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 - Intrinsic
Function Module for COBOL,
- ANSI INCITS 23b-1993, Programming Language - Correction
Amendment for COBOL
- ANSI INCITS 172-2002 American National Standard Dictionary
of Information Technology.
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 program.
- * 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.
- * alphabet-name
- A user-defined word, defined in the SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph of
the environment division, that names a specific character set or collating
sequence, or both.
- * alphabetic character
- A letter or a space character.
- alphabetic data item
- A data item described with a PICTURE character-string
that contains only the symbol A. An alphabetic data item has usage
DISPLAY.
- alphanumeric character
- Any character in the computer's single-byte character set.
- alphanumeric character position
- See character position.
- alphanumeric data item
- A general reference to a data item described implicitly
or explicitly with usage DISPLAY and category alphanumeric, alphanumeric-edited,
or numeric-edited, possibly limited to specific data categories or
specific data descriptions by detailed specifications.
- alphanumeric-edited data item
- A data item described by a PICTURE character-string
that contains at least one symbol A or X and at least one of the simple
insertion symbols B, 0, or /. An alphanumeric-edited data item has
usage DISPLAY.
- * alphanumeric function
- A function that returns a value that is composed of a string of
one or more characters from the computer's alphanumeric character
set.
- alphanumeric group item
- A group item that is defined without a GROUP-USAGE
NATIONAL clause. For operations such as INSPECT, STRING, and UNSTRING,
an alphanumeric group item is processed as though all its content
were described with usage DISPLAY, regardless of the actual content
of the group. For operations that require processing of the elementary
items within a group, such as MOVE CORRESPONDING, ADD CORRESPONDING,
and INITIALIZE identifier, 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'
Z"
The literal content 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 consisting of producers, consumers, and general
interest groups, that 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 a CALL or INVOKE statement,
used for passing values to a called program or an invoked method.
- * arithmetic expression
- An identifier of a numeric elementary item, a numeric literal,
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 the ADD, COMPUTE, DIVIDE, MULTIPLY,
and SUBTRACT statements.
- * 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. A
standard code, using a coded character set consisting of 7-bit coded
characters (8 bits including parity check), 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 with no physical representation.
- * AT END condition
- A condition that exists in the following circumstances:
- During the execution of a READ statement for 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.
- During the execution of a RETURN statement, when no next logical
record exists for the associated sort or merge file.
- During the execution of a SEARCH statement, when the search operation
terminates without satisfying the condition specified in any of the
associated WHEN phrases.
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 characters.
The extended character set includes DBCS, UTF-8, or EUC characters, which can be used
in comments, literals, and user-defined words.
Synonymous with COBOL
character set in Standard COBOL 85.
- big-endian
- The default format used by the mainframe and
the AIX workstation to store binary data. In this format, the
least significant digit is on the highest address. See also little-endian.
- binary item
- A numeric data item represented in binary notation (on the base
2 numbering system). Binary items have a decimal equivalent consisting
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. The term is synonymous with physical
record.
- breakpoint
- A place in an object program, usually specified by an instruction,
where external intervention or a monitor program can interrupt the
object program as it runs.
- buffer
- A portion of storage used to hold input or output data temporarily.
- byte
- A string consisting of a certain number of bits, usually eight,
treated as a unit.
- 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.
C
- CCSID
- See coded character set identifier.
- century window
- A 100-year interval within which any two-digit year is unique.
There are several types of century window available to COBOL programmers:
- For windowed date fields, it is specified by the YEARWINDOW compiler
option.
- For windowing intrinsic functions DATE-TO-YYYYMMDD, DAY-TO-YYYYDDD,
and YEAR-TO-YYYY, it is specified by argument-2.
- * 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
for holding or presenting 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
- character set
- See basic character set and coded character set.
- * character-string
- A sequence of contiguous characters that forms a COBOL word, a
literal, a PICTURE character-string, or a comment-entry. 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 (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-name (object-oriented)
- The name of an object-oriented class definition. Class-name can
refer to a COBOL class-name or a Java class-name.
- * class-name (of data)
- A user-defined word, defined in the SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph, that
refers to the proposition for which a truth value can be defined,
that the content of a data item consists exclusively of those characters
listed in the definition of the class-name.
