contiguous items
- Items that are described by consecutive entries in the Data Division,
and that bear a definite hierarchic relationship to each other.
- copybook
- A file or library member containing a sequence of code that is included
in the source program at compile time using the COPY statement.
The file can be created by the user, supplied by COBOL, or supplied by another
product.
- * counter
- A data item used for storing numbers or number representations in a manner
that permits these numbers to be increased or decreased by the value of another
number, or to be changed or reset to zero or to an arbitrary positive or negative
value.
- cross-reference listing
- The portion of the compiler listing that contains information on where
files, fields, and indicators are defined, referenced, and modified in a program.
- currency sign
- The character '$' of the COBOL character set or that character defined
by the CURRENCY compiler option. If the NOCURRENCY compiler option is in effect,
the currency sign is defined as the character '$'.
- currency symbol
- The character defined by the CURRENCY compiler option or by the CURRENCY
SIGN clause in the SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph. If the NOCURRENCY compiler option
is in effect for a COBOL source program and the CURRENCY SIGN clause is also not present
in the source program, the currency symbol is identical to the currency sign.
- * current record
- In file processing, the record that is available in the record area associated
with a file.
- * current volume pointer
- A conceptual entity that points to the current volume of a sequential
file.
D
- * data clause
- A clause, appearing in a data description entry in the DATA DIVISION of
a COBOL program, that provides information describing a particular attribute
of a data item.
- * data description entry
- An entry in the DATA DIVISION of a COBOL program that is composed of a
level-number followed by a data-name, if required, and then followed by a
set of data clauses, as required.
- DATA DIVISION
- In COBOL, the part of a program that describes the files to be used in
the program and the records contained within the files. It also describes
any WORKING-STORAGE data items, LINKAGE SECTION data items, and LOCAL-STORAGE
data items that are needed.
- * data item
- A unit of data (excluding literals) defined by a COBOL program or by the
rules for function evaluation.
- * data-name
- A user-defined word that names a data item described in a data description
entry. When used in the general formats, 'data-name' represents a word that
must not be reference-modified, subscripted or qualified unless specifically
permitted by the rules for the format.
- DBCS (Double-Byte Character Set)
- See "Double-Byte Character Set (DBCS)".
- * debugging line
- A debugging line is any line with a 'D' in the indicator area of the line.
- * debugging section
- A section that contains a USE FOR DEBUGGING statement.
- * declarative sentence
- A compiler-directing sentence consisting of a single USE statement terminated
by the separator period.
- * declaratives
- A set of one or more special purpose sections, written at the beginning
of the Procedure Division, the first of which is preceded by the key word
DECLARATIVES and the last of which is followed by the key words END DECLARATIVES.
A declarative is composed of a section header, followed by a USE compiler-directing
sentence, followed by a set of zero, one, or more associated paragraphs.
- * de-edit
- The logical removal of all editing characters from a numeric edited data
item in order to determine that item's unedited numeric value.
- * delimited scope statement
- Any statement that includes its explicit scope terminator.
- * delimiter
- A character or a sequence of contiguous characters that identify the end
of a string of characters and separate that string of characters from the
following string of characters. A delimiter is not part of the string of characters
that it delimits.
- * descending key
- A key upon the values of which data is ordered starting with the highest
value of key down to the lowest value of key, in accordance with the rules
for comparing data items.
- digit
- Any of the numerals from 0 through 9. In COBOL, the term is not used in
reference to any other symbol.
- * digit position
- The amount of physical storage required to store a single digit. This
amount may vary depending on the usage specified in the data description entry
that defines the data item.
- * direct access
- The facility to obtain data from storage devices or to enter data into
a storage device in such a way that the process depends only on the location
of that data and not on a reference to data previously accessed.
- * division
- A collection of zero, one or more sections or paragraphs, called the division
body, that are formed and combined in accordance with a specific set of rules.
Each division consists of the division header and the related division body.
There are four (4) divisions in a COBOL program: Identification, Environment,
Data, and Procedure.
- * division header
- A combination of words followed by a separator period that indicates the
beginning of a division. The division headers are:
- IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
- ENVIRONMENT DIVISION.
- DATA DIVISION.
- PROCEDURE DIVISION.
- DLL
- See "dynamic link library".
- do construction
- In structured programming, a DO statement is used to group a number of
statements in a procedure. In COBOL, an in-line PERFORM statement functions
in the same way.
- do-until
- In structured programming, a do-until loop will be executed at least once,
and until a given condition is true. In COBOL, a TEST AFTER phrase used with
the PERFORM statement functions in the same way.
- do-while
- In structured programming, a do-while loop will be executed if, and while,
a given condition is true. In COBOL, a TEST BEFORE phrase used with the PERFORM
statement functions in the same way.
- Double-Byte Character Set (DBCS)
- A set of characters in which each character is represented by two bytes.
Languages such as Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, which contain more symbols
than can be represented by 256 code points, require Double-Byte Character
Sets. Because each character requires two bytes, entering, displaying, and
printing DBCS characters requires hardware and supporting software that are
DBCS-capable.
- * dynamic access
- An access mode in which specific logical records can be obtained from
or placed into a mass storage file in a nonsequential manner and obtained
from a file in a sequential manner during the scope of the same OPEN statement.
- dynamic link library
- A file containing executable code and data bound to a program at load
time or run time, rather than during linking. The code and data in a dynamic
link library can be shared by several applications simultaneously.
- Dynamic Storage Area (DSA)
- Dynamically acquired storage composed of a register save area and an area
available for dynamic storage allocation (such as program variables). DSAs
are generally allocated within STACK segments managed by Language Environment.
E
- * EBCDIC (Extended Binary-Coded Decimal Interchange Code)
- A coded character set consisting of 8-bit coded characters.
- EBCDIC character
- Any one of the symbols included in the 8-bit EBCDIC (Extended Binary-Coded-Decimal
Interchange Code) set.
- edited data item
- A data item that has been modified by suppressing zeroes and/or inserting
editing characters.
- * editing character
- A single character or a fixed two-character combination belonging to the
following set:
- Character
- Meaning
- ?
- space
- 0
- zero
- +
- plus
- -
- minus
- CR
- credit
- DB
- debit
- Z
- zero suppress
- *
- check protect
- $
- currency sign
- ,
- comma (decimal point)
- .
- period (decimal point)
- /
- slant (virgule, slash)
- element (text element)
- One logical unit of a string of text, such as the description of a single
data item or verb, preceded by a unique code identifying the element type.
- * elementary item
- A data item that is described as not being further logically subdivided.
- enclave
- In Language Environment, an independent collection of routines, one of
which is designated as the main routine and is invoked first. An enclave is
roughly analogous to a program or run unit. An executable program..
- *end class header
- A combination of words, followed by a separator period, that indicates
the end of a COBOL class definition. The end class header is:
END CLASS class-name.
