Glossary
The terms in this glossary are defined in accordance with their meaning in COBOL. These terms might or might not have the same meaning in other languages.
This glossary includes terms and definitions from the following publications:
- ANSI INCITS 23-1985, Programming languages - COBOL, as amended by ANSI INCITS 23a-1989, Programming Languages - COBOL - Intrinsic Function Module for COBOL, and ANSI INCITS 23b-1993, Programming Languages - Correction Amendment for COBOL
- ISO 1989:1985, Programming languages - COBOL, as amended by ISO/IEC 1989/AMD1:1992, Programming languages - COBOL: Intrinsic function module and ISO/IEC 1989/AMD2:1994, Programming languages - Correction and clarification amendment for COBOL
- ANSI X3.172-2002, American National Standard Dictionary for Information Systems
INCITS/ISO/IEC 1989-2002, Information technology - Programming languages - COBOL
INCITS/ISO/IEC 1989:2014, Information technology - Programming languages, their environments and system software interfaces - Programming language COBOL
American National Standard definitions are preceded by an asterisk (*).
A
- * abbreviated combined relation condition
- The combined condition that results from the explicit omission of a common subject or a common subject and common relational operator in a consecutive sequence of relation conditions.
- abend
- Abnormal termination of a program.
- above the 16 MB line
- Storage above the so-called 16 MB line (or boundary) but below the 2 GB bar. This storage is addressable only in 31-bit mode. Before IBM® introduced the MVS/XA architecture in the 1980s, the virtual storage for a program was limited to 16 MB. Programs that have been compiled with a 24-bit mode can address only 16 MB of space, as though they were kept under an imaginary storage line. Since VS COBOL II, a program that has been compiled with a 31-bit mode can be above the 16 MB line.
- * access mode
- The manner in which records are to be operated upon within a file.
- * actual decimal point
- The physical representation, using the decimal point characters period (.) or comma (,), of the decimal point position in a data item.
- actual document encoding
- For an XML document, one of the following encoding categories
that the XML parser determines by examining the first few bytes of
the document:
- ASCII
- EBCDIC
- UTF-8
- UTF-16, either big-endian or little-endian
- Other unsupported encoding
- No recognizable encoding
- * alphabet-name
- A user-defined word, in the
SPECIAL-NAMES
paragraph of theENVIRONMENT DIVISION
, that assigns a name to a specific character set or collating sequence or both. - * alphabetic character
- A letter or a space character.
alphanumeric character position
See character position.
- alphabetic data item
- A data item that is described with a
PICTURE
character string that contains only the symbolA
. An alphabetic data item hasUSAGE DISPLAY
. - * alphanumeric character
- Any character in the single-byte character set of the computer.
- alphanumeric data item
- A general reference to a data item that is described implicitly
or explicitly as
USAGE DISPLAY
, and that has category alphanumeric, alphanumeric-edited, or numeric-edited. - alphanumeric-edited data item
- A data item that is described by a
PICTURE
character string that contains at least one instance of the symbolA
orX
and at least one of the simple insertion symbolsB
,0
, or/
. An alphanumeric-edited data item hasUSAGE DISPLAY
. - * alphanumeric function
- A function whose value is composed of a string of one or more characters from the alphanumeric character set of the computer.
- alphanumeric group item
- A group item that is defined without a
GROUP-USAGE NATIONAL
clause. For operations such asINSPECT
,STRING
, andUNSTRING
, an alphanumeric group item is processed as though all its content were described asUSAGE DISPLAY
regardless of the actual content of the group. For operations that require processing of the elementary items within a group, such asMOVE CORRESPONDING
,ADD CORRESPONDING
, orINITIALIZE
, an alphanumeric group item is processed using group semantics. - alphanumeric literal
- A literal that has an opening delimiter from the following set:
'
,"
,X'
,X"
,Z'
, orZ"
. The string of characters can include any character in the character set of the computer. - * alternate record key
- A key, other than the prime record key, whose contents identify a record within an indexed file.
- ANSI (American National Standards Institute)
- An organization that consists of producers, consumers, and general-interest groups and establishes the procedures by which accredited organizations create and maintain voluntary industry standards in the United States.
- argument
- (1) An identifier, a literal, an arithmetic expression, or a function-identifier
that specifies a value to be used in the evaluation of a function.
(2) An operand of the
USING
phrase of aCALL
orINVOKE
statement, used for passing values to a called program or an invoked method. * arithmetic expression
A numeric literal, an identifier representing a numeric elementary item, such identifiers and literals separated by arithmetic operators, two arithmetic expressions separated by an arithmetic operator, or an arithmetic expression enclosed in parentheses.
- * arithmetic operation
- The process caused by the execution of an arithmetic statement, or the evaluation of an arithmetic expression, that results in a mathematically correct solution to the arguments presented.
- * arithmetic operator
- A single character, or a fixed two-character combination that
belongs to the following set:
Character Meaning + Addition - Subtraction * Multiplication / Division ** Exponentiation - * arithmetic statement
- A statement that causes an arithmetic operation to be executed.
The arithmetic statements are
ADD
,COMPUTE
,DIVIDE
,MULTIPLY
, andSUBTRACT
. - array
- An aggregate that consists of data objects, each of which can be uniquely referenced by subscripting. An array is roughly analogous to a COBOL table.
- * ascending key
- A key upon the values of which data is ordered, starting with the lowest value of the key up to the highest value of the key, in accordance with the rules for comparing data items.
- ASCII
- American National Standard Code for Information Interchange. The
standard code uses a coded character set that is based on 7-bit coded
characters (8 bits including parity check). The standard is used for
information interchange between data processing systems, data communication
systems, and associated equipment. The ASCII set consists of control
characters and graphic characters.
IBM has defined an extension to ASCII (characters 128-255).
ASCII DBCS
See double-byte ASCII.
- assignment-name
- A name that identifies the organization of a COBOL file and the name by which it is known to the system.
- * assumed decimal point
- A decimal point position that does not involve the existence of an actual character in a data item. The assumed decimal point has logical meaning but no physical representation.
AT END
condition- A condition that is caused during the execution of a
READ
,RETURN
, orSEARCH
statement under certain conditions:- A
READ
statement runs on a sequentially accessed file when no next logical record exists in the file, or when the number of significant digits in the relative record number is larger than the size of the relative key data item, or when an optional input file is not available. - A
RETURN
statement runs when no next logical record exists for the associated sort or merge file. - A
SEARCH
statement runs when the search operation terminates without satisfying the condition specified in any of the associatedWHEN
phrases.
- A
B
basic character set
The basic set of characters used in writing words, character-strings, and separators of the language. The basic character set is implemented in single-byte EBCDIC. The extended character set includes DBCS characters, which can be used in comments, literals, and user-defined words.
Synonymous with COBOL character set in the 85 COBOL Standard.
- big-endian
- The default format that the mainframe and the AIX® workstation use to store binary data and UTF-16 characters. In this format, the least significant byte of a binary data item is at the highest address and the least significant byte of a UTF-16 character is at the highest address. Compare with little-endian.
- binary item
- A numeric data item that is represented in binary notation (on the base 2 numbering system). The decimal equivalent consists of the decimal digits 0 through 9, plus an operational sign. The leftmost bit of the item is the operational sign.
- binary search
- A dichotomizing search in which, at each step of the search, the set of data elements is divided by two; some appropriate action is taken in the case of an odd number.
- * block
- A physical unit of data that is normally composed of one or more logical records. For mass storage files, a block can contain a portion of a logical record. The size of a block has no direct relationship to the size of the file within which the block is contained or to the size of the logical records that are either contained within the block or that overlap the block. Synonymous with physical record.
boolean condition
A boolean condition determines whether a boolean literal is true or false. A boolean condition can only be used in a constant conditional expression.
boolean literal
Can be either B'1', indicating a true value, or B'0', indicating a false value. Boolean literals can only be used in constant conditional expressions.
- breakpoint
- A place in a computer program, usually specified by an instruction, where external intervention or a monitor program can interrupt the program as it runs.
- buffer
- A portion of storage that is used to hold input or output data temporarily.
- built-in function
- See intrinsic function.
- business method
- A method of an enterprise bean that implements the business logic or rules of an application. (Oracle)
- byte
- A string that consists of a certain number of bits, usually eight, treated as a unit, and representing a character or a control function.
- byte order mark (BOM)
- A Unicode character that can be used at the start of UTF-16 or UTF-32 text to indicate the byte order of subsequent text; the byte order can be either big-endian or little-endian.
- bytecode
- Machine-independent code that is generated by the Java™ compiler and executed by the Java interpreter. (Oracle)
C
- callable services
- In Language Environment®, a set of services that a COBOL program can invoke by using the conventional Language Environment-defined call interface. All programs that share the Language Environment conventions can use these services.
- called program
- A program that is the object of a
CALL
statement. At run time the called program and calling program are combined to produce a run unit. - * calling program
- A program that executes a
CALL
to another program. canonical decomposition
A way to represent a single precomposed Unicode character using two or more Unicode characters. A canonical decomposition is typically used to separate latin letters with a diacritical mark so that the latin letter and the diacritical mark are represented individually. See precomposed character for an example showing a precomposed Unicode character and its canonical decomposition.
- case structure
- A program-processing logic in which a series of conditions is tested in order to choose between a number of resulting actions.
- cataloged procedure
- A set of job control statements that are placed in a partitioned data set called the procedure library (SYS1.PROCLIB). You can use cataloged procedures to save time and reduce errors in coding JCL.
- CCSID
- See coded character set identifier.
- century window
- A 100-year interval within which any two-digit year is unique.
Several types of century window are available to COBOL programmers:
- For the windowing intrinsic functions
DATE-TO-YYYYMMDD
,DAY-TO-YYYYDDD
, andYEAR-TO-YYYY
, you specify the century window with argument-2. - For Language Environment callable services, you specify the century window in CEESCEN.
- For the windowing intrinsic functions
- * character
- The basic indivisible unit of the language.
- character encoding unit
- A unit of data that corresponds to one code point in a coded character
set. One or more character encoding units are used to represent a
character in a coded character set. Also known as encoding unit.
For
USAGE NATIONAL
, a character encoding unit corresponds to one 2-byte code point of UTF-16.For
USAGE DISPLAY
, a character encoding unit corresponds to a byte.For
USAGE DISPLAY-1
, a character encoding unit corresponds to a 2-byte code point in the DBCS character set. - character position
- The amount of physical storage or presentation space required
to hold or present one character. The term applies to any class of
character. For specific classes of characters, the following terms
apply:
- Alphanumeric character position, for characters represented
in
USAGE DISPLAY
- DBCS character position, for DBCS characters represented
in
USAGE DISPLAY-1
- National character position, for characters represented
in
USAGE NATIONAL
; synonymous with character encoding unit for UTF-16
- Alphanumeric character position, for characters represented
in
- character set
- A collection of elements that are used to represent textual information, but for which no coded representation is assumed. See also coded character set.
- character string
- A sequence of contiguous characters that form a COBOL word, a
literal, a
PICTURE
character string, or a comment-entry. A character string must be delimited by separators. - checkpoint
- A point at which information about the status of a job and the system can be recorded so that the job step can be restarted later.
- * class
- The entity that defines common behavior and implementation for zero, one, or more objects. The objects that share the same implementation are considered to be objects of the same class. Classes can be defined hierarchically, allowing one class to inherit from another.