- * clause
- An ordered set of consecutive COBOL character-strings whose purpose
is to specify an attribute of an entry.
- COBOL character set
- See basic character set.
- * COBOL word
- See word.
- code page
- An assignment of graphic characters and control character meanings
to the code points in a coded character set; for example, assignment
of characters and meanings to the 256 code points in single-byte EBCDIC
or ASCII. The terms coded character set and code page can
be used interchangeably.
- code point
- A unique bit pattern defined in a code page. Graphic symbols and
control characters are assigned to code points.
- coded character set
- A set of graphic characters and control characters along with
their unambiguous assignment to specific code points (their encodings).
EBCDIC is an example of a coded character set. A specific instance
of encodings is called a code page. A code page specified by IBM is
identified by a CCSID.
- 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 the OR logical operator.
- * 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, is permitted to be called from any program directly or indirectly
contained in that other program.
- compatible date field
- The meaning of the term compatible, when applied to date
fields, depends on the COBOL division in which the usage occurs:
- data division
Two date fields are compatible if they
have identical USAGE and meet at least one of the following conditions:
- They have the same date format.
- Both are windowed date fields, where one consists of only a windowed
year, DATE FORMAT YY.
- Both are expanded date fields, where one consists of only an expanded
year, DATE FORMAT YYYY.
- One has DATE FORMAT YYXXXX, the other, YYXX.
- One has DATE FORMAT YYYYXXXX, the other, YYYYXX.
A windowed date field can be subordinate to an expanded date
group data item. The two date fields are compatible if the subordinate
date field has USAGE DISPLAY, starts two bytes after the start of
the group expanded date field, and the two fields meet at least one
of the following conditions:
- The subordinate date field has a DATE FORMAT pattern with the
same number of Xs as the DATE FORMAT pattern of the group date field.
- The subordinate date field has DATE FORMAT YY.
- The group date field has DATE FORMAT YYYYXXXX and the subordinate
date field has DATE FORMAT YYXX.
- procedure division
Two date fields are compatible if
they have the same date format except for the year part, which can
be windowed or expanded. For example, a windowed date field with DATE
FORMAT YYXXX is compatible with:
- Another windowed date field with DATE FORMAT YYXXX
- An expanded date field with DATE FORMAT YYYYXXX
- compilation unit
- See source unit
- * compile time
- The time at which COBOL source code is translated by a COBOL compiler
to a COBOL object program.
- compiler-directing statement
- A statement that causes the compiler to take a specific action
during compilation. The standard compiler-directing statements are
COPY, REPLACE, and USE.
- compiler-directive
- A directive that causes the compiler to take a specific action
during compilation. COBOL for AIX has
one compiler directive, CALLINTERFACE. You can code multiple CALLINTERFACE
directives within a program to use specific interface conventions
for specific CALL statements.
- * complex condition
- A condition in which one or more logical operators act upon one
or more conditions. See also negated simple condition, combined
condition, and negated combined condition.
- complex ODO
- Certain forms of the OCCURS DEPENDING ON clause:
- A variably located item or group: A data item described with an
OCCURS clause with the DEPENDING ON phrase, followed by a nonsubordinate
data item or group. The group can be an alphanumeric
group or a national group.
- A variably located table: A data item described with an OCCURS
clause with the DEPENDING ON phrase, followed by a nonsubordinate
data item described with an OCCURS clause.
- A table with variable-length elements: A data item described with
an OCCURS clause, where a subordinate data item is described with
an OCCURS clause with the DEPENDING ON phrase.
- An index name for a table with variable-length elements.
- An element of a table with variable-length elements.
- * condition (expression)
- A status of data at run time for which a truth value can be determined.
Where the term 'condition' (condition-1, condition-2,...)
appears in these language specifications in or in reference to 'condition'
(condition-1, condition-2,...)
of a general format, it is a conditional expression consisting 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.
- * conditional expression
- A simple condition or a complex condition specified in an EVALUATE,
IF, PERFORM, or SEARCH statement. See also simple condition and complex
condition.
- * conditional phrase
- A conditional phrase specifies the action to be taken upon determination
of the truth value of a condition resulting from the execution of
a conditional statement.
