1⟩ What divisions, sections and paragraphs are mandatory for a COBOL program?
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION and PROGRAM-ID paragraph are mandatory for a compilation error free COBOL program.
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110 Cobol Questions And Answers
2⟩ What is the different between index and subscript?
Subscript refers to the array of occurrence, where as Index represents an occurrence of a table element. An index can only modified using perform, search & set. Need to have an index for a table in order to use SEARCH and SEARCH All.
3⟩ What is the difference between Structured COBOL Programming and Object Alternativelyiented COBOL programming?
Structured programming is a Logical way of programming, you divide the functionalities into modules and code logically. OOP is a Natural way of programming; you identify the objects first, and then write functions, procedures around the objects. Sorry, this may not be an adequate answer, but they are two different programming paradigms, which is difficult to put in a sentence or two.
4⟩ What is Redefines clause?
Redefines clause is used to allow the same storage allocation to be referenced by different data names.
5⟩ How many sections are there in data division?
SIX SECTIONS
1. FILE SECTION
2. WORKING-STORAGE SECTION
3. LOCAL-STORAGE SECTION
4. SCREEN SECTION
5. REPORT SECTION
6. LINKAGE SECTION
6⟩ What is Pic 9v99 Indicates?
PICTURE 9v99 is a three position Numeric field with an implied or assumed decimal point after the first position; the v means an implied decimal point.
7⟩ How do you reference the following file formats from COBOL programs?
Fixed Block File - Use ORGANISATION IS SEQUENTIAL. Use RECORDING MODE IS F, BLOCK CONTAINS 0 . Fixed Unblocked - Use ORGANISATION IS SEQUENTIAL. Use RECORDING MODE IS F, do not use BLOCK CONTAINS Variable Block File - Use ORGANISATION IS SEQUENTIAL. Use RECORDING MODE IS V, BLOCK CONTAINS 0. Do not code the 4 bytes for record length in FD i.e. JCL rec length will be max rec length in pgm + 4 Variable Unblocked - Use ORGANISATION IS SEQUENTIAL. Use RECORDING MODE IS V, do not use BLOCK CONTAINS. Do not code 4 bytes for record length in FD i.e. JCL rec length will be max rec length in pgm + 4. ESDS VSAM file - Use ORGANISATION IS SEQUENTIAL. KSDS VSAM file - Use ORGANISATION IS INDEXED, RECORD KEY IS, ALTERNATE RECORD KEY IS RRDS File - Use ORGANISATION IS RELATIVE, RELATIVE KEY IS Printer File - Use ORGANISATION IS SEQUENTIAL. Use RECORDING MODE IS F, BLOCK CONTAINS 0. (Use RECFM=FBA in JCL DCB).
8⟩ What is an in line PERFORM? When would you use it? Anything else you wish to say about it.
The PERFORM and END-PERFORM statements bracket all COBOL II statements between them. The COBOL equivalent is to PERFORM or PERFORM THRU a paragraph. In line PERFORMs work as long as there are no internal GO TOs, not even to an exit. The in line PERFORM for readability should not exceed a page length - often it will reference other PERFORM paragraphs.
9⟩ What is the difference between NEXT SENTENCE and CONTINUE?
NEXT SENTENCE gives control to the verb following the next period. CONTINUE gives control to the next verb after the explicit scope terminator. (This is not one of COBOL II’s finer implementations). It is safest to use CONTINUE rather than NEXT SENTENCE in COBOL II.
10⟩ What is an explicit scope terminator?
A scope terminator brackets its preceding verb, e.g. IF... END-IF, so that all statements between the verb and its scope terminator are grouped together. Other common COBOL II verbs are READ, PERFORM, and EVALUATE, SEARCH and STRING.
11⟩ What are the differences between COBOL and COBOL II?
There are at least five differences: COBOL II supports structured programming by using in line Performs and explicit scope terminators, It introduces new features (EVALUATE, SET. TO TRUE, CALL. BY CONTEXT, etc) It permits programs to be loaded and addressed above the 16-megabyte line It does not support many old features (READY TRACE, REPORT-WRITER, ISAM, Etc.), and It offers enhanced CICS support.
12⟩ What is the difference between SEARCH and SEARCH ALL? What is more efficient?
SEARCH is a sequential search from the beginning of the table. SEARCH ALL is a binary search, continually dividing the table in two halves until a match is found. SEARCH ALL is more efficient for tables larger than 70 items.
13⟩ What care has to be taken to force program to execute above 16 Meg line?
Make sure that link option is AMODE=31 and RMODE=ANY. Compile option should never have SIZE (MAX). BUFSIZE can be 2K, efficient enough.
14⟩ How do you submit JCL via a COBOL program?
Use a file //dd1 DD sysout=(*, intrdr)write your JCL to this file. Pl some on try this out.
15⟩ What guidelines should be followed to write a structured COBOL prgm?
1) Use ‘evaluate’ stmt for constructing cases.
2) Use scope terminators for nesting.
3) Use in line performs stmt for writing ‘do ‘constructions.
4) Use test before and test after in the perform stmt for writing do-while constructions.
16⟩ Give some advantages of REDEFINES clause?
1. You can REDEFINE a Variable from one PICTURE class to another PICTURE class by using the same memory location.
2. By REDEFINES we can INITIALISE the variable in WORKING-STORAGE Section itself.
3. We can REDEFINE a Single Variable into so many sub variables. (This facility is very useful in solving Y2000 Problem.)
17⟩ What is the difference between static call and Dynamic call?
In the case of Static call, the called program is a stand-alone program, it is an executable program. During run time we can call it in our called program. As about Dynamic call, the called program is not an executable program it can executed through the called program
18⟩ How do you code COBOL to access a parameter that has been defined in JCL? And do you code the PARM parameter on the EXEC line in JCL?
Using JCL with sysin. //sysin dd *here u code the parameters (value) to pass in to Cobol program /* and in program you use accept variable name (one accept will read one row)/.another way. 2) in jcl using parm statement ex: in exec statement parm=’john’,'david’ in Cobol pgm u have to code linkage section in that for first value you code length variable and variable name say, abc pic x(4).it will take john inside to read next value u have to code another variable in the same way above mentioned.
19⟩ What do you feel makes a good program?
A program that follows a top down approach. It is also one that other programmers or users can follow logically and is easy to read and understand.
20⟩ Why do we code S9 (4) comp. Inspite of knowing comp-3 will occupy less space ?
Here s9(4)comp is small integer ,so two words equal to 1 byte so totally it will occupy 2 bytes(4 words).here in s9(4) comp-3 as one word is equal to 1/2 byte.4 words equal to 2 bytes and sign will occupy 1/2 byte so totally it will occupy 3 bytes.