- class (object-oriented)
- The entity that defines common behavior and implementation for zero, one, or more objects. The objects that share the same implementation are considered to be objects of the same class.
- * class condition
- The proposition (for which a truth value can be determined) that the content of an item is wholly alphabetic, is wholly numeric, is wholly DBCS, is wholly Kanji, or consists exclusively of the characters that are listed in the definition of a class-name.
- * class definition
- The COBOL source unit that defines a class.
- class hierarchy
- A tree-like structure that shows relationships among object classes. It places one class at the top and one or more layers of classes below it. Synonymous with inheritance hierarchy.
- * class identification entry
- An entry in the
CLASS-ID
paragraph of theIDENTIFICATION DIVISION
; this entry contains clauses that specify the class-name and assign selected attributes to the class definition. - class-name (object-oriented)
- The name of an object-oriented COBOL class definition.
- * class-name (of data)
- A user-defined word that is defined in the
SPECIAL-NAMES
paragraph of theENVIRONMENT DIVISION
; this word assigns a name to the proposition (for which a truth value can be defined) that the content of a data item consists exclusively of the characters that are listed in the definition of the class-name. - class object
- The runtime object that represents a class.
- * clause
- An ordered set of consecutive COBOL character strings whose purpose is to specify an attribute of an entry.
- client
- In object-oriented programming, a program or method that requests services from one or more methods in a class.
- COBOL character set
- The set of characters used in writing COBOL syntax. The complete
COBOL character set consists of these characters:
Character Meaning 0,1, . . . ,9 Digit A,B, . . . ,Z Uppercase letter a,b, . . . ,z Lowercase letter Space + Plus sign - Minus sign (hyphen) * Asterisk / Slant (forward slash) = Equal sign $ Currency sign , Comma ; Semicolon . Period (decimal point, full stop) " Quotation mark ' Apostrophe ( Left parenthesis ) Right parenthesis > Greater than < Less than : Colon _ Underscore - * COBOL word
- See word.
- code page
- An assignment of graphic characters and control function meanings to all code points. For example, one code page could assign characters and meanings to 256 code points for 8-bit code, and another code page could assign characters and meanings to 128 code points for 7-bit code. For example, one of the IBM code pages for English on the workstation is IBM-1252 and on the host is IBM-1047. A coded character set.
- code point
- A unique bit pattern that is defined in a coded character set (code page). Graphic symbols and control characters are assigned to code points.
- coded character set
- A set of unambiguous rules that establish a character set and the relationship between the characters of the set and their coded representation. Examples of coded character sets are the character sets as represented by ASCII or EBCDIC code pages or by the UTF-16 encoding scheme for Unicode.
- coded character set identifier (CCSID)
- An IBM-defined number in the range 1 to 65,535 that identifies a specific code page.
- * collating sequence
- The sequence in which the characters that are acceptable to a computer are ordered for purposes of sorting, merging, comparing, and for processing indexed files sequentially.
- * column
- A byte position within a print line or within a reference format line. The columns are numbered from 1, by 1, starting at the leftmost position of the line and extending to the rightmost position of the line. A column holds one single-byte character.
- * combined condition
- A condition that is the result of connecting two or more conditions
with the
AND
or theOR
logical operator. See also condition and negated combined condition. combining characters
A Unicode character used to modify other succeeding or preceding Unicode characters. Combining characters are typically Unicode diacritical mark used to modify latin letters. See precomposed character for an example of combining character U+0308 (¨) used with latin letter U+0061 (a).
- * comment-entry
- An entry in the
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION
that is used for documentation and has no effect on execution. - comment line
- A source program line represented
by an asterisk (
*
) in the indicator area of the line or by an asterisk followed by greater-than sign (*>
) as the first character string in the program text area (Area A plus Area B), and any characters from the character set of the computer that follow in Area A and Area B of that line. A comment line serves only for documentation. A special form of comment line represented by a slant (/
) in the indicator area of the line and any characters from the character set of the computer in Area A and Area B of that line causes page ejection before the comment is printed. - * common program
- A program that, despite being directly contained within another program, can be called from any program directly or indirectly contained in that other program.
- * compile
- (1) To translate a program expressed in a high-level language into a program expressed in an intermediate language, assembly language, or a computer language. (2) To prepare a machine-language program from a computer program written in another programming language by making use of the overall logic structure of the program, or generating more than one computer instruction for each symbolic statement, or both, as well as performing the function of an assembler.
compilation variable
A symbolic name for a particular literal value or the value of a compile-time arithmetic expression as specified by the
DEFINE
directive or by theDEFINE
compiler option.- * compile time
- The time at which COBOL source code is translated, by a COBOL compiler, to a COBOL object program.
compile-time arithmetic expression
A subset of arithmetic expressions that are specified in the
DEFINE
andEVALUATE
directives or in a constant conditional expression. The difference between compile-time arithmetic expressions and regular arithmetic expressions is that in a compile-time arithmetic expression:- The exponentiation operator shall not be specified.
- All operands shall be integer numeric literals or arithmetic expressions in which all operands are integer numeric literals.
- The expression shall be specified in such a way that a division by zero does not occur.
- compiler
- A program that translates source code written in a higher-level language into machine-language object code.
- compiler-directing statement
- A statement that causes the compiler to take a specific action
during compilation. The standard compiler-directing statements are
COPY
,REPLACE
, andUSE
. - * complex condition
- A condition in which one or more logical operators act upon one or more conditions. See also condition, negated simple condition, and negated combined condition.
- complex ODO
- Certain forms of the
OCCURS DEPENDING ON
clause:- Variably located item or group: A data item described by an
OCCURS
clause with theDEPENDING ON
option is followed by a nonsubordinate data item or group. The group can be an alphanumeric group or a national group. - Variably located table: A data item described by an
OCCURS
clause with theDEPENDING ON
option is followed by a nonsubordinate data item described by anOCCURS
clause. - Table with variable-length elements: A data item described by
an
OCCURS
clause contains a subordinate data item described by anOCCURS
clause with theDEPENDING ON
option. - Index name for a table with variable-length elements.
- Element of a table with variable-length elements.
- Variably located item or group: A data item described by an
- component
- (1) A functional grouping of related files. (2) In object-oriented programming, a reusable object or program that performs a specific function and is designed to work with other components and applications. JavaBeans is Oracle's architecture for creating components.
composed form
Representation of a precomposed Unicode character through a canonical decomposition. See precomposed character for details.
- * computer-name
- A system-name that identifies the computer where the program is to be compiled or run.
- condition (exception)
- An exception that has been enabled, or recognized, by Language Environment and thus is eligible to activate user and language condition handlers. Any alteration to the normal programmed flow of an application. Conditions can be detected by the hardware or the operating system and result in an interrupt. They can also be detected by language-specific generated code or language library code.
- condition (expression)
- A status of data at run time for which a truth value can be determined.
Where used in this information in or in reference to
condition
(condition-1, condition-2,. . .) of a general format, the term refers to a conditional expression that consists of either a simple condition optionally parenthesized or a combined condition (consisting of the syntactically correct combination of simple conditions, logical operators, and parentheses) for which a truth value can be determined. See also simple condition, complex condition, negated simple condition, combined condition, and negated combined condition. - * conditional expression
- A simple condition or a complex condition specified in an
EVALUATE
,IF
,PERFORM
, orSEARCH
statement. See also simple condition and complex condition. - * conditional phrase
- A phrase that specifies the action to be taken upon determination of the truth value of a condition that results from the execution of a conditional statement.
- * conditional statement
- A statement that specifies that the truth value of a condition is to be determined and that the subsequent action of the object program depends on this truth value.
- * conditional variable
- A data item one or more values of which has a condition-name assigned to it.
- * condition-name
- A user-defined word that assigns a name to a subset of values that a conditional variable can assume; or a user-defined word assigned to a status of an implementor-defined switch or device.
- * condition-name condition
- The proposition (for which a truth value can be determined) that the value of a conditional variable is a member of the set of values attributed to a condition-name associated with the conditional variable.
- *
CONFIGURATION SECTION
- A section of the
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
that describes overall specifications of source and object programs and class definitions. - CONSOLE
- A COBOL environment-name associated with the operator console.
constant conditional expression
A subset of conditional expressions that may be used in
IF
directives orWHEN
phrases of theEVALUATE
directives.A constant conditional expression shall be one of the following items:- A relation condition in which both operands are literals or arithmetic
expressions that contain only literal terms. The condition shall follow
the rules for relation conditions, with the following additions:
- The operands shall be of the same category. An arithmetic expression is of the category numeric.
- If literals are specified and they are not numeric literals, the
relational operator shall be
“IS EQUAL TO”
,“IS NOT EQUAL TO”
,“IS =”
,“IS NOT =”
, or“IS <>”
.
- A defined condition. See also defined condition.
- A boolean condition. See also boolean condition.
- A complex condition formed by combining the above forms of simple conditions into complex conditions by using AND, OR, and NOT. Abbreviated combined relation conditions shall not be specified. See also complex condition.
- A relation condition in which both operands are literals or arithmetic
expressions that contain only literal terms. The condition shall follow
the rules for relation conditions, with the following additions:
- contained program
- A COBOL program that is nested within another COBOL program.
- * contiguous items
- Items that are described by consecutive entries in the
DATA DIVISION
, and that bear a definite hierarchic relationship to each other. - copybook
- A file or library member that contains a sequence of code that
is included in the source program at compile time using the
COPY
statement. The file can be created by the user, supplied by COBOL, or supplied by another product. Synonymous with copy file. - * counter
- A data item used for storing numbers or number representations in a manner that permits these numbers to be increased or decreased by the value of another number, or to be changed or reset to zero or to an arbitrary positive or negative value.
- cross-reference listing
- The portion of the compiler listing that contains information on where files, fields, and indicators are defined, referenced, and modified in a program.
- currency-sign value
- A character string that identifies the monetary units stored in
a numeric-edited item. Typical examples are $, USD, and EUR. A currency-sign
value can be defined by either the
CURRENCY
compiler option or theCURRENCY SIGN
clause in theSPECIAL-NAMES
paragraph of theENVIRONMENT DIVISION
. If theCURRENCY SIGN
clause is not specified and theNOCURRENCY
compiler option is in effect, the dollar sign ($) is used as the default currency-sign value. See also currency symbol. - currency symbol
- A character used in a
PICTURE
clause to indicate the position of a currency sign value in a numeric-edited item. A currency symbol can be defined by either theCURRENCY
compiler option or theCURRENCY SIGN
clause in theSPECIAL-NAMES
paragraph of theENVIRONMENT DIVISION
. If theCURRENCY SIGN
clause is not specified and theNOCURRENCY
compiler option is in effect, the dollar sign ($) is used as the default currency sign value and currency symbol. Multiple currency symbols and currency sign values can be defined. See also currency sign value. - * current record
- In file processing, the record that is available in the record area associated with a file.
- * current volume pointer
- A conceptual entity that points to the current volume of a sequential file.
