You can process alphanumeric or numeric table items using intrinsic functions as long as the table item's data description is compatible with the function's argument requirements. The WebSphere Development Studio: ILE COBOL Reference describes the required data formats for the arguments of the various Intrinsic Functions.
Use a subscript or index to reference an individual data item as a function argument. Assuming TABLE-ONE is a 3X3 array of numeric items, you can find the square root of the middle element with a statement such as:
COMPUTE X = FUNCTION SQRT(TABLE-ONE(2,2)).
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