- *end method header
- A combination of words, followed by a separator period, that indicates
the end of a COBOL method definition. The end method header is:
END METHOD method-name.
- * end of Procedure Division
- The physical position of a COBOL source program after which no further
procedures appear.
- * end program header
- A combination of words, followed by a separator period, that indicates
the end of a COBOL source program. The end program header is:
END PROGRAM program-name.
- * entry
- Any descriptive set of consecutive clauses terminated by a separator period
and written in the IDENTIFICATION DIVISION, ENVIRONMENT DIVISION, or DATA
DIVISION of a COBOL program.
- * environment clause
- A clause that appears as part of an ENVIRONMENT DIVISION entry.
- ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
- One of the four main component parts of a COBOL program, class definition,
or method definition. The ENVIRONMENT DIVISION describes the computers upon
which the source program is compiled and those on which the object program
is executed, and provides a linkage between the logical concept of files and
their records, and the physical aspects of the devices on which files are
stored.
- environment-name
- A name, specified by IBM, that identifies system logical units, printer
and card punch control characters, report codes, and/or program switches.
When an environment-name is associated with a mnemonic-name in the ENVIRONMENT
DIVISION, the mnemonic-name may then be substituted in any format in which
such substitution is valid.
- environment variable
- Any of a number of variables that describe the way an operating system
is going to run and the devices it is going to recognize.
- execution time
- Synonym for run time.
- execution-time environment
- See "runtime environment".
- * explicit scope terminator
- A reserved word that terminates the scope of a particular Procedure Division
statement.
- exponent
- A number, indicating the power to which another number (the base) is to
be raised. Positive exponents denote multiplication, negative exponents denote
division, fractional exponents denote a root of a quantity. In COBOL, an exponential
expression is indicated with the symbol '**' followed by the exponent.
- * expression
- An arithmetic or conditional expression.
- * extend mode
- The state of a file after execution of an OPEN statement, with the EXTEND
phrase specified for that file, and before the execution of a CLOSE statement,
without the REEL or UNIT phrase for that file.
- extensions
- Certain COBOL syntax and semantics supported by IBM compilers in addition
to those described in ANSI Standard.
- * external data
- Data that persists over the lifetime of an enclave and maintains last-used
values whenever a routine within the enclave is reentered. Within an enclave
consisting of a single load module, it is equivalent to any C data objects
that have static storage duration, A FORTRAN common block, and COBOL EXTERNAL
data.
- * external data item
- A data item which is described as part of an external record in one or
more programs of a run unit and which itself may be referenced from any program
in which it is described.
- * external data record
- A logical record which is described in one or more programs of a run unit
and whose constituent data items may be referenced from any program in which
they are described.
- external decimal item
- A format for representing numbers in which the digit is contained in bits
4 through 7 and the sign is contained in bits 0 through 3 of the rightmost
byte. Bits 0 through 3 of all other bytes contain 1's (hex F). For example,
the decimal value of +123 is represented as 1111 0001 1111 0010 1111 0011.
(Also known as "zoned decimal item".)
- * external file connector
- A file connector which is accessible to one or more object programs in
the run unit.
- external floating-point item
- A format for representing numbers in which a real number is represented
by a pair of distinct numerals. In a floating-point representation, the real
number is the product of the fixed-point part (the first numeral), and a value
obtained by raising the implicit floating-point base to a power denoted by
the exponent (the second numeral).
For example, a floating-point representation
of the number 0.0001234 is: 0.1234 -3, where 0.1234 is the mantissa and -3
is the exponent.
- external program
- The outermost program. A program that is not nested.
- * external switch
- A hardware or software device, defined and named by the implementor, which
is used to indicate that one of two alternate states exists.
F
- * figurative constant
- A compiler-generated value referenced through the use of certain reserved
words.
- * file
- A named collection of related data records that is stored and retrieved
by an assigned name. Equivalent to an MVS data set.
- * file attribute conflict condition
- An unsuccessful attempt has been made to execute an input-output operation
on a file and the file attributes, as specified for that file in the program,
do not match the fixed attributes for that file.
- * file clause
- A clause that appears as part of any of the following DATA DIVISION entries:
file description entry (FD entry) and sort-merge file description entry (SD
entry).
- * file connector
- A storage area which contains information about a file and is used as
the linkage between a file-name and a physical file and between a file-name
and its associated record area.
- File-Control
- The name of an ENVIRONMENT DIVISION paragraph in which the data files
for a given source program are declared.
- file control block
- Block containing the addresses of I/O routines, information about how
they were opened and closed, and a pointer to the file information block.
- * file control entry
- A SELECT clause and all its subordinate clauses which declare the relevant
physical attributes of a file.
- * file description entry
- An entry in the File Section of the DATA DIVISION that is composed of
the level indicator FD, followed by a file-name, and then followed by a set
of file clauses as required.
- * file-name
- A user-defined word that names a file connector described in a file description
entry or a sort-merge file description entry within the File Section of the
DATA DIVISION.
- * file organization
- The permanent logical file structure established at the time that a file
is created.
- *file position indicator
- A conceptual entity that contains the value of the current key within
the key of reference for an indexed file, or the record number of the current
record for a sequential file, or the relative record number of the current
record for a relative file, or indicates that no next logical record exists,
or that an optional input file is not present, or that the at end condition
already exists, or that no valid next record has been established.
- * File Section
- The section of the DATA DIVISION that contains file description entries
and sort-merge file description entries together with their associated record
descriptions.
- file system
- A collection of files and their attributes. A file system provides a name
space for file serial numbers referring to those files.
- * fixed file attributes
- Information about a file which is established when a file is created and
cannot subsequently be changed during the existence of the file. These attributes
include the organization of the file (sequential, relative, or indexed), the
prime record key, the alternate record keys, the code set, the minimum and
maximum record size, the record type (fixed or variable), the collating sequence
of the keys for indexed files, the blocking factor, the padding character,
and the record delimiter.
- * fixed length record
- A record associated with a file whose file description or sort-merge description
entry requires that all records contain the same number of character positions.
- fixed-point number
- A numeric data item defined with a PICTURE clause that specifies the location
of an optional sign, the number of digits it contains, and the location of
an optional decimal point. The format may be either binary, packed decimal,
or external decimal.
- floating-point number
- A numeric data item containing a fraction and an exponent. Its value is
obtained by multiplying the fraction by the base of the numeric data item
raised to the power specified by the exponent.
- * format
- A specific arrangement of a set of data.
- * function
- A routine that is invoked by coding its name in an expression. The routine
passes a result back to the invoker through the routine name.
- * function-identifier
- A syntactically correct combination of character-strings and separators
that references a function. The data item represented by a function is uniquely
identified by a function-name with its arguments, if any. A function-identifier
may include a reference-modifier. A function-identifier that references an
alphanumeric function may be specified anywhere in the general formats that
an identifier may be specified, subject to certain restrictions. A function-identifier
that references an integer or numeric function may be referenced anywhere
in the general formats that an arithmetic expression may be specified.