- * conditional statement
- A statement specifying that the truth value of a condition is
to be determined and that the subsequent action of the object program
is dependent 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 is permitted to 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, method definitions, and class definitions.
- CONSOLE
- A COBOL environment-name associated with the operator console.
- * contiguous items
- Items that are described by consecutive entries in the data division,
and that bear a definite hierarchic relationship to each other.
- contained program
- A COBOL program that is nested within another COBOL
program.
- * 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.
- cs
- See currency symbol.
- currency sign value
- A character-string that identifies the monetary units stored in
a numeric-edited item. Some examples are '$', 'USD', 'JPY', and 'EUR'.
A currency sign value can be defined by either the CURRENCY compiler
option or the CURRENCY SIGN clause in the SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph
of the environment division. If the CURRENCY SIGN clause is not specified
and the NOCURRENCY compiler option is in effect, the dollar sign ($)
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 the CURRENCY compiler option or by
the CURRENCY SIGN clause in the SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph of the environment
division. If the CURRENCY SIGN clause is not specified and the NOCURRENCY
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 description entry
- An entry in the data division composed of a level-number followed
by a data-name, if required, and then followed by a set of clauses
that describe the attributes of a data item or record.
- * data division
- A COBOL division that describes data and files to be processed
at run time.
- * data item
- A unit of data (excluding literals) defined by a COBOL program
or by the rules for function evaluation.
- * data-name
- A user-defined word that names a data item described in a data
description entry. The maximum length of a data-name is 30 bytes.
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.
- date field
- Any of the following:
- A data item whose data description entry includes a DATE FORMAT
clause.
- A value returned by one of the following intrinsic functions:
- DATE-OF-INTEGER
- DATE-TO-YYYYMMDD
- DATEVAL
- DAY-OF-INTEGER
- DAY-TO-YYYYDDD
- YEAR-TO-YYYY
- YEARWINDOW
- The conceptual data items DATE, DATE YYYYMMDD, DAY, and DAY YYYYDDD
of the ACCEPT statement.
- The result of certain arithmetic operations (for details, see Arithmetic with date fields).
The term date field refers to both expanded date field and windowed
date field. See also nondate.
- date format
- The date pattern of a date field, specified either:
- Explicitly, by the DATE FORMAT clause or DATEVAL intrinsic function
argument-2
- Implicitly, by statements and intrinsic functions that return
date fields (for details, see Date field).
- DBCS
- See Double-Byte Character Set (DBCS).
- DBCS character
- Any character defined in an IBM double-byte character set.
- DBCS character position
- See character position.
- DBCS data item
- A data item described by a PICTURE character-string
that contains at least one symbol G or, when the NSYMBOL(DBCS) compiler
option is in effect, at least one symbol N. A DBCS data item has usage
DISPLAY-1.
- * debugging line
- A debugging line is any line with a 'D' in the indicator area
of the line.
- * debugging section
- A section that contains a USE FOR DEBUGGING statement.
- * 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 keyword DECLARATIVES and the last of which is followed by the
keyword END DECLARATIVES. A declarative is composed of a section header,
followed by a USE 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 that item's unedited numeric value.
- * 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.
- * 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 in reference 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 described with usage DISPLAY and a picture
character-string that describes an external floating-point data item.
See floating-point.
- * division
- 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.
- 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 the PERFORM 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 the PERFORM statement functions in the same way.
- 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)
- An IBM coded character set in which each character is represented
by two 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 two bytes,
entering, displaying, and printing DBCS characters requires hardware
and supporting software that are DBCS-capable.
- * 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.
E
- EBCDIC (Extended Binary-Coded Decimal Interchange Code)
- A coded character set consisting of 8-bit coded characters.
- EBCDIC character
- Any one of the graphic characters or control characters encoded
in EBCDIC.
- EBCDIC DBCS
- See double-byte EBCDIC.
- edited data item
- A data item that has been modified by suppressing zeroes or inserting
editing characters.
- * 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) |
| / |
Forward slash |
- * elementary item
- A data item that is described as not being further logically subdivided.
- 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 procedure division 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.
- * entry
- Any descriptive set of consecutive clauses written in the identification
division, environment division, or data division of a COBOL program.