D
- * data clause
- A clause, appearing in a data description entry in the
DATA DIVISION
of a COBOL program, that provides information describing a particular attribute of a data item. - * data description entry
- An entry in the
DATA DIVISION
of a COBOL program that is composed of a level-number followed by a data-name, if required, and then followed by a set of data clauses, as required. -
DATA DIVISION
- The division of a COBOL program or method that describes the data
to be processed by the program or method: the files to be used and
the records contained within them; internal
WORKING-STORAGE
records that will be needed; data to be made available in more than one program in the COBOL run unit. - * data item
- A unit of data (excluding literals) defined by a COBOL program or by the rules for function evaluation.
- data set
- Synonym for file.
- * data-name
- A user-defined word that names a data item described in a data description entry. When used in the general formats, data-name represents a word that must not be reference-modified, subscripted, or qualified unless specifically permitted by the rules for the format.
- DBCS
- See double-byte character set (DBCS).
- DBCS character
- Any character defined in IBM's double-byte character set.
- DBCS character position
- See character position.
- DBCS data item
- A data item that is described by a
PICTURE
character string that contains at least one symbolG
, or, when theNSYMBOL(DBCS)
compiler option is in effect, at least one symbolN
. A DBCS data item hasUSAGE DISPLAY-1
. - * debugging line
- Any line with a D in the indicator area of the line.
- * debugging section
- A section that contains a
USE FOR DEBUGGING
statement. - * declarative sentence
- A compiler-directing sentence that consists of a single
USE
statement terminated by the separator period. - * declaratives
- A set of one or more special-purpose sections, written at the
beginning of the
PROCEDURE DIVISION
, the first of which is preceded by the key wordDECLARATIVE
and the last of which is followed by the key wordsEND DECLARATIVES
. A declarative is composed of a section header, followed by aUSE
compiler-directing sentence, followed by a set of zero, one, or more associated paragraphs. - * de-edit
- The logical removal of all editing characters from a numeric-edited data item in order to determine the unedited numeric value of the item.
defined condition
A compile-time condition that tests whether a compilation variable is defined. Defined conditions are specified in
IF
directives orWHEN
phrases of theEVALUATE
directives.- * delimited scope statement
- Any statement that includes its explicit scope terminator.
- * delimiter
- A character or a sequence of contiguous characters that identify the end of a string of characters and separate that string of characters from the following string of characters. A delimiter is not part of the string of characters that it delimits.
- dependent region
- In IMS, the MVS™ virtual storage region that contains message-driven programs, batch programs, or online utilities.
- * descending key
- A key upon the values of which data is ordered starting with the highest value of key down to the lowest value of key, in accordance with the rules for comparing data items.
- digit
- Any of the numerals from 0 through 9. In COBOL, the term is not used to refer to any other symbol.
- * digit position
- The amount of physical storage required to store a single digit. This amount can vary depending on the usage specified in the data description entry that defines the data item.
- * direct access
- The facility to obtain data from storage devices or to enter data into a storage device in such a way that the process depends only on the location of that data and not on a reference to data previously accessed.
- display floating-point data item
- A data item that is described implicitly or explicitly as
USAGE DISPLAY
and that has aPICTURE
character string that describes an external floating-point data item. - * division
- A collection of zero, one, or more sections or paragraphs, called the division body, that are formed and combined in accordance with a specific set of rules. Each division consists of the division header and the related division body. There are four divisions in a COBOL program: Identification, Environment, Data, and Procedure.
- * division header
- A combination of words followed by a separator period that indicates
the beginning of a division. The division headers are:
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION. ENVIRONMENT DIVISION. DATA DIVISION. PROCEDURE DIVISION.
- DLL
- See dynamic link library (DLL).
- DLL application
- An application that references imported programs, functions, or variables.
- DLL linkage
- A
CALL
in a program that has been compiled with theDLL
andNODYNAM
options; theCALL
resolves to an exported name in a separate module, or to anINVOKE
of a method that is defined in a separate module. - do construct
- In structured programming, a
DO
statement is used to group a number of statements in a procedure. In COBOL, an inlinePERFORM
statement functions in the same way. - do-until
- In structured programming, a do-until loop will be executed at
least once, and until a given condition is true. In COBOL, a
TEST AFTER
phrase used with thePERFORM
statement functions in the same way. - do-while
- In structured programming, a do-while loop will be executed if,
and while, a given condition is true. In COBOL, a
TEST BEFORE
phrase used with thePERFORM
statement functions in the same way. - document type declaration
- An XML element that contains or points to markup declarations that provide a grammar for a class of documents. This grammar is known as a document type definition, or DTD.
- document type definition (DTD)
- The grammar for a class of XML documents. See document type declaration.
double-byte ASCII
An IBM character set that includes DBCS and single-byte ASCII characters. (Also known as ASCII DBCS.)
double-byte EBCDIC
An IBM character set that includes DBCS and single-byte EBCDIC characters. (Also known as EBCDIC DBCS.)
- double-byte character set (DBCS)
- A set of characters in which each character is represented by 2 bytes. Languages such as Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, which contain more symbols than can be represented by 256 code points, require double-byte character sets. Because each character requires 2 bytes, entering, displaying, and printing DBCS characters requires hardware and supporting software that are DBCS-capable.
- DWARF
- DWARF was developed by the UNIX International Programming Languages Special Interest Group (SIG). It is designed to meet the symbolic, source-level debugging needs of different languages in a unified fashion by supplying language-independent debugging information. A DWARF file contains debugging data organized into different elements. For more information, see DWARF program information in the DWARF/ELF Extensions Library Reference.
- * dynamic access
- An access mode in which specific logical records can be obtained
from or placed into a mass storage file in a nonsequential manner
and obtained from a file in a sequential manner during the scope of
the same
OPEN
statement. - dynamic CALL
- A
CALL
literal statement in a program that has been compiled with theDYNAM
option and theNODLL
option, or aCALL
identifier statement in a program that has been compiled with theNODLL
option. - dynamic link library (DLL)
- A file that contains executable code and data that are bound to a program at load time or run time, rather than during linking. Several applications can share the code and data in a DLL simultaneously. Although a DLL is not part of the executable file for a program, it can be required for an executable file to run properly.
- dynamic storage area (DSA)
- Dynamically acquired storage composed of a register save area and an area available for dynamic storage allocation (such as program variables). A DSA is allocated upon invocation of a program or function and persists for the duration of the invocation instance. DSAs are generally allocated within stack segments managed by Language Environment.
E
- * EBCDIC (Extended Binary-Coded Decimal Interchange Code)
- A coded character set based on 8-bit coded characters.
- EBCDIC character
- Any one of the symbols included in the EBCDIC (Extended Binary-Coded-Decimal Interchange Code) set.
EBCDIC DBCS
See double-byte EBCDIC.
- edited data item
- A data item that has been modified by suppressing zeros or inserting editing characters or both.
- * editing character
- A single character or a fixed two-character combination belonging
to the following set:
Character Meaning Space 0 Zero + Plus - Minus CR Credit DB Debit Z Zero suppress * Check protect $ Currency sign , Comma (decimal point) . Period (decimal point) / Slant (forward slash) EGCS
See extended graphic character set (EGCS).
- EJB
- See Enterprise JavaBeans.
- EJB container
- A container that implements the EJB component contract of the J2EE architecture. This contract specifies a runtime environment for enterprise beans that includes security, concurrency, life cycle management, transaction, deployment, and other services. An EJB container is provided by an EJB or J2EE server. (Oracle)
- EJB server
- Software that provides services to an EJB container. An EJB server can host one or more EJB containers. (Oracle)
- element (text element)
- One logical unit of a string of text, such as the description of a single data item or verb, preceded by a unique code identifying the element type.
- * elementary item
- A data item that is described as not being further logically subdivided.
- encapsulation
- In object-oriented programming, the technique that is used to hide the inherent details of an object. The object provides an interface that queries and manipulates the data without exposing its underlying structure. Synonymous with information hiding.
- enclave
- When running under Language Environment, an
enclave is analogous to a run unit. An enclave can create other enclaves by
using
LINK
and by using the system() function in C. - encoding unit
- See character encoding unit.
- end class marker
- A combination of words, followed by a separator period, that indicates
the end of a COBOL class definition. The end class marker is:
END CLASS class-name.
- end method marker
- A combination of words, followed by a separator period, that indicates
the end of a COBOL method definition. The end method marker is:
END METHOD method-name.
- * end of
PROCEDURE DIVISION
- The physical position of a COBOL source program after which no further procedures appear.
- * end program marker
- A combination of words, followed by a separator period, that indicates
the end of a COBOL source program. The end program marker is:
END PROGRAM program-name.
- enterprise bean
- A component that implements a business task and resides in an EJB container. (Oracle)
- Enterprise JavaBeans
- A component architecture defined by Oracle for the development and deployment of object-oriented, distributed, enterprise-level applications.
- * entry
- Any descriptive set of consecutive clauses terminated by a separator
period and written in the
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION
,ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
, orDATA DIVISION
of a COBOL program. - * environment clause
- A clause that appears as part of an
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
entry. -
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
- One of the four main component parts of a COBOL program, class
definition, or method definition. The
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
describes the computers where the source program is compiled and those where the object program is run. It provides a linkage between the logical concept of files and their records, and the physical aspects of the devices on which files are stored. - environment-name
- A name, specified by IBM,
that identifies system logical units, printer and card punch control
characters, report codes, program switches or all of these. When an
environment-name is associated with a mnemonic-name in the
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
, the mnemonic-name can be substituted in any format in which such substitution is valid. - environment variable
- Any of a number of variables that define some aspect of the computing environment, and are accessible to programs that operate in that environment. Environment variables can affect the behavior of programs that are sensitive to the environment in which they operate.
- execution time
- See run time.
- execution-time environment
- See runtime environment.
- * explicit scope terminator
- A reserved word that terminates the scope of a particular
PROCEDURE DIVISION
statement. - exponent
- A number that indicates the power to which another number (the base) is to be raised. Positive exponents denote multiplication; negative exponents denote division; and fractional exponents denote a root of a quantity. In COBOL, an exponential expression is indicated with the symbol ** followed by the exponent.
- * expression
- An arithmetic or conditional expression.
- * extend mode
- The state of a file after execution of an
OPEN
statement, with theEXTEND
phrase specified for that file, and before the execution of aCLOSE
statement, without theREEL
orUNIT
phrase for that file. extended graphic character set (EGCS)
A graphic character set, such as a kanji character set, that requires two bytes to identify each graphic character. It is refined and replaced by double-byte character set (DBCS).
- Extensible Markup Language
- See XML.
- extensions
- COBOL syntax and semantics supported by IBM compilers in addition to those described in the 85 COBOL Standard.
- external code page
- For XML documents, the value specified by the
CODEPAGE
compiler option. - * external data
- The data that is described in a program as external data items and external file connectors.
- * external data item
- A data item that is described as part of an external record in one or more programs of a run unit and that can be referenced from any program in which it is described.
- * external data record
- A logical record that is described in one or more programs of a run unit and whose constituent data items can be referenced from any program in which they are described.
- external decimal data item
- See zoned decimal data item and national decimal data item.
- * external file connector
- A file connector that is accessible to one or more object programs in the run unit.
- external floating-point data item
- See display floating-point data item and national floating-point data item.
- external program
- The outermost program. A program that is not nested.
- * external switch
- A hardware or software device, defined and named by the implementor, which is used to indicate that one of two alternate states exists.