- function-name
- A word that names the mechanism whose invocation, along with required
arguments, determines the value of a function.
G
- * global name
- A name which is declared in only one program but which may be referenced
from that program and from any program contained within that program. Condition-names,
data-names, file-names, record-names, report-names, and some special registers
may be global names.
- * group item
- A data item that is composed of subordinate data items.
H
- header label
- (1) A file label or data set label that precedes the data records on a
unit of recording media. (2) Synonym for beginning-of-file label.
- * high order end
- The leftmost character of a string of characters.
- HLL
- High-level language.
I
- IBM COBOL extension
- Certain COBOL syntax and semantics supported by IBM compilers in addition
to those described in ANSI Standard.
- IDENTIFICATION DIVISION
- One of the four main component parts of a COBOL program, class definition,
or method definition. The IDENTIFICATION DIVISION identifies the program name,
class name, or method name. The IDENTIFICATION DIVISION may include the following
documentation: author name, installation, or date.
- * identifier
- A syntactically correct combination of character-strings and separators
that names a data item. When referencing a data item that is not a function,
an identifier consists of a data-name, together with its qualifiers, subscripts,
and reference-modifier, as required for uniqueness of reference. When referencing
a data item which is a function, a function-identifier is used.
- IGZCBSN
- The bootstrap routine for
COBOL/370 Release 1.
It must be link-edited with any module that contains a
COBOL/370 Release 1
program.
- IGZCBSO
- The bootstrap routine for
COBOL for MVS & VM Release 2,
COBOL for OS/390 & VM
and Enterprise COBOL.
It must be link-edited with any module that contains a
COBOL for MVS & VM Release 2,
COBOL for OS/390 & VM
or Enterprise COBOL program.
- IGZEBST
- The bootstrap routine for
VS COBOL II.
It must be link-edited with any module that contains a
VS COBOL II program.
- ILC
- InterLanguage Communication. Interlanguage communication is defined as
programs that call or are called by other high-level languages.
Assembler is not considered a high-level language;
thus, calls to and from assembler programs are not considered ILC.
- * imperative statement
- A statement that either begins with an imperative verb and specifies an
unconditional action to be taken or is a conditional statement that is delimited
by its explicit scope terminator (delimited scope statement). An imperative
statement may consist of a sequence of imperative statements.
- * implicit scope terminator
- A separator period which terminates the scope of any preceding unterminated
statement, or a phrase of a statement which by its occurrence indicates the
end of the scope of any statement contained within the preceding phrase.
- IMS
- Information Management System, IBM licensed product. IMS supports hierarchical
databases, data communication, translation processing, and database backout
and recovery.
- * index
- A computer storage area or register, the content of which represents the
identification of a particular element in a table.
- * index data item
- A data item in which the values associated with an index-name can be stored
in a form specified by the implementor.
- indexed data-name
- An identifier that is composed of a data-name, followed by one or more
index-names enclosed in parentheses.
- * indexed file
- A file with indexed organization.
- * indexed organization
- The permanent logical file structure in which each record is identified
by the value of one or more keys within that record.
- indexing
- Synonymous with subscripting using index-names.
- * index-name
- A user-defined word that names an index associated with a specific table.
- * inheritance (for classes)
- A mechanism for using the implementation of one or more classes as
the basis for another class. A subclass inherits from one or more superclasses.
By definition the inheriting class conforms to the inherited classes.
- * initial program
- A program that is placed into an initial state every time the program
is called in a run unit.
- * initial state
- The state of a program when it is first called in a run unit.
- inline
- In a program, instructions that are executed sequentially, without branching
to routines, subroutines, or other programs.
- * input file
- A file that is opened in the INPUT mode.
- * input mode
- The state of a file after execution of an OPEN statement, with the INPUT
phrase specified, for that file and before the execution of a CLOSE statement,
without the REEL or UNIT phrase for that file.
- * input-output file
- A file that is opened in the I-O mode.
- * INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION
- The section of the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION that names the files and the external
media required by an object program or method and that provides information
required for transmission and handling of data during execution of the object
program or method definition.
- * Input-Output statement
- A statement that causes files to be processed by performing operations
upon individual records or upon the file as a unit. The input-output statements
are: ACCEPT (with the identifier phrase), CLOSE, DELETE, DISPLAY, OPEN, READ,
REWRITE, SET (with the TO ON or TO OFF phrase), START, and WRITE.
- * input procedure
- A set of statements, to which control is given during the execution of
a SORT statement, for the purpose of controlling the release of specified
records to be sorted.
- instance data
- Data defining the state of an object. The instance data introduced by
a class is defined in the WORKING-STORAGE SECTION of the DATA DIVISION of
the class definition. The state of an object also includes the state of the
instance variables introduced by base classes that are inherited by the current
class. A separate copy of the instance data is created for each object instance.
- * integer
- (1) A numeric literal that does not include any digit positions to the
right of the decimal point.
(2) A numeric data item defined in the DATA
DIVISION that does not include any digit positions to the right of the decimal
point.
(3) A numeric function whose definition provides that all
digits to the right of the decimal point are zero in the returned value for
any possible evaluation of the function.
- integer function
- A function whose category is numeric and whose definition does not include
any digit positions to the right of the decimal point.
- interlanguage communication (ILC)
- The ability of routines written in different programming languages to
communicate. ILC support allows the application writer to readily build applications
from component routines written in a variety of languages.
- intermediate result
- An intermediate field containing the results of a succession of arithmetic
operations.
- * internal data
- The data described in a program excluding all external data items and
external file connectors. Items described in the LINKAGE SECTION of a program
are treated as internal data.
- * internal data item
- A data item which is described in one program in a run unit. An internal
data item may have a global name.
- internal decimal item
- A format in which each byte in a field except the rightmost byte represents
two numeric digits. The rightmost byte contains one digit and the sign. For
example, the decimal value +123 is represented as 0001 0010 0011 1111. (Also
known as packed decimal.)
- * internal file connector
- A file connector which is accessible to only one object program in the
run unit.
- * intra-record data structure
- The entire collection of groups and elementary data items from a logical
record which is defined by a contiguous subset of the data description entries
which describe that record. These data description entries include all entries
whose level-number is greater than the level-number of the first data description
entry describing the intra-record data structure.
- intrinsic function
- A predefined function, such as a commonly used arithmetic function, called
by a built-in function reference.
- * invalid key condition
- A condition, at object time, caused when a specific value of the key associated
with an indexed or relative file is determined to be invalid.
- * I-O-CONTROL
- The name of an ENVIRONMENT DIVISION paragraph in which object program
requirements for rerun points, sharing of same areas by several data files,
and multiple file storage on a single input-output device are specified.