- * environment division
- A division of a COBOL source unit that describes the computers
upon which the source code is compiled and those on which the object
code 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, or program
switches. When an environment-name is associated with a mnemonic-name
in the environment division, the mnemonic-name can then 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.
- expanded date field
- A date field containing an expanded (four-digit) year. See also date
field and expanded year.
- expanded year
- A date field that consists only of a four-digit year. Its value
includes the century: for example, 1998. Compare with windowed
year.
- * explicit scope terminator
- A reserved word that terminates the scope of a particular procedure
division statement. For example, END-READ.
- exponent
- A number, indicating the power to which another number (the base)
is to be raised. Positive exponents denote multiplication, negative
exponents denote division, 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
the EXTEND phrase specified for that file, and before the execution
of a CLOSE statement, without the REEL or UNIT phrase for that file.
- Extensible Markup Language
- See XML.
- * external data
- The data 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 itself is permitted to
be referenced from any program in which it is described.
- * external data record
- A logical record which is described in one or more programs of
a run unit and whose constituent data items are permitted to be referenced
from any program in which they are described.
- external decimal data item
- A zoned decimal data item or a national decimal data
item. A zoned decimal data item has usage DISPLAY. A national decimal
data item has usage NATIONAL. See zoned decimal data item and national
decimal data item.
- * external file connector
- A file connector which is accessible to one or more object programs
in the run unit.
- external floating-point data item
- A display floating-point data item or a national floating-point
data item. A display floating-point data item has usage DISPLAY. A
national floating-point data item has usage NATIONAL. See display
floating-point data item and national floating-point data item.
- * 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 of a factory object. Factory data is allocated once for a
class and shared by all instances of the class. Factory data is declared
in the working-storage section in the factory paragraph of a class
definition. Factory data is equivalent to private static data in Java.
- factory method
- A method that is supported by a class independently of any object
instance. Factory methods are defined in the factory paragraph of
the class definition, and are equivalent to public static methods
in Java. 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 connector
- A storage area which 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 entry
- A SELECT clause and all its subordinate clauses which 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 the data division that is composed
of the level indicator FD, followed by a file-name, and then followed
by a set of clauses that include the attributes of the file.
- * 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 the data 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 and file management structures on a physical
or logical mass storage device, such as a diskette or minidisk.
- * fixed file attributes
- Information about a file which is established when a file is created
and 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-point
- A format for representing numbers in which a real
number is represented by a pair of distinct numerals. In 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 item
- A numeric data item containing 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 specified by the exponent.
- * 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
- A data item that can contain the address of a procedure or function,
described with a usage of FUNCTION-POINTER.
G
- garbage collection
- The automatic freeing by the Java runtime system of the memory
for objects that are no longer referenced.
- GDG
- See generation data group (GDG).
- GDS
- See generation data set (GDS).
- generation data group (GDG)
- A collection of chronologically related data sets;
each such data set is called a generation data set (GDS).
- generation data set (GDS)
- One of the data sets in a generation data group (GDG);
a GDS is chronologically related to the other data sets in the group.
- * global name
- A name that is declared in only one program but which can be referenced
from that program and from any program contained within that program.
Condition-names, data-names, file-names, record-names, report-names,
and some special registers can be global names.
- group item
- (1) A data item that is composed of subordinate data
items. A group item that is described with an explicit or implicit
GROUP-USAGE NATIONAL clause is a national group item. A group that
is described without a GROUP-USAGE NATIONAL clause is an alphanumeric
group item. 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 file label that precedes the data records
on 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.
I
- IBM extensions
- COBOL syntax and semantics specified by IBM, rather than by Standard COBOL 85.
- ICU
- See International Components for Unicode (ICU).
- 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. The identification division can include
the following documentation: author name, installation, or date.
- * identifier
- Syntax that references a resource, such as a data item. An identifier
that refers to data item includes the data-name and optionally includes
qualifiers, subscripting, and reference modification.
- * imperative statement
- A statement that specifies an unconditional action to be taken
or a conditional statement that is delimited by its explicit scope
terminator (a 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.
- * 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
- 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 (the superclass)
as the basis for a new class (a subclass). Each subclass inherits
from exactly one class. The inherited class can itself be a subclass
that inherits from another class.
COBOL for AIX does not support multiple
inheritance. It supports the Java object model, which provides single
inheritance.
- * 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.
