Line-sequential files reside in the hierarchical file system (HFS) and contain only printable characters and certain control characters as data. Each record ends with an EBCDIC newline character (X'15'), which is not included in the record length.
Because these are sequential files, records are placed one after another according to entry order. Your program can process these files only sequentially, retrieving (with the READ statement) records in the same order as they are in the file. A new record is placed after the preceding record.
To process line-sequential files in your program, use COBOL language statements that:
After you have created a record, you cannot change its length or its position in the file, and you cannot delete it.
related tasks
Defining line-sequential files and records in COBOL
Describing the structure of a line-sequential file
Coding input-output statements for line-sequential files
Handling errors in line-sequential files
Defining and allocating line-sequential files
UNIX System Services User's Guide
related references
Allowable control characters