- * I-O-CONTROL entry
- An entry in the I-O-CONTROL paragraph of the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION which
contains clauses that provide information required for the transmission and
handling of data on named files during the execution of a program.
- * I-O-Mode
- The state of a file after execution of an OPEN statement, with the I-O
phrase specified, for that file and before the execution of a CLOSE statement
without the REEL or UNIT phase for that file.
- * I-O status
- A conceptual entity which contains the two-character value indicating
the resulting status of an input-output operation. This value is made available
to the program through the use of the FILE STATUS clause in the file control
entry for the file.
- iteration structure
- A program processing logic in which a series of statements is repeated
while a condition is true or until a condition is true.
K
- K
- When referring to storage capacity, two to the tenth power; 1024 in decimal
notation.
- kernel
- The part of the component that contains programs for such tasks as I/O,
management, and communication.
- * key
- A data item that identifies the location of a record, or a set of data
items which serve to identify the ordering of data.
- * key of reference
- The key, either prime or alternate, currently being used to access records
within an indexed file.
- * key word
- A reserved word or function-name whose presence is required when the format
in which the word appears is used in a source program.
- kilobyte (KB)
- One kilobyte equals 1024 bytes.
L
- * language-name
- A system-name that specifies a particular programming language.
- Language Environment
- Short form of z/OS Language Environment. A set of architectural constructs
and interfaces that provides a common runtime environment and runtime services
for C, C++, COBOL, FORTRAN and PL/I applications. It is required for programs
compiled by Language Environment-conforming compilers and for Java applications.
- Language Environment-conforming
- Adhering to Language Environment's common interface conventions.
- last-used state
- A program is in last-used state if its internal values remain the same
as when the program was exited (are not reset to their initial values).
- * letter
- A character belonging to one of the following two sets:
- Uppercase letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q,
R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
- Lowercase letters: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q,
r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
- * level indicator
- Two alphabetic characters that identify a specific type of file or a position
in a hierarchy. The level indicators in the DATA DIVISION are: CD, FD, and
SD.
- * level-number
- A user-defined word, expressed as a two digit number, which indicates
the hierarchical position of a data item or the special properties of a data
description entry. Level-numbers in the range from 1 through 49 indicate the
position of a data item in the hierarchical structure of a logical record.
Level-numbers in the range 1 through 9 may be written either as a single digit
or as a zero followed by a significant digit. Level-numbers 66, 77 and 88
identify special properties of a data description entry.
- * library-name
- A user-defined word that names a COBOL library that is to be used by the
compiler for a given source program compilation.
- * library text
- A sequence of text words, comment lines, the separator space, or the separator
pseudo-text delimiter in a COBOL library.
- LILIAN DATE
- The number of days since the beginning of the Gregorian calendar. Day
one is Friday, October 15, 1582. The Lilian date format is named in honor
of Luigi Lilio, the creator of the Gregorian calendar.
- * LINAGE-COUNTER
- A special register whose value points to the current position within the
page body.
- link-edit
- To create a loadable computer program by means of a linkage editor or
binder.
- LINKAGE SECTION
- The section in the DATA DIVISION of the called program that describes
data items available from the calling program. These data items may be referred
to by both the calling and called program.
- literal
- A character-string whose value is specified either by the ordered set
of characters comprising the string, or by the use of a figurative constant.
- little-endian
- Default format used by the PC to store binary data. In this format, the
most significant digit is on the highest address. Compare with "big-endian".
- local
- A set of attributes for a program execution environment indicating culturally
sensitive considerations, such as: character code page, collating sequence,
date/time format, monetary value representation, numeric value representation,
or language.
- local
- * LOCAL-STORAGE SECTION
- The section of the DATA DIVISION that defines storage that is allocated
and freed on a per-invocation basis, depending on the value assigned in their
VALUE clauses.
- * logical operator
- One of the reserved words AND, OR, or NOT. In the formation of a condition,
either AND, or OR, or both can be used as logical connectives. NOT can be
used for logical negation.
- * logical record
- The most inclusive data item. The level-number for a record is 01. A record
may be either an elementary item or a group of items. The term is synonymous
with record.
- * low order end
- The rightmost character of a string of characters.
M
- main program
- The first routine in an enclave to gain control from the invoker. In FORTRAN,
a main program does not have a FUNCTION, SUBROUTINE, or BLOCK DATA statement
as its first statement. It could have a PROGRAM statement as its first statement.
Contrast with subprogram.
- * mass storage
- A storage medium in which data may be organized and maintained in both
a sequential and nonsequential manner.
- * mass storage device
- A device having a large storage capacity; for example, magnetic disk,
magnetic drum.
- * mass storage file
- A collection of records that is assigned to a mass storage medium.
- * megabyte (M)
- One megabyte equals 1,048,576 bytes.
- * merge file
- A collection of records to be merged by a MERGE statement. The merge file
is created and can be used only by the merge function.
- method
- Procedural code that defines one of the operations supported by an object,
and that is executed by an INVOKE statement on that object.
- * Method Definition
- The COBOL source unit that defines a method.
- * method identification entry
- An entry in the METHOD-ID paragraph of the IDENTIFICATION DIVISION which
contains clauses that specify the method-name and assign selected attributes
to the method definition.
- * method-name
- A user-defined word that identifies a method.
- * mnemonic-name
- A user-defined word that is associated in the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION with
a specified implementor-name.
- multitasking
- Mode of operation that provides for the concurrent, or interleaved, execution
of two or more tasks. When running under the Language Environment product,
multitasking is synonymous with multithreading.
- MVS
- Multiple Virtual Storage operating system.
N
- name
- A word composed of not more than 30 characters that defines a COBOL operand.
- * native character set
- The implementor-defined character set associated with the computer specified
in the OBJECT-COMPUTER paragraph.
- * native collating sequence
- The implementor-defined collating sequence associated with the computer
specified in the OBJECT-COMPUTER paragraph.
- * negated combined condition
- The 'NOT' logical operator immediately followed by a parenthesized combined
condition.
- * negated simple condition
- The 'NOT' logical operator immediately followed by a simple condition.
- nested program
- In COBOL, a program that is directly contained within another program.
- * next executable sentence
- The next sentence to which control will be transferred after execution
of the current statement is complete.
- * next executable statement
- The next statement to which control will be transferred after execution
of the current statement is complete.
- * next record
- The record that logically follows the current record of a file.
- * noncontiguous items
- Elementary data items in the WORKING-STORAGE and LINKAGE SECTIONs that
bear no hierarchic relationship to other data items.
- * nonnumeric item
- A data item whose description permits its content to be composed of any
combination of characters taken from the computer's character set. Certain
categories of nonnumeric items may be formed from more restricted character
sets.
- * nonnumeric literal
- A literal bounded by quotation marks. The string of characters may include
any character in the computer's character set.
- null
- Empty, having no meaning.