- * 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
the INPUT phrase specified, for that file and before the execution
of a CLOSE statement, without the REEL or UNIT 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 a 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
upon individual records or upon the file as a unit. The input-output
statements are: ACCEPT (with the identifier phrase), CLOSE, DELETE,
DISPLAY, OPEN, READ, REWRITE, SET (with the TO ON or TO OFF phrase),
START, and WRITE.
- * input procedure
- A set of statements, to which control is given during the execution
of a SORT statement, for the purpose of controlling the release of
specified records to be sorted.
- instance data
- Data defining the state of an object instance. Instance data is
declared in the working-storage section of the object paragraph of
a class definition. Also called object instance data. Each
object instance has its own copy of instance data. Instance data is
equivalent to private nonstatic member data in a Java class.
- instance method
- A method defined in the object paragraph of a class definition.
Instance methods are equivalent to public nonstatic methods in Java.
- * 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.
- interlanguage communication (ILC)
- The ability of routines written in different programming languages
to communicate. ILC support allows the application writer to readily
build applications from component routines written in a variety of
languages.
- intermediate result
- An intermediate field containing the results of a succession of
arithmetic operations.
- * internal data
- The data described in a program excluding 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 which 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 with usage PACKED-DECIMAL
or COMP-3 and a PICTURE character-string that defines the item as
numeric (a valid combination of symbols 9, S, P, or V). Synonymous
with packed decimal item.
- * internal file connector
- A file connector that is accessible to only one object program
in the run unit.
- International Components for Unicode (ICU)
- An open source development project sponsored, supported, and used
by IBM. ICU libraries provide robust and full-featured Unicode services
on a wide variety of platforms, including AIX.
- internal floating-point data item
- A data item that is described with usage COMP-1 or
COMP-2. COMP-1 defines a single-precision floating-point data item.
COMP-2 defines a double-precision floating-point data item. There
is no PICTURE clause associated with an internal floating-point data
item.
- intrinsic function
- A function defined as part of the COBOL language. In some programming
languages, this is called a built-in function.
- * 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
invalid.
- * I-O mode
- The state of a file after execution of an OPEN statement, with
the I-O phrase specified, for that file and before the execution of
a CLOSE statement without the REEL or UNIT phase for that file.
- * I-O status
- A conceptual entity which 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.
J
- Java Native Interface (JNI)
- A programming interface that allows Java code running inside a
Java virtual machine (JVM) to interoperate with applications and libraries
written in other programming languages.
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 which 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 reserved word or function-name 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.
- last-used state
- The state of storage in which internal values remain the same
as when the program was exited (are
not reset to their initial values on reentry).
- * 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, and SD.
- * level-number
- A user-defined word, expressed as a two-digit number, which 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 is to be used
by the compiler for a given compilation.
- * library text
- A sequence of text words, comment lines, 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.
- linkage section
- The section in the data division of an activated unit (a called
program or an invoked method) that describes data items available
from the activating unit (a program or a method). These data items
can be referred to by both the activated unit and the activating unit.
- 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. In this format, the most significant digit
is at the highest address. See also big-endian.
- locale
- A set of attributes for a program execution environment that indicates
culturally sensitive considerations, such as: character code page,
collating sequence, date/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 their VALUE 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.
The term is 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
to receive control when the programs are run.
- * mass storage
- A storage medium in which data can be organized and maintained
in both a sequential and nonsequential manner.
- * mass storage device
- A device having a large storage capacity; for example, magnetic
disk, magnetic drum.
- * mass storage file
- A collection of records that is assigned to a mass storage medium.
- MBCS
- See multibyte character set (MBCS).
- * megabyte (M)
- 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.
- method
- Procedural code that defines one of the operations supported by
an object. Method procedural code is executed by a COBOL INVOKE statement
on a specific object instance. A method can be invoked by a Java invocation
expression. A method can be a factory method or an instance
method.
- method identification entry
- An entry in the METHOD-ID paragraph of the identification division
that contains clauses that specify the method-name and assign selected
attributes to the method definition.
- method invocation
- (1) The act of invoking a method. (2) The programming language
syntax used to invoke a method (the INVOKE statement in COBOL, a method
invocation expression in Java).
