Cobol

Causes the item to be aligned on natural boundaries. Can be SYNCHRONIZED LEFT or RIGHT. For binary data items, the address resolution is faster if they are located at word boundaries in the memory. For example, on main frame the memory word size is 4 bytes. This means that each word will start from an address divisible by 4. If my first variable is x(3) and next one is s9(4) comp, then if you do not specify the SYNC clause, S9(4) COMP will start from byte 3 ( assuming that it starts from 0 ). If you specify SYNC, then the binary data item will start from address 4. You might see some wastage of memory, but the access to this computational field is faster.

In COBOL II the 88 levels can be set rather than moving their associated values to the related data item. (Web note: This change is not one of COBOL II’s better specifications.)

INITIALIZE moves spaces to alphabetic fields and zeros to alphanumeric fields. The REPLACING option can be used to override these defaults.

Use the SORTWK01, SORTWK02… dd names in the step. Number of sort datasets depends on the volume of data being sorted, but a minimum of 3 is required.

In a binary search the table element key values must be in ascending or descending sequence. The table is ‘halved’ to search for equal to, greater than or less than conditions until the element is found. In a sequential search the table is searched from top to bottom, so (ironically) the elements do not have to be in a specific sequence. The binary search is much faster for larger tables, while sequential works well with smaller ones. SEARCH ALL is used for binary searches; SEARCH for sequential.

Must use compiler option SSRANGE if you want array bounds checking. Default is NOSSRANGE.

To correct an earlier answer: All called modules cannot run standalone if they require program variables passed to them via the LINKAGE section. Dynamically called modules are those that are not bound with the calling program at link edit time (IEWL for IBM) and so are loaded from the program library (joblib or steplib) associated with the job. For DYNAMIC calling of a module the DYNAM compiler option must be chosen, else the linkage editor will not generate an executable as it will expect u address resolution of all called modules. A Statically called module is one that is bound with the calling module at link edit, and therefore becomes part of the executable load module.

The ONLY way is to look at the output of the linkage editor (IEWL) or the load module itself. If the module is being called DYNAMICALLY then it will not exist in the main module, if it is being called STATICALLY then it will be seen in the load module. Calling a working storage variable, containing a program name, does not make a DYNAMIC call. This type of calling is known as IMPLICITE calling as the name of the module is implied by the contents of the working storage variable. Calling a program name literal

Search on a sorted array. Compare the item to be searched with the item at the center. If it matches, fine else repeat the process with the left half or the right half depending on where the item lies.

There is no picture clause to be given. Example 01 WS-VAR USAGE COMP-1

REPLACING allows for the same copy to be used more than once in the same code by changing the replace value.

PIC 9.99 is a FOUR-POSITION field that actually contains a decimal point where as PIC 9v99 is THREE- POSITION numeric field with implied or assumed decimal position.

LENGTH acts like a special register to tell the length of a group or elementary item.

It can be either ASCENDING or DESCENDING. ASCENDING is default. If you want the search to be done on an array sorted in descending order, then while defining the array, you should give DESCENDING KEY clause. (You must load the table in the specified order).

SEARCH - is a serial search. SEARCH ALL - is a binary search & the table must be sorted ( ASCENDING/DESCENDING KEY clause to be used & data loaded in this order) before using SEARCH ALL.

ARRAYS. 05 ARRAY1 PIC X(9) OCCURS 10 TIMES. 05 ARRAY2 PIC X(6) OCCURS 20 TIMES INDEXED BY WS-INDEX.

Subscript refers to the array occurrence while index is the displacement (in no of bytes) from the beginning of the array. An index can only be modified using PERFORM, SEARCH & SET. Need to have index for a table in order to use SEARCH, SEARCH ALL.

IS NUMERIC can be used on alphanumeric items, signed numeric & packed decimal items and unsigned numeric & packed decimal items. “IS NUMERIC” return TRUE if the item only consists of 0-9. However, if the item being tested is a signed item, then it may contain 0-9, + and -.

The different data types available in COBOL are Alphanumeric (X), alphabetic (A) and numeric (9).