- * numeric character
- A character that belongs to the following set of digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
- numeric-edited item
- A numeric item that is in such a form that it may be used in printed output.
It may consist of external decimal digits from 0 through 9, the decimal point,
commas, the dollar sign, editing sign control symbols, plus other editing
symbols.
- * numeric function
- A function whose class and category are numeric but which for some possible
evaluation does not satisfy the requirements of integer functions.
- * numeric item
- A data item whose description restricts its content to a value represented
by characters chosen from the digits from '0' through '9'; if signed, the
item may also contain a '+', '-',
or other representation of an operational sign.
- * numeric literal
- A literal composed of one or more numeric characters that may contain
either a decimal point, or an algebraic sign, or both. The decimal point must
not be the rightmost character. The algebraic sign, if present, must be the
leftmost character.
O
- object
- An entity that has state (its data values) and operations (its methods).
An object is a way to encapsulate state and behavior.
- object code
- Output from a compiler or assembler that is itself executable machine
code or is suitable for processing to produce executable machine code.
- * OBJECT-COMPUTER
- The name of an ENVIRONMENT DIVISION paragraph in which the computer environment,
within which the object program is executed, is described.
- * object computer entry
- An entry in the OBJECT-COMPUTER paragraph of the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
which contains clauses that describe the computer environment in which the
object program is to be executed.
- object deck
- A portion of an object program suitable as input to a linkage editor.
Synonymous with object module and text deck.
- object module
- A collection of one or more control sections produced by an assembler
or compiler and used as input to the linkage editor or binder. Synonym for
text deck or object deck.
- * object of entry
- A set of operands and reserved words, within a DATA DIVISION entry of
a COBOL program, that immediately follows the subject of the entry.
- * object program
- A set or group of executable machine language instructions and other material
designed to interact with data to provide problem solutions. In this context,
an object program is generally the machine language result of the operation
of a COBOL compiler on a source program. Where there is no danger of ambiguity,
the word 'program' alone may be used in place of the phrase 'object program.'
- * object time
- The time at which an object program is executed. The term is synonymous
with execution time.
- * obsolete element
- A COBOL language element in Standard COBOL that is to be deleted from
the next revision of Standard COBOL.
- ODBC
- Open Database Connectivity that provides you access to data from a variety
of databases and file systems.
- ODO object
- In the example below,
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION
01 TABLE-1.
05 X PICS9.
05 Y OCCURS 3 TIMES
DEPENDING ON X PIC X.
X is the
object of the OCCURS DEPENDING ON clause (ODO object). The value of the ODO
object determines how many of the ODO subject appear in the table.
- ODO subject
- In the example above, Y is the subject of the OCCURS
DEPENDING ON clause (ODO subject). The number of Y ODO subjects
that appear in the table depends on the value of X.
- * open mode
- The state of a file after execution of an OPEN statement for that file
and before the execution of a CLOSE statement without the REEL or UNIT phrase
for that file. The particular open mode is specified in the OPEN statement
as either INPUT, OUTPUT, I-O or EXTEND.
- * operand
- Whereas the general definition of operand is "that component which is
operated upon", for the purposes of this document, any lowercase word (or
words) that appears in a statement or entry format may be considered to be
an operand and, as such, is an implied reference to the data indicated by
the operand.
- * operational sign
- An algebraic sign, associated with a numeric data item or a numeric literal,
to indicate whether its value is positive or negative.
- * optional file
- A file which is declared as being not necessarily present each time the
object program is executed. The object program causes an interrogation for
the presence or absence of the file.
- * optional word
- A reserved word that is included in a specific format only to improve
the readability of the language and whose presence is optional to the user
when the format in which the word appears is used in a source program.
- * output mode
- The state of a file after execution of an OPEN statement, with the OUTPUT
or EXTEND phrase specified, for that file and before the execution of a CLOSE
statement without the REEL or UNIT phrase for that file.
- * output procedure
- A set of statements to which control is given during execution of a SORT
statement after the sort function is completed, or during execution of a MERGE
statement after the merge function reaches a point at which it can select
the next record in merged order when requested.
- overflow condition
- A condition that occurs when a portion of the result of an operation exceeds
the capacity of the intended unit of storage.
P
- packed decimal item
- See "internal decimal item".
- * padding character
- An alphanumeric character used to fill the unused character positions
in a physical record.
- page
- A vertical division of output data representing a physical separation
of such data, the separation being based on internal logical requirements
and/or external characteristics of the output medium.
- * page body
- That part of the logical page in which lines can be written and/or spaced.
- * paragraph
- In the Procedure Division, a paragraph-name followed by a separator period
and by zero, one, or more sentences. In the IDENTIFICATION and ENVIRONMENT
DIVISIONs, a paragraph header followed by zero, one, or more entries.
- * paragraph header
- A reserved word, followed by the separator period, that indicates the
beginning of a paragraph in the IDENTIFICATION and ENVIRONMENT DIVISIONs.
The permissible paragraph headers in the IDENTIFICATION DIVISION are:
PROGRAM-ID. (Program ID DIVISION)
CLASS-ID. (Class ID DIVISION)
METHOD-ID. (Method ID DIVISION)
AUTHOR.
INSTALLATION.
DATE-WRITTEN.
DATE-COMPILED.
SECURITY.
The permissible paragraph headers in the ENVIRONMENT
DIVISION are:
SOURCE-COMPUTER.
OBJECT-COMPUTER.
SPECIAL-NAMES.
REPOSITORY. (Program or Class
CONFIGURATION SECTION)
FILE-CONTROL.
I-O-CONTROL.
- * paragraph-name
- A user-defined word that identifies and begins a paragraph in the Procedure
Division.
- parameter
- Data items that are received by a routine. The term used in certain other
languages for the FORTRAN term dummy argument.
- password
- A unique string of characters that a program, computer operator, or user
must supply to meet security requirements before gaining access to data.
- * phrase
- A phrase is an ordered set of one or more consecutive COBOL character-strings
that form a portion of a COBOL procedural statement or of a COBOL clause.
- * physical record
- See "block".
- pointer data item
- A data item in which address values can be stored. Data items are explicitly
defined as pointers with the USAGE IS POINTER clause. ADDRESS OF special registers
are implicitly defined as pointer data items. Pointer data items can be compared
for equality or moved to other pointer data items.
- portability
- The ability to transfer an application program from one application platform
to another with relatively few changes to the source program.
- preloaded
- In COBOL this refers to COBOL programs that remain resident in storage
under IMS instead of being loaded each time they are called.
- * prime record key
- A key whose contents uniquely identify a record within an indexed file.
- * priority-number
- A user-defined word which classifies sections in the Procedure Division
for purposes of segmentation. Segment-numbers may contain only the characters
'0','1', ... , '9'. A segment-number may be expressed either as a one- or
two-digit number.
- * procedure
- In COBOL, a procedure is a paragraph or section that can only be performed
from within the program. In PL/I, a named block of code that can be invoked
externally, usually via a call..