- method-name
- A name that identifies a method, specified as the content of an
alphanumeric or national literal in the METHOD-ID paragraph, and as
the content of an alphanumeric literal, national literal, alphanumeric
data item, or data item of category national in
the INVOKE statement.
- 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.
- multibyte character
- Any character that is represented in 2 or more bytes in a multibyte
character set. For example, a DBCS character or any UTF-8 character
that is represented in two or more bytes. UTF-16 characters are not
multibyte characters because UTF-16 is not a multibyte character set.
- multibyte character set (MBCS)
- A coded character set that is composed of characters represented
in a varying number of bytes. Examples are: Extended UNIX Code,
UTF-8, and character sets composed of a mixture of single-byte and
double-byte EBCDIC or ASCII characters.
N
- namespace
- See XML namespace.
- national character
- 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 class national. Class national includes
categories national, national-edited, and numeric-edited with USAGE
NATIONAL.
- national decimal data item
- A data item described by a PICTURE character-string that contains
valid combinations of picture symbols 9, S, P, and V. A national decimal
data item is an external decimal data item that has usage NATIONAL.
- national-edited data item
- A data item described by a PICTURE character-string
that contains the symbol N and at least one of the simple insertion
symbols B, 0, and /. A national-edited data item has usage NATIONAL.
- national floating-point data item
- A data item described with usage NATIONAL and a picture
character-string that describes a floating-point data item. See floating-point.
- national group item
- A group item that is explicitly or implicitly described
with a GROUP-USAGE clause with the NATIONAL phrase. A national group
is processed as though it were defined as an elementary data item
of category national for operations such as INSPECT, STRING, and UNSTRING.
This ensures correct padding and truncation of national characters,
as opposed to defining data items described with USAGE NATIONAL within
an alphanumeric group item. For operations that require processing
of the elementary items within a group, such as MOVE CORRESPONDING,
ADD CORRESPONDING, and INITIALIZE identifier, 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.
- * negated combined condition
- The 'NOT' logical operator immediately followed by a parenthesized
combined condition.
- * negated simple condition
- The 'NOT' logical operator immediately followed by a 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 and linkage sections
that bear no hierarchic relationship to other data items.
- nondate
- Any of the following:
- A data item whose date description entry does not include the
DATE FORMAT clause
- A literal
- A date field that has been converted using the UNDATE function
- A reference-modified date field
- The result of certain arithmetic operations that can include date
field operands; for example, the difference between two compatible
date fields
- null
- A figurative constant that represents a value used to indicate
that a pointer data item does not contain a valid address or that
an object reference does not reference an object. NULLS can be used
wherever NULL 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 from '0' through
'9'; if signed, the item can also contain a '+', '-', or other representation
of an operational sign. (2) A data item of class numeric
and category numeric, internal floating-point, or external floating-point,
possibly limited to specific data categories or specific data descriptions
by detailed specifications. A numeric data item can have usage DISPLAY,
NATIONAL, PACKED-DECIMAL, BINARY, COMP, COMP-1, COMP-2, COMP-3, COMP-4,
or COMP-5.
- numeric-edited data item
- A data item that contains numeric data in a form suitable for
use in printed output. It 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 data item can be represented in usage DISPLAY or usage
NATIONAL.
- * numeric function
- A function whose class and category are numeric but which for
some possible evaluation does not satisfy the requirements of integer
functions.
- * numeric literal
- A literal composed of one or more numeric characters. It can contain
either 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.
- 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, within which the program is executed, is described.
- object deck
- A portion of an object program suitable as input to a linkage
editor. The term is 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 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
on the methods of an object-oriented class definition. Where there
is no danger of ambiguity, the word 'program' alone can be used in
place of the phrase 'object program'.
- object reference
- A data item that can contain the information needed to invoke
or refer to an object. An object reference is defined in COBOL with
the OBJECT REFERENCE phrase in the USAGE clause of a data description
entry. See also typed object reference and universal object
reference.
- * object time
- The time at which an object program is executed. The term is synonymous
with the terms execution time and run time.
- * obsolete element
- A COBOL language element in Standard COBOL 85 that
was deleted from Standard COBOL 2002.
- ODO object
- In the example below,
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION
01 TABLE-1.
05 X PICS9.
05 Y OCCURS 3 TIMES
DEPENDING ON X PIC X.