F
- factory data
- Data that is allocated once for a class and shared by all instances
of the class. Factory data is declared in the
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION
of theDATA DIVISION
in theFACTORY
paragraph of the class definition, and is equivalent to Java private static data. - factory method
- A method that is supported by a class independently of an object
instance. Factory methods are declared in the
FACTORY
paragraph of the class definition, and are equivalent to Java public static methods. They are typically used to customize the creation of objects. - * figurative constant
- A compiler-generated value referenced through the use of certain reserved words.
- * file
- A collection of logical records.
- * file attribute conflict condition
- An unsuccessful attempt has been made to execute an input-output operation on a file and the file attributes, as specified for that file in the program, do not match the fixed attributes for that file.
- * file clause
- A clause that appears as part of any of the following
DATA DIVISION
entries: file description entry (FD
entry) and sort-merge file description entry (SD
entry). - * file connector
- A storage area that contains information about a file and is used as the linkage between a file-name and a physical file and between a file-name and its associated record area.
File-Control
The name of an ENVIRONMENT DIVISION paragraph in which the data files for a given source program are declared.
file control block
Block containing the addresses of I/O routines, information about how they were opened and closed, and a pointer to the file information block.
- * file control entry
- A
SELECT
clause and all its subordinate clauses that declare the relevant physical attributes of a file. -
FILE-CONTROL
paragraph - A paragraph in the
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
in which the data files for a given source unit are declared. - * file description entry
- An entry in the
FILE SECTION
of theDATA DIVISION
that is composed of the level indicatorFD
, followed by a file-name, and then followed by a set of file clauses as required. - * file-name
- A user-defined word that names a file connector described in a
file description entry or a sort-merge file description entry within
the
FILE SECTION
of theDATA DIVISION
. - * file organization
- The permanent logical file structure established at the time that a file is created.
- file position indicator
- A conceptual entity that contains the value of the current key
within the key of reference for an indexed file, or the record number
of the current record for a sequential file, or the relative record
number of the current record for a relative file, or indicates that
no next logical record exists, or that an optional input file is not
available, or that the
AT END
condition already exists, or that no valid next record has been established. - *
FILE SECTION
- The section of the
DATA DIVISION
that contains file description entries and sort-merge file description entries together with their associated record descriptions. - file system
- The collection of files that conform to a specific set of data-record and file-description protocols, and a set of programs that manage these files.
- * fixed file attributes
- Information about a file that is established when a file is created and that cannot subsequently be changed during the existence of the file. These attributes include the organization of the file (sequential, relative, or indexed), the prime record key, the alternate record keys, the code set, the minimum and maximum record size, the record type (fixed or variable), the collating sequence of the keys for indexed files, the blocking factor, the padding character, and the record delimiter.
- * fixed-length record
- A record associated with a file whose file description or sort-merge description entry requires that all records contain the same number of bytes.
- fixed-point item
- A numeric data item defined with a
PICTURE
clause that specifies the location of an optional sign, the number of digits it contains, and the location of an optional decimal point. The format can be either binary, packed decimal, or external decimal. - floating comment indicators (*>)
- A floating comment indicator indicates a comment line if it is the first character string in the program-text area (Area A plus Area B), or indicates an inline comment if it is after one or more character strings in the program-text area.
- floating point
- A format for representing numbers in which a real number is represented by a pair of distinct numerals. In a floating-point representation, the real number is the product of the fixed-point part (the first numeral) and a value obtained by raising the implicit floating-point base to a power denoted by the exponent (the second numeral). For example, a floating-point representation of the number 0.0001234 is 0.1234 -3, where 0.1234 is the mantissa and -3 is the exponent.
- floating-point data item
- A numeric data item that contains a fraction and an exponent. Its value is obtained by multiplying the fraction by the base of the numeric data item raised to the power that the exponent specifies.
- * format
- A specific arrangement of a set of data.
- * function
- A temporary data item whose value is determined at the time the function is referenced during the execution of a statement.
- * function-identifier
- A syntactically correct combination of character strings and separators that references a function. The data item represented by a function is uniquely identified by a function-name with its arguments, if any. A function-identifier can include a reference-modifier. A function-identifier that references an alphanumeric function can be specified anywhere in the general formats that an identifier can be specified, subject to certain restrictions. A function-identifier that references an integer or numeric function can be referenced anywhere in the general formats that an arithmetic expression can be specified.
- function-name
- A word that names the mechanism whose invocation, along with required arguments, determines the value of a function.
- function-pointer data item
- A data item in which a pointer to an entry point can be stored.
A data item defined with the
USAGE IS FUNCTION-POINTER
clause contains the address of a function entry point. Typically used to communicate with C and Java programs.
G
- garbage collection
- The automatic freeing by the Java runtime system of the memory for objects that are no longer referenced.
- * global name
- A name that is declared in only one program but that can be referenced from the program and from any program contained within the program. Condition-names, data-names, file-names, record-names, report-names, and some special registers can be global names.
- global reference
- A reference to an object that is outside the scope of a method.
- group item
- (1) A data item that is composed of subordinate data items. See alphanumeric group item and national group item. (2) When not qualified explicitly or by context as a national group or an alphanumeric group, the term refers to groups in general.
- grouping separator
- A character used to separate units of digits in numbers for ease of reading. The default is the character comma.
H
- header label
- (1) A data-set label that precedes the data records in a unit of recording media. (2) Synonym for beginning-of-file label.
hide (a method)
To redefine (in a subclass) a factory or static method defined with the same method-name in a parent class. Thus, the method in the subclass hides the method in the parent class.
- * high-order end
- The leftmost character of a string of characters.
- hiperspace
- In a z/OS® environment, a range of up to 2 GB of contiguous virtual storage addresses that a program can use as a buffer.
I
- IBM COBOL extension
- COBOL syntax and semantics supported by IBM compilers in addition to those described in the 85 COBOL Standard.
-
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION
- One of the four main component parts of a COBOL program, class
definition, or method definition. The
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION
identifies the program, class, or method. TheIDENTIFICATION DIVISION
can include the following documentation: author name, installation, or date. - * identifier
- A syntactically correct combination of character strings and separators that names a data item. When referencing a data item that is not a function, an identifier consists of a data-name, together with its qualifiers, subscripts, and reference-modifier, as required for uniqueness of reference. When referencing a data item that is a function, a function-identifier is used.
IGZCBSN
The bootstrap routine for COBOL/370 Release 1. It must be link-edited with any module that contains a COBOL/370 Release 1 program.
IGZCBSO
The bootstrap routine for COBOL for MVS & VM Release 2, COBOL for OS/390® & VM and Enterprise COBOL. It must be link-edited with any module that contains a COBOL for MVS & VM Release 2, COBOL for OS/390 & VM or Enterprise COBOL program.
IGZEBST
The bootstrap routine for VS COBOL II. It must be link-edited with any module that contains a VS COBOL II program.
ILC
InterLanguage Communication. Interlanguage communication is defined as programs that call or are called by other high-level languages. Assembler is not considered a high-level language; thus, calls to and from assembler programs are not considered ILC.
- * imperative statement
- A statement that either begins with an imperative verb and specifies an unconditional action to be taken or is a conditional statement that is delimited by its explicit scope terminator (delimited scope statement). An imperative statement can consist of a sequence of imperative statements.
- * implicit scope terminator
- A separator period that terminates the scope of any preceding unterminated statement, or a phrase of a statement that by its occurrence indicates the end of the scope of any statement contained within the preceding phrase.
IMS
Information Management System, IBM licensed product. IMS supports hierarchical databases, data communication, translation processing, and database backout and recovery.
- * index
- A computer storage area or register, the content of which represents the identification of a particular element in a table.
- * index data item
- A data item in which the values associated with an index-name can be stored in a form specified by the implementor.
- indexed data-name
- An identifier that is composed of a data-name, followed by one or more index-names enclosed in parentheses.
- * indexed file
- A file with indexed organization.
- * indexed organization
- The permanent logical file structure in which each record is identified by the value of one or more keys within that record.
- indexing
- Synonymous with subscripting using index-names.
- * index-name
- A user-defined word that names an index associated with a specific table.
- inheritance
- A mechanism for using the implementation of a class as the basis for another class. By definition, the inheriting class conforms to the inherited classes. Enterprise COBOL does not support multiple inheritance; a subclass has exactly one immediate superclass.
- inheritance hierarchy
- See class hierarchy.
- * initial program
- A program that is placed into an initial state every time the program is called in a run unit.
- * initial state
- The state of a program when it is first called in a run unit.
- inline
- In a program, instructions that are executed sequentially, without branching to routines, subroutines, or other programs.
- inline comments
- An inline comment is identified by a floating comment indicator (*>) preceded by one or more character-strings in the program-text area, and can be written on any line of a compilation group. All characters that follow the floating comment indicator up to the end of area B are comment text.
- * input file
- A file that is opened in the input mode.
- * input mode
- The state of a file after execution of an
OPEN
statement, with theINPUT
phrase specified, for that file and before the execution of aCLOSE
statement, without theREEL
orUNIT
phrase for that file. - * input-output file
- A file that is opened in the
I-O
mode. - *
INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION
- The section of the
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
that names the files and the external media required by an object program or method and that provides information required for transmission and handling of data at run time. - * input-output statement
- A statement that causes files to be processed by performing operations
on individual records or on the file as a unit. The input-output statements
are
ACCEPT
(with the identifier phrase),CLOSE
,DELETE
,DISPLAY
,OPEN
,READ
,REWRITE
,SET
(with theTO ON
orTO OFF
phrase),START
, andWRITE
. - * input procedure
- A set of statements, to which control is given during the execution
of a format 1
SORT
statement, for the purpose of controlling the release of specified records to be sorted. - instance data
- Data that defines the state of an object. The instance data introduced
by a class is defined in the
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION
of theDATA DIVISION
in theOBJECT
paragraph of the class definition. The state of an object also includes the state of the instance variables introduced by classes that are inherited by the current class. A separate copy of the instance data is created for each object instance. - * integer
- (1) A numeric literal that does not include any digit positions
to the right of the decimal point. (2) A numeric data item defined
in the
DATA DIVISION
that does not include any digit positions to the right of the decimal point. (3) A numeric function whose definition provides that all digits to the right of the decimal point are zero in the returned value for any possible evaluation of the function. - integer function
- A function whose category is numeric and whose definition does not include any digit positions to the right of the decimal point.
- Interactive System Productivity Facility (ISPF)
- An IBM software product that provides a menu-driven interface for the TSO or VM user. ISPF includes library utilities, a powerful editor, and dialog management.
- interlanguage communication (ILC)
- The ability of routines written in different programming languages to communicate. ILC support lets you readily build applications from component routines written in a variety of languages.
- intermediate result
- An intermediate field that contains the results of a succession of arithmetic operations.
- * internal data
- The data that is described in a program and excludes all external
data items and external file connectors. Items described in the
LINKAGE SECTION
of a program are treated as internal data. - * internal data item
- A data item that is described in one program in a run unit. An internal data item can have a global name.
- internal decimal data item
- A data item that is described as
USAGE PACKED-DECIMAL
orUSAGE COMP-3
, and that has aPICTURE
character string that defines the item as numeric (a valid combination of symbols9
,S
,P
, orV
). Synonymous with packed-decimal data item. - * internal file connector
- A file connector that is accessible to only one object program in the run unit.