- * procedure branching statement
- A statement that causes the explicit transfer of control to a statement
other than the next executable statement in the sequence in which the statements
are written in the source program. The procedure branching statements are:
ALTER, CALL, EXIT, EXIT PROGRAM, GO TO, MERGE, (with the OUTPUT PROCEDURE
phrase), PERFORM and SORT (with the INPUT PROCEDURE or OUTPUT PROCEDURE phrase).
- Procedure Division
- One of the four main component parts of a COBOL program, class definition,
or method definition. The Procedure Division contains instructions for solving
a problem. The Program and Method Procedure Divisions may contain imperative
statements, conditional statements, compiler-directing statements, paragraphs,
procedures, and sections. The Class Procedure Division contains only method
definitions.
- procedure integration
- One of the functions of the COBOL optimizer is to simplify calls to performed
procedures or contained programs.
PERFORM procedure integration is the
process whereby a PERFORM statement is replaced by its performed procedures.
Contained program procedure integration is the process where a CALL to a contained
program is replaced by the program code.
- * procedure-name
- A user-defined word that is used to name a paragraph or section in the
Procedure Division. It consists of a paragraph-name (which may be qualified)
or a section-name.
- procedure-pointer data item
- A data item in which a pointer to an entry point can be stored. A data
item defined with the USAGE IS PROCEDURE-POINTER clause contains the address
of a procedure entry point.
- * program identification entry
- An entry in the PROGRAM-ID paragraph of the IDENTIFICATION DIVISION which
contains clauses that specify the program-name and assign selected program
attributes to the program.
- * program-name
- In the IDENTIFICATION DIVISION and the end program header, a user-defined
word that identifies a COBOL source program.
- * pseudo-text
- A sequence of text words, comment lines, or the separator space in a source
program or COBOL library bounded by, but not including, pseudo-text delimiters.
- * pseudo-text delimiter
- Two contiguous equal sign characters (==) used to delimit pseudo-text.
- * punctuation character
- A character that belongs to the following set:
- Character
- Meaning
- ,
- comma
- ;
- semicolon
- :
- colon
- .
- period (full stop)
- "
- quotation mark
- (
- left parenthesis
- )
- right parenthesis
- ?
- space
- =
- equal sign
Q
- QSAM (Queued Sequential Access Method)
- An extended version of the basic sequential access method (BSAM). When
this method is used, a queue is formed of input data blocks that are awaiting
processing or of output data blocks that have been processed and are awaiting
transfer to auxiliary storage or to an output device.
- * qualified data-name
- An identifier that is composed of a data-name followed by one or more
sets of either of the connectives OF and IN followed by a data-name qualifier.
- * qualifier
-
- A data-name or a name associated with a level indicator which is used
in a reference either together with another data-name which is the name of
an item that is subordinate to the qualifier or together with a condition-name.
- A section-name that is used in a reference together with a paragraph-name
specified in that section.
- A library-name that is used in a reference together with a text-name associated
with that library.
R
- * random access
- An access mode in which the program-specified value of a key data item
identifies the logical record that is obtained from, deleted from, or placed
into a relative or indexed file.
- * record
- See "logical record".
- * record area
- A storage area allocated for the purpose of processing the record described
in a record description entry in the File Section of the DATA DIVISION. In
the File Section, the current number of character positions in the record
area is determined by the explicit or implicit RECORD clause.
- * record description
- See "record description entry".
- * record description entry
- The total set of data description entries associated with a particular
record. The term is synonymous with record description.
- recording mode
- The format of the logical records in a file. Recording mode can be F (fixed-length),
V (variable-length), S (spanned), or U (undefined).
- record key
- A key whose contents identify a record within an indexed file.
- * record-name
- A user-defined word that names a record described in a record description
entry in the DATA DIVISION of a COBOL program.
- * record number
- The ordinal number of a record in the file whose organization is sequential.
- recursion
- A program calling itself or being directly or indirectly called by a one
of its called programs.
- recursively capable
- A program is recursively capable (can be called recursively) if the RECURSIVE
attribute is on the PROGRAM-ID statement.
- reel
- A discrete portion of a storage medium, the dimensions of which are determined
by each implementor that contains part of a file, all of a file, or any number
of files. The term is synonymous with unit and volume.
- reentrant
- The attribute of a program or routine that allows more than one user to
share a single copy of a load module.
- * reference format
- A format that provides a standard method for describing COBOL source programs.
- reference modification
- A method of defining a new alphanumeric data item by specifying the leftmost
character and length relative to the leftmost character of another alphanumeric
data item.
- * reference-modifier
- A syntactically correct combination of character-strings and separators
that defines a unique data item. It includes a delimiting left parenthesis
separator, the leftmost character position, a colon separator, optionally
a length, and a delimiting right parenthesis separator.
- * relation
- See "relational operator" or "relation condition".
- * relational operator
- A reserved word, a relation character, a group of consecutive reserved
words, or a group of consecutive reserved words and relation characters used
in the construction of a relation condition. The permissible operators and
their meanings are:
- Operator
- Meaning
- IS GREATER THAN
- Greater than
- IS >
- Greater than
- IS NOT GREATER THAN
- Not greater than
- IS NOT >
- Not greater than
- IS LESS THAN
- Less than
- IS <
- Less than
- IS NOT LESS THAN
- Not less than
- IS NOT <
- Not less than
- IS EQUAL TO
- Equal to
- IS =
- Equal to
- IS NOT EQUAL TO
- Not equal to
- IS NOT =
- Not equal to
- IS GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO
- Greater than or equal to
- IS >=
- Greater than or equal to
- IS LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO
- Less than or equal to
- IS <=
- Less than or equal to
- * relation character
- A character that belongs to the following set:
- Character
- Meaning
- >
- greater than
- <
- less than
- =
- equal to
- * relation condition
- The proposition, for which a truth value can be determined, that the value
of an arithmetic expression, data item, nonnumeric literal, or index-name
has a specific relationship to the value of another arithmetic expression,
data item, nonnumeric literal, or index name. (See also "relational operator".)
- * relative file
- A file with relative organization.
- * relative key
- A key whose contents identify a logical record in a relative file.
- * relative organization
- The permanent logical file structure in which each record is uniquely
identified by an integer value greater than zero, which specifies the record's
logical ordinal position in the file.
- * relative record number
- The ordinal number of a record in a file whose organization is relative.
This number is treated as a numeric literal which is an integer.
- * reserved word
- A COBOL word specified in the list of words that may be used in a COBOL
source program, but that must not appear in the program as user-defined words
or system-names.
- * resource
- A facility or service, controlled by the operating system, that can be
used by an executing program.
- * resultant identifier
- A user-defined data item that is to contain the result of an arithmetic
operation.