X is the object of the OCCURS DEPENDING
ON clause (ODO object). 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 the
OCCURS DEPENDING ON clause (ODO subject). The number of Y ODO
subjects that appear in the table depends on the value of X.
- * open mode
- The state of a file after execution of an OPEN statement for that
file and before the execution of a CLOSE statement without the REEL
or UNIT phrase for that file. The particular open mode is specified
in the OPEN statement as either INPUT, OUTPUT, I-O, or EXTEND.
- operand
- Data that is operated upon. In this document, any lowercase word
(or words) that appears in a statement or entry format is an operand
in that it is a reference to the data identified by that word (or
words).
- * operational sign
- An algebraic sign, 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 executed.
- * optional word
- A reserved word that is included in a specific format only to
improve the readability of the language and whose 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 the OUTPUT mode or EXTEND mode.
- * output mode
- The state of a file after execution of an OPEN statement, with
the OUTPUT or EXTEND phrase specified, for that file and before the
execution of a CLOSE statement without the REEL or UNIT phrase for
that file.
- * output procedure
- A set of statements to which control is given during execution
of a SORT statement after the sort function is completed, or during
execution of a MERGE 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 available
in the same class, but with a different signature. See also signature.
- override
- To redefine (in a subclass) an instance method inherited from
a parent class.
P
- package
- In Java, a group of related classes that can be imported individually
or as a whole.
- packed decimal item
- See internal decimal item.
- padding character
- An alphanumeric or national character or literal used to fill
the unused character positions in a physical record.
- page
- A vertical division of output data representing a physical separation
of such data, the separation being based on internal logical requirements
or external characteristics of the output medium.
- * page body
- That part of the logical page in which lines can be written or
spaced.
- * paragraph
- In the procedure division, a paragraph-name followed by a separator
period and by zero, one, or more sentences. In the identification
and environment divisions, 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.
- * paragraph-name
- A user-defined word that identifies and begins a paragraph in
the procedure division.
- password
- A unique string of characters that a program, computer operator,
or user must supply to meet security requirements before gaining access
to data.
- * 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.
- portability
- The ability to transfer an application from one application platform
to another with relatively few changes to the source code.
- * 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. Priority-numbers can contain
only the characters '0','1', . . ., '9'.
- private
- In object orientation, data that is accessible only by methods
of the class that defines the data. Instance data is accessible only
by instance methods; factory data is accessible only by factory methods.
Thus, instance data is private to instance methods defined in the
same class definition; factory data is private to factory methods
defined in the same class definition.
- * 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 unit. The procedure
branching statements are: ALTER, CALL, EXIT, EXIT PROGRAM, GO TO,
MERGE (with the OUTPUT PROCEDURE phrase), PERFORM, SORT (with the
INPUT PROCEDURE or OUTPUT PROCEDURE phrase), and XML PARSE.
- procedure division
- The division of a program or method that contains procedural statements
for performing operations at run time.
- * 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.
- 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.
- * pseudo-text
- A sequence of text words, comment lines, or the separator space
in a source unit 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 and IN followed by a
data-name qualifier.
- * qualifier
- (1) A data-name or a name associated with a level indicator which
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 the
data division. In the file section, the current number of character
positions in the record area is determined by the explicit or implicit
RECORD clause.
- * record description
- See record description entry.
- * record description entry
- The total set of data description entries associated with a particular
record. The term is synonymous with record description.
- 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 a one of its called programs.
- recursively capable
- A program is recursively capable (can be called recursively) if
the RECURSIVE clause is on the PROGRAM-ID statement.
- reel
- A discrete portion of a storage medium that contains part of a
file, all of a file, or any number of files. The term is synonymous
with unit and volume.
- reentrant
- The attribute of a program or routine that allows more than one
user to share a single copy of a load module.
- * reference format
- A format that provides a standard method for writing COBOL source
code.
- reference modification
- A method of defining a new data item by specifying the leftmost
character position and length relative to the leftmost character position
of another 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 record's logical ordinal position 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 specified in the list of words that can be used in
a COBOL source unit, but that must not appear in the program as user-defined
words or system-names.
- * resource
- A facility or service, controlled by the operating system, that
can be used by an executing program.