- internal floating-point data item
- A data item that is described as
USAGE COMP-1
orUSAGE COMP-2
.COMP-1
defines a single-precision floating-point data item.COMP-2
defines a double-precision floating-point data item. There is noPICTURE
clause associated with an internal floating-point data item. - * intrarecord data structure
- The entire collection of groups and elementary data items from a logical record that a contiguous subset of the data description entries defines. These data description entries include all entries whose level-number is greater than the level-number of the first data description entry describing the intra-record data structure.
- intrinsic function
- A predefined function, such as a commonly used arithmetic function, called by a built-in function reference.
- * invalid key condition
- A condition, at run time, caused when a specific value of the key associated with an indexed or relative file is determined to be not valid.
- *
I-O-CONTROL
- The name of an
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
paragraph in which object program requirements for rerun points, sharing of same areas by several data files, and multiple file storage on a single input-output device are specified. - *
I-O-CONTROL
entry - An entry in the
I-O-CONTROL
paragraph of theENVIRONMENT DIVISION
; this entry contains clauses that provide information required for the transmission and handling of data on named files during the execution of a program. - * I-O mode
- The state of a file after execution of an
OPEN
statement, with theI-O
phrase specified, for that file and before the execution of aCLOSE
statement without theREEL
orUNIT
phase for that file. - * I-O status
- A conceptual entity that contains the two-character value indicating
the resulting status of an input-output operation. This value is made
available to the program through the use of the
FILE STATUS
clause in the file control entry for the file. - is-a
- A relationship that characterizes classes and subclasses in an inheritance hierarchy. Subclasses that have an is-a relationship to a class inherit from that class.
- ISPF
- See Interactive System Productivity Facility (ISPF).
- iteration structure
- A program processing logic in which a series of statements is repeated while a condition is true or until a condition is true.
J
- J2EE
- See Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE).
- Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE)
- An environment for developing and deploying enterprise applications, defined by Oracle. The J2EE platform consists of a set of services, application programming interfaces (APIs), and protocols that provide the functionality for developing multitiered, Web-based applications. (Oracle)
Java Batch Launcher and Toolkit for z/OS (JZOS)
A set of tools that helps you develop z/OS Java applications that run in a traditional batch environment, and that access z/OS system services.
- Java batch-processing program (JBP)
- An IMS batch-processing program that has access to online databases and output message queues. JBPs run online, but like programs in a batch environment, they are started with JCL or in a TSO session.
- Java batch-processing region
- An IMS dependent region in which only Java batch-processing programs are scheduled.
- Java Database Connectivity (JDBC)
- A specification from Oracle that defines an API that enables Java programs to access databases.
- Java message-processing program (JMP)
- A Java application program that is driven by transactions and has access to online IMS databases and message queues.
- Java message-processing region
- An IMS dependent region in which only Java message-processing programs are scheduled.
- Java Native Interface (JNI)
- A programming interface that lets Java code that runs inside a Java virtual machine (JVM) interoperate with applications and libraries written in other programming languages.
- Java virtual machine (JVM)
- A software implementation of a central processing unit that runs compiled Java programs.
- JavaBeans
- A portable, platform-independent, reusable component model. (Oracle)
- JBP
- See Java batch-processing program (JBP).
- JDBC
- See Java Database Connectivity (JDBC).
- JMP
- See Java message-processing program (JMP).
- job control language (JCL)
- A control language used to identify a job to an operating system and to describe the job's requirements.
JSON
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data-interchange format.
- JVM
- See Java virtual machine (JVM).
JZOS
See Java Batch Launcher and Toolkit for z/OS.
K
- K
- When referring to storage capacity, two to the tenth power; 1024 in decimal notation.
- * key
- A data item that identifies the location of a record, or a set of data items that serve to identify the ordering of data.
- * key of reference
- The key, either prime or alternate, currently being used to access records within an indexed file.
* keyword
A context-sensitive word or a reserved word whose presence is required when the format in which the word appears is used in a source unit.
- kilobyte (KB)
- One kilobyte equals 1024 bytes.
L
- * language-name
- A system-name that specifies a particular programming language.
Language Environment
Short form of z/OS Language Environment. A set of architectural constructs and interfaces that provides a common runtime environment and runtime services for C, C++, COBOL, FORTRAN and PL/I applications. It is required for programs compiled by Language Environment-conforming compilers and for Java applications.
- Language Environment-conforming
- A characteristic of compiler products (such as Enterprise COBOL, COBOL for OS/390 & VM, COBOL for MVS & VM, C/C++ for MVS & VM, PL/I for MVS & VM) that produce object code conforming to the Language Environment conventions.
- last-used state
- A state that a program is in if its internal values remain the same as when the program was exited (the values are not reset to their initial values).
- * letter
- A character belonging to one of the following two sets:
- Uppercase letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
- Lowercase letters: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
- * level indicator
- Two alphabetic characters that identify a specific type of file
or a position in a hierarchy. The level indicators in the
DATA DIVISION
are:CD
,FD
, andSD
. - * level-number
- A user-defined word (expressed as a two-digit number) that indicates the hierarchical position of a data item or the special properties of a data description entry. Level-numbers in the range from 1 through 49 indicate the position of a data item in the hierarchical structure of a logical record. Level-numbers in the range 1 through 9 can be written either as a single digit or as a zero followed by a significant digit. Level-numbers 66, 77, and 88 identify special properties of a data description entry.
- * library-name
- A user-defined word that names a COBOL library that the compiler is to use for compiling a given source program.
- * library text
- A sequence of text words, comment lines, inline comments, the separator space, or the separator pseudo-text delimiter in a COBOL library.
- Lilian date
- The number of days since the beginning of the Gregorian calendar. Day one is Friday, October 15, 1582. The Lilian date format is named in honor of Luigi Lilio, the creator of the Gregorian calendar.
- * linage-counter
- A special register whose value points to the current position within the page body.
- link
- (1) The combination of the link connection (the transmission medium) and two link stations, one at each end of the link connection. A link can be shared among multiple links in a multipoint or token-ring configuration. (2) To interconnect items of data or portions of one or more computer programs; for example, linking object programs by a linkage-editor to produce an executable file.
LINKAGE SECTION
- The section in the
DATA DIVISION
of the called program or invoked method that describes data items available from the calling program or invoking method. Both the calling program or invoking method and the called program or invoked method can refer to these data items. - linker
- A term that refers to either the z/OS binder (linkage-editor).
- literal
- A character string whose value is specified either by the ordered set of characters comprising the string or by the use of a figurative constant.
- little-endian
- The default format that Intel processors use to store binary data and UTF-16 characters. In this format, the most significant byte of a binary data item is at the highest address and the most significant byte of a UTF-16 character is at the highest address. Compare with big-endian.
- local reference
- A reference to an object that is within the scope of your method.
- locale
- A set of attributes for a program execution environment that indicates culturally sensitive considerations, such as character code page, collating sequence, date and time format, monetary value representation, numeric value representation, or language.
- *
LOCAL-STORAGE SECTION
- The section of the
DATA DIVISION
that defines storage that is allocated and freed on a per-invocation basis, depending on the value assigned in theVALUE
clauses. - * logical operator
- One of the reserved words AND, OR, or NOT. In the formation of a condition, either AND, or OR, or both can be used as logical connectives. NOT can be used for logical negation.
- * logical record
- The most inclusive data item. The level-number for a record is 01. A record can be either an elementary item or a group of items. Synonymous with record.
- * low-order end
- The rightmost character of a string of characters.
M
- main program
- In a hierarchy of programs and subroutines, the first program that receives control when the programs are run within a process.
- makefile
- A text file that contains a list of the files for your application. The make utility uses this file to update the target files with the latest changes.
- * mass storage
- A storage medium in which data can be organized and maintained in both a sequential manner and a nonsequential manner.
- * mass storage device
- A device that has a large storage capacity, such as a magnetic disk.
- * mass storage file
- A collection of records that is stored in a mass storage medium.
- * megabyte (MB)
- One megabyte equals 1,048,576 bytes.
- * merge file
- A collection of records to be merged by a
MERGE
statement. The merge file is created and can be used only by the merge function. - message-processing program (MPP)
- An IMS application program that is driven by transactions and has access to online IMS databases and message queues.
- message queue
- The data set on which messages are queued before being processed by an application program or sent to a terminal.
- method
- Procedural code that defines an operation supported by an object
and that is executed by an
INVOKE
statement on that object. - * method definition
- The COBOL source code that defines a method.
- * method identification entry
- An entry in the
METHOD-ID
paragraph of theIDENTIFICATION DIVISION
; this entry contains a clause that specifies the method-name. - method invocation
- A communication from one object to another that requests the receiving object to execute a method.
- method-name
- The name of an object-oriented operation. When used to invoke
the method, the name can be an alphanumeric or national literal or
a category alphanumeric or category national data item. When used
in the
METHOD-ID
paragraph to define the method, the name must be an alphanumeric or national literal. method hiding
See hide.
method overloading
See overload.
method overriding
See override.
- * mnemonic-name
- A user-defined word that is associated in the
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
with a specified implementor-name. - module definition file
- A file that describes the code segments within a program object.
- MPP
- See message-processing program (MPP).
- multitasking
- A mode of operation that provides for the concurrent, or interleaved, execution of two or more tasks.
- multithreading
- Concurrent operation of more than one path of execution within a computer. Synonymous with multiprocessing.
N
- name
- A word (composed of not more than 30 characters) that defines a COBOL operand.
- namespace
- See XML namespace.
- national character
- (1) A UTF-16 character in a
USAGE NATIONAL
data item or national literal. (2) Any character represented in UTF-16. national character data
A general reference to data represented in UTF-16.
- national character position
- See character position.
national data
See national character data.
- national data item
- A data item of category national, national-edited, or numeric-edited
of
USAGE NATIONAL
. - national decimal data item
- An external decimal data item that is described implicitly or
explicitly as
USAGE NATIONAL
and that contains a valid combination ofPICTURE
symbols9
,S
,P
, andV
. - national-edited data item
- A data item that is described by a
PICTURE
character string that contains at least one instance of the symbolN
and at least one of the simple insertion symbolsB
,0
, or/
. A national-edited data item hasUSAGE NATIONAL
. - national floating-point data item
- An external floating-point data item that is described implicitly
or explicitly as
USAGE NATIONAL
and that has aPICTURE
character string that describes a floating-point data item. - national group item
- A group item that is explicitly or implicitly described with a
GROUP-USAGE NATIONAL
clause. A national group item is processed as though it were defined as an elementary data item of category national for operations such asINSPECT
,STRING
, andUNSTRING
. This processing ensures correct padding and truncation of national characters, as contrasted with definingUSAGE NATIONAL
data items within an alphanumeric group item. For operations that require processing of the elementary items within a group, such asMOVE CORRESPONDING
,ADD CORRESPONDING
, andINITIALIZE
, a national group is processed using group semantics. - * native character set
- The implementor-defined character set associated with the computer
specified in the
OBJECT-COMPUTER
paragraph. - * native collating sequence
- The implementor-defined collating sequence associated with the
computer specified in the
OBJECT-COMPUTER
paragraph. - native method
- A Java method with an implementation that is written in another programming language, such as COBOL.
- * negated combined condition
- The NOT logical operator immediately followed by a parenthesized combined condition. See also condition and combined condition.
- * negated simple condition
- The NOT logical operator immediately followed by a simple condition. See also condition and simple condition.
