Rational Developer for System z
COBOL for Windows, Version 7.5, Language Reference


DISPLAY phrase

The data item is stored in character form, one character for each 8-bit byte. This corresponds to the format used for printed output. DISPLAY can be explicit or implicit.

USAGE IS DISPLAY is valid for the following types of items:

Alphabetic, alphanumeric, alphanumeric-edited, and numeric-edited items are discussed in Data categories and PICTURE rules.

External decimal items with USAGE DISPLAY are sometimes referred to as zoned decimal items. Each digit of a number is represented by a single byte. The 4 high-order bits of each byte are zone bits; the 4 high-order bits of the low-order byte represent the sign of the item. The 4 low-order bits of each byte contain the value of the digit.

If the ARITH(COMPAT) compiler option is in effect, then the maximum length of an external decimal item is 18 digits. If the ARITH(EXTEND) compiler option is in effect, then the maximum length of an external decimal item is 31 digits.

The PICTURE character-string of an external decimal item can contain only: 9s; the operational-sign, S; the assumed decimal point, V; and one or more Ps.

Effect of CHAR(EBCDIC) compiler option

Data items defined with the DISPLAY or DISPLAY-1 phrase are treated as EBCDIC when the CHAR(EBCDIC) compiler option is used, unless the character data is defined with the NATIVE phrase.


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