- reusable environment
- A reusable environment is when you establish an assembler program as the
main program by using either ILBOSTP0 programs, IGZERRE programs, or the RTEREUS
runtime option.
- routine
- A set of statements in a COBOL program that causes the computer to perform
an operation or series of related operations. In Language Environment,
refers to either a procedure, function, or subroutine.
- * routine-name
- A user-defined word that identifies a procedure written in a language
other than COBOL.
- * run time
- The time at which an object program is executed. The term is synonymous
with object time.
- runtime environment
- The environment in which a COBOL program executes.
- * run unit
- One or more object programs that are executed together. In Language Environment,
a run unit is the equivalent of an enclave.
S
- SBCS (Single Byte Character Set)
- See "Single Byte Character Set (SBCS)".
- scope terminator
- A COBOL reserved word that marks the end of certain Procedure Division
statements. It may be either explicit (END-ADD, for example) or implicit (separator
period). A variable at the end of a statement.
- * section
- A set of zero, one or more paragraphs or entities, called a section body,
the first of which is preceded by a section header. Each section consists
of the section header and the related section body.
- * section header
- A combination of words followed by a separator period that indicates the
beginning of a section in the Environment, Data, and Procedure Divisions.
In the ENVIRONMENT and DATA DIVISIONs, a section header is composed of reserved
words followed by a separator period. The permissible section headers in the
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION are:
CONFIGURATION SECTION.
INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION.
The permissible section headers in the
DATA DIVISION are: FILE SECTION.
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
LOCAL-STORAGE SECTION.
LINKAGE SECTION.
In the Procedure Division, a section header
is composed of a section-name, followed by the reserved word SECTION, followed
by a separator period.
- * section-name
- A user-defined word that names a section in the Procedure Division.
- selection structure
- A program processing logic in which one or another series of statements
is executed, depending on whether a condition is true or false.
- * sentence
- A sequence of one or more statements, the last of which is terminated
by a separator period.
- * separately compiled program
- A program which, together with its contained programs, is compiled separately
from all other programs.
- * separator
- A character or two contiguous characters used to delimit character-strings.
- * separator comma
- A comma (,) followed by a space used to delimit character-strings.
- * separator period
- A period (.) followed by a space used to delimit character-strings.
- * separator semicolon
- A semicolon (;) followed by a space used to delimit character-strings.
- sequence structure
- A program processing logic in which a series of statements is executed
in sequential order.
- * sequential access
- An access mode in which logical records are obtained from or placed into
a file in a consecutive predecessor-to-successor logical record sequence determined
by the order of records in the file.
- * sequential file
- A file with sequential organization.
- * sequential organization
- The permanent logical file structure in which a record is identified by
a predecessor-successor relationship established when the record is placed
into the file.
- serial search
- A search in which the members of a set are consecutively examined, beginning
with the first member and ending with the last.
- * 77-level-description-entry
- A data description entry that describes a noncontiguous data item with
the level-number 77.
- * sign condition
- The proposition, for which a truth value can be determined, that the algebraic
value of a data item or an arithmetic expression is either less than, greater
than, or equal to zero.
- * simple condition
- Any single condition chosen from the set:
- Relation condition
- Class condition
- Condition-name condition
- Switch-status condition
- Sign condition
- Single Byte Character Set (SBCS)
- A set of characters in which each character is represented by a single
byte. See also "EBCDIC (Extended Binary-Coded Decimal Interchange Code)."
- slack bytes
- Bytes inserted between data items or records to ensure correct alignment
of some numeric items. Slack bytes contain no meaningful data. In some cases,
they are inserted by the compiler; in others, it is the responsibility of
the programmer to insert them. The SYNCHRONIZED clause instructs the compiler
to insert slack bytes when they are needed for proper alignment. Slack bytes
between records are inserted by the programmer.
- * sort file
- A collection of records to be sorted by a SORT statement. The sort file
is created and can be used by the sort function only.
- * sort-merge file description entry
- An entry in the File Section of the DATA DIVISION that is composed of
the level indicator SD, followed by a file-name, and then followed by a set
of file clauses as required.
- * SOURCE-COMPUTER
- The name of an ENVIRONMENT DIVISION paragraph in which the computer environment,
within which the source program is compiled, is described.
- * source computer entry
- An entry in the SOURCE-COMPUTER paragraph of the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
which contains clauses that describe the computer environment in which the
source program is to be compiled.
- * source item
- An identifier designated by a SOURCE clause that provides the value of
a printable item.
- source program
- Although it is recognized that a source program may be represented by
other forms and symbols, in this document it always refers to a syntactically
correct set of COBOL statements. A COBOL source program commences with the
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION or a COPY statement. A COBOL source program is terminated
by the end program header, if specified, or by the absence of additional source
program lines. A source program contains a set of instructions written in
a programming language that must be translated to machine language before
the program can be run.
- * special character
- A character that belongs to the following set:
- Character
- Meaning
- +
- plus sign
- -
- minus sign (hyphen)
- *
- asterisk
- /
- slant (virgule, slash)
- =
- equal sign
- $
- currency sign
- ,
- comma (decimal point)
- ;
- semicolon
- .
- period (decimal point, full stop)
- "
- quotation mark
- (
- left parenthesis
- )
- right parenthesis
- >
- greater than symbol
- <
- less than symbol
- :
- colon
- * special-character word
- A reserved word that is an arithmetic operator or a relation character.
- SPECIAL-NAMES
- The name of an ENVIRONMENT DIVISION paragraph in which environment-names
are related to user-specified mnemonic-names.
- * special names entry
- An entry in the SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph of the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION which
provides means for specifying the currency sign; choosing the decimal point;
specifying symbolic characters; relating implementor-names to user-specified
mnemonic-names; relating alphabet-names to character sets or collating sequences;
and relating class-names to sets of characters.
- * special registers
- Certain compiler generated storage areas whose primary use is to store
information produced in conjunction with the use of a specific COBOL feature.
- * standard data format
- The concept used in describing the characteristics of data in a COBOL
DATA DIVISION under which the characteristics or properties of the data are
expressed in a form oriented to the appearance of the data on a printed page
of infinite length and breadth, rather than a form oriented to the manner
in which the data is stored internally in the computer, or on a particular
external medium.
- * statement
- A syntactically valid combination of words, literals, and separators,
beginning with a verb, written in a COBOL source program.
- STL
- STL File System: native workstation and PC file system for COBOL and PL/I.
Supports sequential, relative, and indexed files, including the full ANSI
85 COBOL standard I/O language and all of the extensions described in COBOL Language Reference, unless
exceptions are explicitly noted.
- structured programming
- A technique for organizing and coding a computer program in which the
program comprises a hierarchy of segments, each segment having a single entry
point and a single exit point. Control is passed downward through the structure
without unconditional branches to higher levels of the hierarchy.