- nested program
- A program that is directly contained within another program.
- * next executable sentence
- The next sentence to which control will be transferred after execution of the current statement is complete.
- * next executable statement
- The next statement to which control will be transferred after execution of the current statement is complete.
- * next record
- The record that logically follows the current record of a file.
- * noncontiguous items
- Elementary data items in the
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION
andLINKAGE SECTION
that bear no hierarchic relationship to other data items. * noncontiguous items
Elementary data items in the WORKING-STORAGE and LINKAGE SECTIONs that bear no hierarchic relationship to other data items.
* nonnumeric item
A data item whose description permits its content to be composed of any combination of characters taken from the computer's character set. Certain categories of nonnumeric items may be formed from more restricted character sets.
- null
- A figurative constant that is used to assign, to pointer data
items, the value of an address that is not valid.
NULLS
can be used whereverNULL
can be used. - * numeric character
- A character that belongs to the following set of digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
- numeric data item
- (1) A data item whose description restricts its content to a value
represented by characters chosen from the digits 0 through 9. If signed,
the item can also contain a +, -, or other representation of an operational
sign. (2) A data item of category numeric, internal floating-point,
or external floating-point. A numeric data item can have
USAGE DISPLAY
,NATIONAL
,PACKED-DECIMAL
,BINARY
,COMP
,COMP-1
,COMP-2
,COMP-3
,COMP-4
, orCOMP-5
. - numeric-edited data item
- A data item that contains numeric data in a form suitable for
use in printed output. The data item can consist of external decimal
digits from 0 through 9, the decimal separator, commas, the currency
sign, sign control characters, and other editing characters. A numeric-edited
item can be represented in either
USAGE DISPLAY
orUSAGE NATIONAL
. - * numeric function
- A function whose class and category are numeric but that for some possible evaluation does not satisfy the requirements of integer functions.
* numeric item
A data item whose description restricts its content to a value represented by characters chosen from the digits from '0' through '9'; if signed, the item may also contain a '+', '-', or other representation of an operational sign.
- * numeric literal
- A literal composed of one or more numeric characters that can contain a decimal point or an algebraic sign, or both. The decimal point must not be the rightmost character. The algebraic sign, if present, must be the leftmost character.
O
- object
- An entity that has state (its data values) and operations (its methods). An object is a way to encapsulate state and behavior. Each object in the class is said to be an instance of the class.
- object code
- Output from a compiler or assembler that is itself executable machine code or is suitable for processing to produce executable machine code.
- *
OBJECT-COMPUTER
- The name of an
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
paragraph in which the computer environment, where the object program is run, is described. - * object computer entry
- An entry in the
OBJECT-COMPUTER
paragraph of theENVIRONMENT DIVISION
; this entry contains clauses that describe the computer environment in which the object program is to be executed. - object deck
- A portion of an object program suitable as input to a linkage-editor. Synonymous with object module and text deck.
object instance
A single object, of possibly many, instantiated from the specifications in the object paragraph of a COBOL class definition. An object instance has a copy of all the data described in its class definition and all inherited data. The methods associated with an object instance includes the methods defined in its class definition and all inherited methods.
An object instance can be an instance of a Java class.
- object module
- Synonym for object deck or text deck.
- * object of entry
- A set of operands and reserved words, within a
DATA DIVISION
entry of a COBOL program, that immediately follows the subject of the entry. - object-oriented programming
- A programming approach based on the concepts of encapsulation and inheritance. Unlike procedural programming techniques, object-oriented programming concentrates on the data objects that comprise the problem and how they are manipulated, not on how something is accomplished.
- object program
- A set or group of executable machine-language instructions and other material designed to interact with data to provide problem solutions. In this context, an object program is generally the machine language result of the operation of a COBOL compiler on a source program or class definition. Where there is no danger of ambiguity, the word program can be used in place of object program.
- object reference
- A value that identifies an instance of a class. If the class is not specified, the object reference is universal and can apply to instances of any class.
- * object time
- The time at which an object program is executed. Synonymous with run time.
- * obsolete element
- A COBOL language element in the 85 COBOL Standard that was deleted from the 2002 COBOL Standard.
- ODO object
- In the example below,
X
is the object of theOCCURS DEPENDING ON
clause (ODO object).WORKING-STORAGE SECTION. 01 TABLE-1. 05 X PIC S9. 05 Y OCCURS 3 TIMES DEPENDING ON X PIC X.
The value of the ODO object determines how many of the ODO subject appear in the table.
- ODO subject
- In the example above,
Y
is the subject of theOCCURS DEPENDING ON
clause (ODO subject). The number ofY
ODO subjects that appear in the table depends on the value ofX
. - * open mode
- The state of a file after execution of an
OPEN
statement for that file and before the execution of aCLOSE
statement without theREEL
orUNIT
phrase for that file. The particular open mode is specified in theOPEN
statement as eitherINPUT
,OUTPUT
,I-O
, orEXTEND
. - * operand
- (1) The general definition of operand is
the component that is operated upon.
(2) For the purposes of this document, any lowercase word (or words) that appears in a statement or entry format can be considered to be an operand and, as such, is an implied reference to the data indicated by the operand. - operation
- A service that can be requested of an object.
- * operational sign
- An algebraic sign that is associated with a numeric data item or a numeric literal, to indicate whether its value is positive or negative.
- optional file
- A file that is declared as being not necessarily available each time the object program is run.
- * optional word
- A reserved word that is included in a specific format only to improve the readability of the language. Its presence is optional to the user when the format in which the word appears is used in a source unit.
- * output file
- A file that is opened in either output mode or extend mode.
- * output mode
- The state of a file after execution of an
OPEN
statement, with theOUTPUT
orEXTEND
phrase specified, for that file and before the execution of aCLOSE
statement without theREEL
orUNIT
phrase for that file. - * output procedure
- A set of statements to which control is given during execution
of a format 1
SORT
statement after the sort function is completed, or during execution of aMERGE
statement after the merge function reaches a point at which it can select the next record in merged order when requested. - overflow condition
- A condition that occurs when a portion of the result of an operation exceeds the capacity of the intended unit of storage.
- overload
- To define a method with the same name as another method that is available in the same class, but with a different signature. See also signature.
- override
- To redefine an instance method (inherited from a parent class) in a subclass.
P
- package
- A group of related Java classes, which can be imported individually or as a whole.
- packed-decimal data item
- See internal decimal data item.
- padding character
- An alphanumeric or national character that is used to fill the unused character positions in a physical record.
- page
- A vertical division of output data that represents a physical separation of the data. The separation is based on internal logical requirements or external characteristics of the output medium or both.
- * page body
- That part of the logical page in which lines can be written or spaced or both.
- * paragraph
- In the
PROCEDURE DIVISION
, a paragraph-name followed by a separator period and by zero, one, or more sentences. In theIDENTIFICATION DIVISION
andENVIRONMENT DIVISION
, a paragraph header followed by zero, one, or more entries. - * paragraph header
- A reserved word, followed by the separator period, that indicates
the beginning of a paragraph in the
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION
andENVIRONMENT DIVISION
. The permissible paragraph headers in theIDENTIFICATION DIVISION
are:PROGRAM-ID. (Program IDENTIFICATION DIVISION) CLASS-ID. (Class IDENTIFICATION DIVISION) METHOD-ID. (Method IDENTIFICATION DIVISION) AUTHOR. INSTALLATION. DATE-WRITTEN. DATE-COMPILED. SECURITY.
The permissible paragraph headers in the
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
are:SOURCE-COMPUTER. OBJECT-COMPUTER. SPECIAL-NAMES. REPOSITORY. (Program or Class CONFIGURATION SECTION) FILE-CONTROL. I-O-CONTROL.
- * paragraph-name
- A user-defined word that identifies and begins a paragraph in
the
PROCEDURE DIVISION
. - parameter
- (1) Data passed between a calling program and a called program.
(2) A data element in the
USING
phrase of a method invocation. Arguments provide additional information that the invoked method can use to perform the requested operation. - Persistent Reusable JVM
- A JVM that can be serially reused for transaction processing by resetting the JVM between transactions. The reset phase restores the JVM to a known initialization state.
- * phrase
- An ordered set of one or more consecutive COBOL character strings that form a portion of a COBOL procedural statement or of a COBOL clause.
- * physical record
- See block.
- pointer data item
- A data item in which address values can be stored. Data items
are explicitly defined as pointers with the
USAGE IS POINTER
clause.ADDRESS OF
special registers are implicitly defined as pointer data items. Pointer data items can be compared for equality or moved to other pointer data items. - port
- (1) To modify a computer program to enable it to run on a different platform. (2) In the Internet suite of protocols, a specific logical connector between the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and a higher-level protocol or application. A port is identified by a port number.
- portability
- The ability to transfer an application program from one application platform to another with relatively few changes to the source program.
precomposed character
A single Unicode character that can be represented using two or more Unicode characters through a canonical decomposition. A precomposed character does not have the same physical representation as its composed character form. For example, Unicode character U+00E4 (ä) is a precomposed character that can be represented as a combination of Unicode characters U+0061 + U+0308 (ä) - latin small letter a + combining diaeresis. A precomposed character is typically used to represent a latin letter with a diacritical mark or some other combining character.
- preinitialization
- The initialization of the COBOL runtime environment in preparation for multiple calls from programs, especially non-COBOL programs. The environment is not terminated until an explicit termination.
- * prime record key
- A key whose contents uniquely identify a record within an indexed file.
- * priority-number
- A user-defined word that classifies sections in the
PROCEDURE DIVISION
for purposes of segmentation. Segment numbers can contain only the characters 0 through 9. A segment number can be expressed as either one or two digits. - private
- As applied to factory data or instance data, accessible only by methods of the class that defines the data.
- * procedure
- A paragraph or group of logically successive paragraphs, or a
section or group of logically successive sections, within the
PROCEDURE DIVISION
. - * procedure branching statement
- A statement that causes the explicit transfer of control to a
statement other than the next executable statement in the sequence
in which the statements are written in the source code. The procedure
branching statements are:
ALTER
,CALL
,EXIT
,EXIT PROGRAM
,GO TO
,MERGE
(with theOUTPUT PROCEDURE
phrase),PERFORM
andSORT
(with theINPUT PROCEDURE
orOUTPUT PROCEDURE
phrase),XML PARSE
. -
PROCEDURE DIVISION
- The COBOL division that contains instructions for solving a problem.
- procedure integration
- One of the functions of the COBOL optimizer is to simplify calls
to performed procedures or contained programs.
PERFORM
procedure integration is the process whereby aPERFORM
statement is replaced by its performed procedures. Contained program procedure integration is the process where a call to a contained program is replaced by the program code. - * procedure-name
- A user-defined word that is used to name a paragraph or section in the PROCEDURE DIVISION. It consists of a paragraph-name (which can be qualified) or a section-name.
procedure pointer
A data item in which a pointer to an entry point can be stored. A data item defined with the USAGE IS PROCEDURE-POINTER clause contains the address of a procedure entry point.
- procedure-pointer data item
- A data item in which a pointer to an entry point can be stored.
A data item defined with the
USAGE IS PROCEDURE-POINTER
clause contains the address of a procedure entry point. Typically used to communicate with COBOL and Language Environment programs. - process
- The course of events that occurs during the execution of all or part of a program. Multiple processes can run concurrently, and programs that run within a process can share resources.
