Defining line-sequential files and records in COBOL

Use the FILE-CONTROL paragraph in the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION to define the files in a COBOL program as line-sequential files, and to associate the files with the corresponding external file-names (ddnames or environment variable names).

An external file-name is the name by which a file is known to the operating system. In the following example, COMMUTER-FILE is the name that your program uses for the file; COMMUTR is the external name:


FILE-CONTROL.
    SELECT COMMUTER-FILE
    ASSIGN TO COMMUTR
    ORGANIZATION IS LINE SEQUENTIAL
    ACCESS MODE IS SEQUENTIAL
    FILE STATUS IS ECODE.

The ASSIGN assignment-name clause must not include an organization field (S- or AS-) before the external name. The ACCESS phrase and the FILE STATUS clause are optional.