- * subclass
- A class that inherits from another class. When two classes in an inheritance
relationship are considered together, the subclass is the inheritor or inheriting
class; the superclass is the inheritee or inherited class.
- * subject of entry
- An operand or reserved word that appears immediately following the level
indicator or the level-number in a DATA DIVISION entry.
- * subprogram
- See "called program".
- * subscript
- An occurrence number represented by either an integer, a data-name optionally
followed by an integer with the operator + or -, or an index-name optionally
followed by an integer with the operator + or -, that identifies a particular
element in a table. A subscript may be the word ALL when the subscripted identifier
is used as a function argument for a function allowing a variable number of
arguments.
- * subscripted data-name
- An identifier that is composed of a data-name followed by one or more
subscripts enclosed in parentheses.
- * superclass
- A class that is inherited by another class. See also subclass.
- switch-status condition
- The proposition, for which a truth value can be determined, that an UPSI
switch, capable of being set to an 'on' or 'off' status, has been set to a
specific status.
- * symbolic-character
- A user-defined word that specifies a user-defined figurative constant.
- syntax
- The rules governing the structure of a programming language and the construction
of a statement in a programming language.
T
- * table
- A set of logically consecutive items of data that are defined in the DATA
DIVISION by means of the OCCURS clause.
- * table element
- A data item that belongs to the set of repeated items comprising a table.
- text deck
- Synonym for object deck or object module.
- * text-name
- A user-defined word that identifies library text.
- * text word
- A character or a sequence of contiguous characters between margin A and
margin R in a COBOL library, source program, or in pseudo-text which is:
- A separator, except for: space; a pseudo-text delimiter; and the opening
and closing delimiters for nonnumeric literals. The right parenthesis and
left parenthesis characters, regardless of context within the library, source
program, or pseudo-text, are always considered text words.
- A literal including, in the case of nonnumeric literals, the opening quotation
mark and the closing quotation mark that bound the literal.
- Any other sequence of contiguous COBOL characters except comment lines
and the word 'COPY' bounded by separators that are neither a separator nor
a literal.
- top-down design
- The design of a computer program using a hierarchic structure in which
related functions are performed at each level of the structure.
- top-down development
- See "structured programming".
- trailer-label
- (1) A file or data set label that follows the data records on a unit of
recording medium. (2) Synonym for end-of-file label.
- * truth value
- The representation of the result of the evaluation of a condition in terms
of one of two values: true or false.
U
- * unary operator
- A plus (+) or a minus (-) sign, that precedes a variable or a left parenthesis
in an arithmetic expression and that has the effect of multiplying the expression
by +1 or -1, respectively.
- unit
- A module of direct access, the dimensions of which are determined by IBM.
- universal object reference
- A data-name that can refer to an object of any class.
- unpacked decimal format
- A format for representing numbers in which the digit is contained in bits
4 through 7 and the sign is contained in bits 0 through 3 of the rightmost
byte. Bits 0 through 3 of all other bytes contain 1s (hex F). For example,
the decimal value of +123 is represented as 1111 0001 1111 0010 1111 0011.
Synonymous with zoned decimal format.
- * unsuccessful execution
- The attempted execution of a statement that does not result in the execution
of all the operations specified by that statement. The unsuccessful execution
of a statement does not affect any data referenced by that statement, but
may affect status indicators.
- UPSI switch
- A program switch that performs the functions of a hardware switch. Eight
are provided: UPSI-0 through UPSI-7.
- * user-defined word
- A COBOL word that must be supplied by the user to satisfy the format of
a clause or statement.
V
- * variable
- A data item whose value may be changed by execution of the object program.
A variable used in an arithmetic expression must be a numeric elementary item.
- * variable-length record
- A record associated with a file whose file description or sort-merge description
entry permits records to contain a varying number of character positions.
- * variable occurrence data item
- A variable occurrence data item is a table element which is repeated a
variable number of times. Such an item must contain an OCCURS DEPENDING ON
clause in its data description entry, or be subordinate to such an item.
- * variably located group.
- A group item following, and not subordinate to, a variable-length table
in the same level-01 record.
- * variably located item.
- A data item following, and not subordinate to, a variable-length table
in the same level-01 record.
- * verb
- A word that expresses an action to be taken by a COBOL compiler or object
program.
- VM/SP (Virtual Machine/System Product)
- An IBM-licensed program that manages the resources of a single computer
so that multiple computing systems appear to exist. Each virtual machine is
the functional equivalent of a 'real' machine.
- volume
- A certain portion of data, together with its data carrier, that can be
handled conveniently as a unit. A data carrier mounted and demounted as a
unit; for example, a reel of magnetic tape, a disk pack.
- volume switch procedures
- System specific procedures executed automatically when the end of a unit
or reel has been reached before end-of-file has been reached.
- VSAM (Virtual Storage Access Method)
- A high-performance mass storage access method. Three types of data organization
are available: entry sequenced data sets (ESDS), key sequenced data sets
(KSDS), and relative record data sets (RRDS). Their COBOL equivalents are,
respectively: sequential, indexed, and relative organizations.
W
- * word
- A character-string of not more than 30 characters which forms a user-defined
word, a system-name, a reserved word, or a function-name.
- * WORKING-STORAGE SECTION
- The section of the DATA DIVISION that describes working storage data items,
composed either of noncontiguous items or working storage records or of both.
X
- XML
- Extensible Markup Language. A standard metalanguage for defining markup
languages that was derived from and is a subset of SGML. XML omits the more
complex and less-used parts of SGML and makes it much easier to write applications
to handle document types, author and manage structured information, and transmit
and share structured information across diverse computing systems. The use
of XML does not require the robust applications and processing that is necessary
for SGML. XML is developed under the auspices of the World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C).
- XML data
- Data that is organized into a hierarchical structure with XML elements.
The data definitions are defined in XML element type declarations.
- XML declaration
- XML text that specifies characteristics of the XML document such as the
version of XML being used and the encoding of the document.
- XML document
- A data object that is well formed as defined by the W3C XML specification.
- XML namespace
- A mechanism, defined by the W3C XML Namespace specifications,
that limits the scope of a collection of element names and attribute names.
A uniquely chosen XML namespace ensures the unique identity of an element
name or attribute name across multiple XML
documents or multiple contexts within an XML document.
- XML type definition
- An XML element that contains or points to markup declarations that provide
a grammar for a class of documents. This grammar is known as a document type
definition, or DTD.
Y
- year 2000 problem
- The Year 2000 problem refers to the limitation of 2-digit year date fields
that were used to save storage in the 1960s and 1970s. For example, it is
not possible to compute the age of someone who is older than 100 years with
2-digit year date fields, and on 1/1/2000, the current date will not be greater
than the previous day's date. Because so many applications and data have only
2-digit year data, they must all be changed before the year 2000 to avoid
failure.
Z
- zoned decimal format
- Synonym for unpacked decimal format.
- zoned decimal item
- See "external decimal item".