- program
- (1) A sequence of instructions suitable for processing by a computer. Processing may include the use of a compiler to prepare the program for execution, as well as a runtime environment to execute it. (2) A logical assembly of one or more interrelated modules. Multiple copies of the same program can be run in different processes.
- program-name
- In the IDENTIFICATION DIVISION and the end program marker, a user-defined word or an alphanumeric literal that identifies a COBOL source program.
- * program identification entry
- In the
PROGRAM-ID
paragraph of theIDENTIFICATION DIVISION
, an entry that contains clauses that specify the program-name and assign selected program attributes to the program. program-name
In the
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION
and the end program marker, a user-defined word or alphanumeric literal that identifies a COBOL source program.- project
- The complete set of data and actions that are required to build a target, such as a dynamic link library (DLL) or other executable (EXE).
- * pseudo-text
- A sequence of text words, comment lines, inline comments, or the separator space in a source program or COBOL library bounded by, but not including, pseudo-text delimiters.
- * pseudo-text delimiter
- Two contiguous equal sign characters (==) used to delimit pseudo-text.
- * punctuation character
- A character that belongs to the following set:
Character Meaning , Comma ; Semicolon : Colon . Period (full stop) " Quotation mark ( Left parenthesis ) Right parenthesis Space = Equal sign
Q
- QSAM (Queued Sequential Access Method)
- An extended version of the basic sequential access method (BSAM). When this method is used, a queue is formed of input data blocks that are awaiting processing or of output data blocks that have been processed and are awaiting transfer to auxiliary storage or to an output device.
- * qualified data-name
- An identifier that is composed of a data-name followed by one
or more sets of either of the connectives
OF
andIN
followed by a data-name qualifier. - * qualifier
- (1) A data-name or a name associated with a level indicator that is used in a reference either together with another data-name (which is the name of an item that is subordinate to the qualifier) or together with a condition-name. (2) A section-name that is used in a reference together with a paragraph-name specified in that section. (3) A library-name that is used in a reference together with a text-name associated with that library.
R
- * random access
- An access mode in which the program-specified value of a key data item identifies the logical record that is obtained from, deleted from, or placed into a relative or indexed file.
- * record
- See logical record.
- * record area
- A storage area allocated for the purpose of processing the record
described in a record description entry in the
FILE SECTION
of theDATA DIVISION
. In theFILE SECTION
, the current number of character positions in the record area is determined by the explicit or implicitRECORD
clause. - * record description
- See record description entry.
- * record description entry
- The total set of data description entries associated with a particular record. Synonymous with record description.
recording mode
The format of the logical records in a file. Recording mode can be F (fixed-length), V (variable-length), S (spanned), or U (undefined).
- record key
- A key whose contents identify a record within an indexed file.
- * record-name
- A user-defined word that names a record described in a record
description entry in the
DATA DIVISION
of a COBOL program. - * record number
- The ordinal number of a record in the file whose organization is sequential.
- recording mode
- The format of the logical records in a file. Recording mode can be F (fixed length), V (variable length), S (spanned), or U (undefined).
- recursion
- A program calling itself or being directly or indirectly called by one of its called programs.
- recursively capable
- A program is recursively capable (can be called recursively) if
the
RECURSIVE
attribute is on thePROGRAM-ID
statement. - reel
- A discrete portion of a storage medium, the dimensions of which are determined by each implementor that contains part of a file, all of a file, or any number of files. Synonymous with unit and volume.
- reentrant
- The attribute of a program or routine that lets more than one user share a single copy of a program object.
- * reference format
- A format that provides a standard method for describing COBOL source programs.
- reference modification
- A method of defining a new category alphanumeric, category DBCS,
or category national data item by specifying the leftmost character
and length relative to the leftmost character position of a
USAGE DISPLAY
,DISPLAY-1
, orNATIONAL
data item. - * reference-modifier
- A syntactically correct combination of character strings and separators that defines a unique data item. It includes a delimiting left parenthesis separator, the leftmost character position, a colon separator, optionally a length, and a delimiting right parenthesis separator.
- * relation
- See relational operator or relation condition.
- * relation character
- A character that belongs to the following set:
Character Meaning > Greater than < Less than = Equal to - * relation condition
- The proposition (for which a truth value can be determined) that the value of an arithmetic expression, data item, alphanumeric literal, or index-name has a specific relationship to the value of another arithmetic expression, data item, alphanumeric literal, or index name. See also relational operator.
- * relational operator
- A reserved word, a relation character, a group of consecutive
reserved words, or a group of consecutive reserved words and relation
characters used in the construction of a relation condition. The permissible
operators and their meanings are:
Character Meaning IS GREATER THAN
Greater than IS >
Greater than IS NOT GREATER THAN
Not greater than IS NOT >
Not greater than IS LESS THAN
Less than IS <
Less than IS NOT LESS THAN
Not less than IS NOT <
Not less than IS EQUAL TO
Equal to IS =
Equal to IS NOT EQUAL TO
Not equal to IS NOT =
Not equal to IS GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO
Greater than or equal to IS >=
Greater than or equal to IS LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO
Less than or equal to IS <=
Less than or equal to - * relative file
- A file with relative organization.
- * relative key
- A key whose contents identify a logical record in a relative file.
- * relative organization
- The permanent logical file structure in which each record is uniquely identified by an integer value greater than zero, which specifies the logical ordinal position of the record in the file.
- * relative record number
- The ordinal number of a record in a file whose organization is relative. This number is treated as a numeric literal that is an integer.
- * reserved word
- A COBOL word that is specified in the list of words that can be used in a COBOL source program, but that must not appear in the program as a user-defined word or system-name.
- * resource
- A facility or service, controlled by the operating system, that an executing program can use.
- * resultant identifier
- A user-defined data item that is to contain the result of an arithmetic operation.
- reusable environment
- A reusable environment is created when you establish an assembler
program as the main program by using either the old COBOL interfaces
for preinitialization (
RTEREUS
runtime option), or the Language Environment interface, CEEPIPI. - routine
- A set of statements in a COBOL program that causes the computer to perform an operation or series of related operations. In Language Environment, refers to either a procedure, function, or subroutine.
- * routine-name
- A user-defined word that identifies a procedure written in a language other than COBOL.
- * run time
- The time at which an object program is executed. Synonymous with object time.
- runtime environment
- The environment in which a COBOL program executes.
- * run unit
- A stand-alone object program, or several object programs, that
interact by means of COBOL
CALL
orINVOKE
statements and function at run time as an entity.
S
- SBCS
- See single-byte character set (SBCS).
- scope terminator
- A COBOL reserved word that marks the end of certain
PROCEDURE DIVISION
statements.It can be either explicit (END-ADD
, for example) or implicit (separator period). - * section
- A set of zero, one, or more paragraphs or entities, called a section body, the first of which is preceded by a section header. Each section consists of the section header and the related section body.
- * section header
- A combination of words followed by a separator period that indicates
the beginning of a section in any of these divisions:
ENVIRONMENT
,DATA
, orPROCEDURE
. In theENVIRONMENT DIVISION
andDATA DIVISION
, a section header is composed of reserved words followed by a separator period. The permissible section headers in theENVIRONMENT DIVISION
are:CONFIGURATION SECTION. INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION.
The permissible section headers in the
DATA DIVISION
are:FILE SECTION. WORKING-STORAGE SECTION. LOCAL-STORAGE SECTION. LINKAGE SECTION.
In the
PROCEDURE DIVISION
, a section header is composed of a section-name, followed by the reserved wordSECTION
, followed by a separator period. - * section-name
- A user-defined word that names a section in the
PROCEDURE DIVISION
. segmentation
A feature of Enterprise COBOL that is based on the 85 COBOL Standard segmentation module. The segmentation feature uses priority-numbers in section headers to assign sections to fixed segments or independent segments. Segment classification affects whether procedures contained in a segment receive control in initial state or last-used state.
- selection structure
- A program processing logic in which one or another series of statements is executed, depending on whether a condition is true or false.
- * sentence
- A sequence of one or more statements, the last of which is terminated by a separator period.
- * separately compiled program
- A program that, together with its contained programs, is compiled separately from all other programs.
- * separator
- A character or two or more contiguous characters used to delimit character strings.
- * separator comma
- A comma (,) followed by a space used to delimit character strings.
- * separator period
- A period (.) followed by a space used to delimit character strings.
- * separator semicolon
- A semicolon (;) followed by a space used to delimit character strings.
- sequence structure
- A program processing logic in which a series of statements is executed in sequential order.
- * sequential access
- An access mode in which logical records are obtained from or placed into a file in a consecutive predecessor-to-successor logical record sequence determined by the order of records in the file.
- * sequential file
- A file with sequential organization.
- * sequential organization
- The permanent logical file structure in which a record is identified by a predecessor-successor relationship established when the record is placed into the file.
- serial search
- A search in which the members of a set are consecutively examined, beginning with the first member and ending with the last.
- session bean
- In EJB, an enterprise bean that is created by a client and that usually exists only for the duration of a single client/server session. (Oracle)
- 77-level-description-entry
- A data description entry that describes a noncontiguous data item that has level-number 77.
- * sign condition
- The proposition (for which a truth value can be determined) that the algebraic value of a data item or an arithmetic expression is either less than, greater than, or equal to zero.
- signature
- (1) The name of an operation and its parameters. (2) The name of a method and the number and types of its formal parameters.
- * simple condition
- Any single condition chosen from this set:
- Relation condition
- Class condition
- Condition-name condition
- Switch-status condition
- Sign condition
See also condition and negated simple condition.
- single-byte character set (SBCS)
- A set of characters in which each character is represented by a single byte. See also ASCII and EBCDIC (Extended Binary-Coded Decimal Interchange Code).
slack bytes (within records)
Bytes inserted by the compiler between data items to ensure correct alignment of some elementary data items. Slack bytes contain no meaningful data. The SYNCHRONIZED clause instructs the compiler to insert slack bytes when they are needed for proper alignment.
slack bytes (between records)
Bytes inserted by the programmer between blocked logical records of a file, to ensure correct alignment of some elementary data items. In some cases, slack bytes between records improve performance for records processed in a buffer.
- * sort file
- A collection of records to be sorted by a format 1
SORT
statement. The sort file is created and can be used by the sort function only. - * sort-merge file description entry
- An entry in the
FILE SECTION
of theDATA DIVISION
that is composed of the level indicatorSD
, followed by a file-name, and then followed by a set of file clauses as required. - *
SOURCE-COMPUTER
- The name of an
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
paragraph in which the computer environment, where the source program is compiled, is described. - * source computer entry
- An entry in the
SOURCE-COMPUTER
paragraph of theENVIRONMENT DIVISION
; this entry contains clauses that describe the computer environment in which the source program is to be compiled. - * source item
- An identifier designated by a
SOURCE
clause that provides the value of a printable item. - source program
- Although a source program can be represented by other forms and
symbols, in this document the term always refers to a syntactically
correct set of COBOL statements. A COBOL source program commences
with the
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION
or aCOPY
statement and terminates with the end program marker, if specified, or with the absence of additional source program lines. - source unit
- A unit of COBOL source code that can be separately compiled: a program or a class definition. Also known as a compilation unit.
