Abbreviated terms

Certain terms are used in a shortened form in this information. Abbreviations for the product names used most frequently are listed alphabetically in the following table.

Term used Long form
CICS® CICS Transaction Server
Start of changeDebug ToolEnd of change Start of changeIBM® Debug for z Systems® (formerly IBM Debug Tool for z/OS®)1End of change
Enterprise COBOL IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
Language Environment® IBM z/OS Language Environment
MVS™ MVS/ESA
z/OS UNIX z/OS UNIX System Services
Start of change
Note:
  1. IBM Debug for z Systems supersedes IBM Debug Tool for z/OS. Not all references to IBM Debug Tool for z/OS have been changed in the COBOL documentation library. You can continue to use IBM Debug Tool for z/OS V13.1 for debugging most COBOL applications. However, the latest version of IBM Debug for z Systems is required when using new debugging features available in Enterprise COBOL V6. To find out which IBM debug product best suits your needs, see https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSQ2R2_14.0.0/com.ibm.debugtool.doc/common/dcompo.html.
End of change

In addition to these abbreviated terms, the term "85 COBOL Standard" is used to refer to the combination of the following standards:

  • ISO 1989:1985, Programming languages - COBOL
  • ISO/IEC 1989/AMD1:1992, Programming languages - COBOL: Intrinsic function module
  • ISO/IEC 1989/AMD2:1994, Programming languages - Correction and clarification amendment for COBOL
  • ANSI INCITS 23-1985, Programming Languages - COBOL
  • ANSI INCITS 23a-1989, Programming Languages - Intrinsic Function Module for COBOL
  • ANSI INCITS 23b-1993, Programming Language - Correction Amendment for COBOL
Start of changeThe term "2002 COBOL Standard" is used to refer to the following standard:
  • INCITS/ISO/IEC 1989-2002, Information technology - Programming languages - COBOL
End of change
Start of changeThe term "2014 COBOL Standard" is used to refer to the following standard:
  • INCITS/ISO/IEC 1989:2014, Information technology - Programming languages, their environments and system software interfaces - Programming language COBOL
End of change

The ISO standards are identical to the American National standards.

Other terms, if not commonly understood, are shown in italics the first time that they appear, and are listed in the glossary.