- special character
- A character that belongs to the following set:
Character Meaning + Plus sign - Minus sign (hyphen) * Asterisk / Slant (forward slash) = Equal sign $ Currency sign , Comma ; Semicolon . Period (decimal point, full stop) " Quotation mark ' Apostrophe ( Left parenthesis ) Right parenthesis > Greater than < Less than : Colon _ Underscore -
SPECIAL-NAMES
- The name of an
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
paragraph in which environment-names are related to user-specified mnemonic-names. - * special names entry
- An entry in the
SPECIAL-NAMES
paragraph of theENVIRONMENT DIVISION
; this entry provides means for specifying the currency sign; choosing the decimal point; specifying symbolic characters; relating implementor-names to user-specified mnemonic-names; relating alphabet-names to character sets or collating sequences; and relating class-names to sets of characters. - * special registers
- Certain compiler-generated storage areas whose primary use is to store information produced in conjunction with the use of a specific COBOL feature.
* standard data format
The concept used in describing the characteristics of data in a COBOL DATA DIVISION under which the characteristics or properties of the data are expressed in a form oriented to the appearance of the data on a printed page of infinite length and breadth, rather than a form oriented to the manner in which the data is stored internally in the computer, or on a particular external medium.
- * statement
- A syntactically valid combination of words, literals, and separators, beginning with a verb, written in a COBOL source program.
- structured programming
- A technique for organizing and coding a computer program in which the program comprises a hierarchy of segments, each segment having a single entry point and a single exit point. Control is passed downward through the structure without unconditional branches to higher levels of the hierarchy.
- * subclass
- A class that inherits from another class. When two classes in an inheritance relationship are considered together, the subclass is the inheritor or inheriting class; the superclass is the inheritee or inherited class.
- * subject of entry
- An operand or reserved word that appears immediately following
the level indicator or the level-number in a
DATA DIVISION
entry. - * subprogram
- See called program.
- * subscript
- An occurrence number that is represented by either an integer,
a data-name optionally followed by an integer with the operator +
or -, or an index-name optionally followed by an integer with the
operator + or -, that identifies a particular element in a table.
A subscript can be the word
ALL
when the subscripted identifier is used as a function argument for a function allowing a variable number of arguments. - * subscripted data-name
- An identifier that is composed of a data-name followed by one or more subscripts enclosed in parentheses.
- substitution character
- A character that is used in a conversion from a source code page to a target code page to represent a character that is not defined in the target code page.
- * superclass
- A class that is inherited by another class. See also subclass.
- surrogate pair
- In the UTF-16 format of Unicode, a pair of encoding units that together represents a single Unicode graphic character. The first unit of the pair is called a high surrogate and the second a low surrogate. The code value of a high surrogate is in the range X'D800' through X'DBFF'. The code value of a low surrogate is in the range X'DC00' through X'DFFF'. Surrogate pairs provide for more characters than the 65,536 characters that fit in the Unicode 16-bit coded character set.
- switch-status condition
- The proposition (for which a truth value can be determined) that an UPSI switch, capable of being set to an on or off status, has been set to a specific status.
- * symbolic-character
- A user-defined word that specifies a user-defined figurative constant.
- syntax
- (1) The relationship among characters or groups of characters, independent of their meanings or the manner of their interpretation and use. (2) The structure of expressions in a language. (3) The rules governing the structure of a language. (4) The relationship among symbols. (5) The rules for the construction of a statement.
- * system-name
- A COBOL word that is used to communicate with the operating environment.
T
- * table
- A set of logically consecutive items of data that are defined
in the
DATA DIVISION
by means of theOCCURS
clause. - * table element
- A data item that belongs to the set of repeated items comprising a table.
- text deck
- Synonym for object deck or object module.
- * text-name
- A user-defined word that identifies library text.
- * text word
- A character or a sequence of contiguous characters between margin
A and margin R in a COBOL library, source program, or pseudo-text
that is any of the following characters:
- A separator, except for space; a pseudo-text delimiter; and the opening and closing delimiters for alphanumeric literals. The right parenthesis and left parenthesis characters, regardless of context within the library, source program, or pseudo-text, are always considered text words.
- A literal including, in the case of alphanumeric literals, the opening quotation mark and the closing quotation mark that bound the literal.
- Any other sequence of contiguous COBOL characters except comment
lines and the word
COPY
bounded by separators that are neither a separator nor a literal.
- thread
- A stream of computer instructions (initiated by an application within a process) that is in control of a process.
- token
- In the COBOL editor, a unit of meaning in a program. A token can contain data, a language keyword, an identifier, or other part of the language syntax.
- top-down design
- The design of a computer program using a hierarchic structure in which related functions are performed at each level of the structure.
- top-down development
- See structured programming.
- trailer-label
- (1) A data-set label that follows the data records on a unit of recording medium. (2) Synonym for end-of-file label.
- troubleshoot
- To detect, locate, and eliminate problems in using computer software.
- * truth value
- The representation of the result of the evaluation of a condition in terms of one of two values: true or false.
- typed object reference
- A data-name that can refer only to an object of a specified class or any of its subclasses.
U
- * unary operator
- A plus (+) or a minus (-) sign that precedes a variable or a left parenthesis in an arithmetic expression and that has the effect of multiplying the expression by +1 or -1, respectively.
unbounded table
A table with
OCCURS integer-1 to UNBOUNDED
instead of specifying integer-2 as the upper bound.- Unicode
- A universal character encoding standard that supports the interchange, processing, and display of text that is written in any of the languages of the modern world. There are multiple encoding schemes to represent Unicode, including UTF-8, UTF-16, and UTF-32. Enterprise COBOL supports Unicode using UTF-16 in big-endian format as the representation for the national data type.
- Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)
- A sequence of characters that uniquely names a resource; in Enterprise COBOL, the identifier of a namespace. URI syntax is defined by the document Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax.
- unit
- A module of direct access, the dimensions of which are determined by IBM.
- universal object reference
- A data-name that can refer to an object of any class.
- unrestricted storage
- Storage below the 2 GB bar. It can be above or below the 16 MB line. If it is above the 16 MB line, it is addressable only in 31-bit mode.
- * unsuccessful execution
- The attempted execution of a statement that does not result in the execution of all the operations specified by that statement. The unsuccessful execution of a statement does not affect any data referenced by that statement, but can affect status indicators.
- UPSI switch
- A program switch that performs the functions of a hardware switch. Eight are provided: UPSI-0 through UPSI-7.
- URI
- See Uniform Resource Identifier (URI).
- * user-defined word
- A COBOL word that must be supplied by the user to satisfy the format of a clause or statement.
V
- * variable
- A data item whose value can be changed by execution of the object program. A variable used in an arithmetic expression must be a numeric elementary item.
- variable-length item
- A group item that contains a table described with the
DEPENDING
phrase of theOCCURS
clause. - * variable-length record
- A record associated with a file whose file description or sort-merge description entry permits records to contain a varying number of character positions.
- * variable-occurrence data item
- A variable-occurrence data item is a table element that is repeated
a variable number of times. Such an item must contain an
OCCURS DEPENDING ON
clause in its data description entry or be subordinate to such an item. - * variably located group
- A group item following, and not subordinate to, a variable-length table in the same record. The group item can be an alphanumeric group or a national group.
- * variably located item
- A data item following, and not subordinate to, a variable-length table in the same record.
- * verb
- A word that expresses an action to be taken by a COBOL compiler or object program.
- volume
- A module of external storage. For tape devices it is a reel; for direct-access devices it is a unit.
- volume switch procedures
- System-specific procedures that are executed automatically when the end of a unit or reel has been reached before end-of-file has been reached.
- VSAM file system
- A file system that supports COBOL sequential, relative, and indexed organizations.
W
- web service
- A modular application that performs specific tasks and is accessible through open protocols like HTTP and SOAP.
- white space
- Characters that introduce space into a document. They are:
- Space
- Horizontal tabulation
- Carriage return
- Line feed
- Next line
as named in the Unicode Standard.
- * word
- A character string of not more than 30 characters that forms a user-defined word, a system-name, a reserved word, or a function-name.
- *
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION
- The section of the
DATA DIVISION
that describesWORKING-STORAGE
data items, composed either of noncontiguous items orWORKING-STORAGE
records or of both. - workstation
- A generic term for computers, including personal computers, 3270 terminals, intelligent workstations, and UNIX terminals. Often a workstation is connected to a mainframe or to a network.
- wrapper
- An object that provides an interface between object-oriented code and procedure-oriented code. Using wrappers lets programs be reused and accessed by other systems.
X
- x
- The symbol in a
PICTURE
clause that can hold any character in the character set of the computer. - XML
- Extensible Markup Language. A standard metalanguage for defining markup languages that was derived from and is a subset of SGML. XML omits the more complex and less-used parts of SGML and makes it much easier to write applications to handle document types, author and manage structured information, and transmit and share structured information across diverse computing systems. The use of XML does not require the robust applications and processing that is necessary for SGML. XML is developed under the auspices of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
- XML data
- Data that is organized into a hierarchical structure with XML elements. The data definitions are defined in XML element type declarations.
- XML declaration
- XML text that specifies characteristics of the XML document such as the version of XML being used and the encoding of the document.
- XML document
- A data object that is well formed as defined by the W3C XML specification.
- XML namespace
- A mechanism, defined by the W3C XML Namespace specifications, that limits the scope of a collection of element names and attribute names. A uniquely chosen XML namespace ensures the unique identity of an element name or attribute name across multiple XML documents or multiple contexts within an XML document.
- XML schema
- A mechanism, defined by the W3C, for describing and constraining the structure and content of XML documents. An XML schema, which is itself expressed in XML, effectively defines a class of XML documents of a given type, for example, purchase orders.
Z
- z/OS UNIX file system
- A collection of files and directories that are organized in a hierarchical structure and can be accessed by using z/OS UNIX.
- zoned decimal data item
- An external decimal data item that is described implicitly or
explicitly as
USAGE DISPLAY
and that contains a valid combination ofPICTURE
symbols9
,S
,P
, andV
. The content of a zoned decimal data item is represented in characters 0 through 9, optionally with a sign. If thePICTURE
string specifies a sign and theSIGN IS SEPARATE
clause is specified, the sign is represented as characters + or -. IfSIGN IS SEPARATE
is not specified, the sign is one hexadecimal digit that overlays the first 4 bits of the sign position (leading or trailing).
#
- 85 COBOL Standard
- The COBOL language defined by the following standards:
- ANSI INCITS 23-1985, Programming languages - COBOL, as amended by ANSI INCITS 23a-1989, Programming Languages - COBOL - Intrinsic Function Module for COBOL and ANSI INCITS 23b-1993, Programming Languages - Correction Amendment for COBOL
- ISO 1989:1985, Programming languages - COBOL, as amended by ISO/IEC 1989/AMD1:1992, Programming languages - COBOL: Intrinsic function module and ISO/IEC 1989/AMD2:1994, Programming languages - Correction and clarification amendment for COBOL
- 2002 COBOL Standard
- The COBOL language defined by the following standard:
- INCITS/ISO/IEC 1989-2002, Information technology - Programming languages - COBOL
2014 COBOL Standard
The COBOL language defined by the following standard:
- INCITS/ISO/IEC 1989:2014, Information technology - Programming languages, their environments and system software interfaces - Programming language COBOL