- * resultant identifier
- A user-defined data item that is to contain the result of an arithmetic
operation.
- routine
- A set of statements in a COBOL program that causes the computer
to perform an operation or series of related operations.
- * routine-name
- A user-defined word that identifies a procedure written in a language
other than COBOL.
- RSD file system
- The record sequential delimited file system is a workstation file
system that supports sequential files. An RSD file supports all COBOL
data types in fixed-length records, can be edited by most file editors,
and can be read by programs written in other languages.
- * run time
- The time at which an object program is executed. The term is 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 via COBOL CALL or INVOKE statements and function at run time
as an entity.
S
- SBCS (Single Byte Character Set)
- 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 (a separator period, for example).
- SdU file system
- The SdU (SMARTdata Utilities) file system supports sequential, indexed, and relative files.
It does not support LINE SEQUENTIAL files.
- * 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. For example, WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
- * section-name
- A user-defined word that names a section in the procedure division.
- segmentation
- A feature of COBOL for AIX that
is based on the Standard COBOL 85 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.
- * 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 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.
- * 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.
- * 77-level-description-entry
- A data description entry that describes a noncontiguous data item
with the level-number 77.
- SFS file system
- The Encina Structured File Server file system is a record-oriented
file system that supports sequential, relative, and key-indexed file access.
SFS files can be shared with PL/I applications.
- * 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
- The name of a method and the number and types of its formal parameters.
- * simple condition
- Any single condition chosen from the set:
- Relation condition
- Class condition
- Condition-name condition
- Switch-status condition
- Sign condition
- Single Byte Character Set (SBCS)
- A set of characters in which each character is represented by
a single byte. See also 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 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 the data division that is composed
of the level indicator SD, followed by a file-name, and then followed
clauses that describe the attributes of the sort-merge file.
- source unit
- A unit of COBOL source code that can be separately compiled: a
program or a class definition. Also known as 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 (decimal point) |
| ; |
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 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 COBOL 85
- The COBOL language defined by the ANSI and ISO standards .
- Standard COBOL 2002
- The COBOL language defined by the following standards:
- INCITS/ISO/IEC 1989-2002, Information Technology - Programming
Languages - COBOL
- ISO/IEC 1989:2002, Information technology -- Programming languages
-- COBOL
- * statement
- A COBOL language construct that specifies one or more actions
to be performed. Statements can be procedural statements or compiler-directing
statements. An example of a procedural statement is the ADD statement;
an example of a compiler-directing statement is the USE statement.
- STL file system
- The standard language file system is the native workstation file
system for COBOL and PL/I. This system supports sequential, relative,
and indexed files.
- 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 inheriting class; the superclass is the inherited class.
A
subclass is also referred to as a child class or derived 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
- Any called program.
- * subscript
- An occurrence number 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.
- superclass
- A class that is inherited by another class. When two classes in
an inheritance relationship are considered together, the subclass
is the inheriting class; the superclass is the inherited class.
The
superclass is also referred to as the parent class.
- 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 the OCCURS 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 COBOL source code. A text word can be:
- 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 unit, 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.
- trailer-label
- (1) A file label that follows the data records on
a unit of recording medium. (2) Synonym for end-of-file label.
- * 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
- An object reference data item that can reference only an object
of a specified class or one 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.
- Unicode
- A coded character set that encodes all the characters required
for the written expression of any of the languages of the modern world.
There are multiple formats for representing Unicode, including UTF-8,
UTF-16, and UTF-32. COBOL for AIX supports
Unicode using UTF-16 big-endian format as the representation for
the national data type.
- unit
- A module of direct access, the dimensions of which are determined
by IBM.
- universal object reference
- An object reference data item that can contain a reference to
an object of any class.
- * unsuccessful execution
- The attempted execution of a statement that does not result in
the execution of all the operations specified by that statement.
- UPSI switch
- A program switch that performs the functions of a hardware switch.
Eight are provided: UPSI-0 through UPSI-7.
- * user-defined word
- A COBOL word that must be supplied by the user to satisfy the
format of a clause or statement. The maximum length of a user-defined
word is 30 bytes.
V
- * variable
- A data item whose value can be changed by the application at run
time.
- variable-length item
- A group item that contains a table described with the DEPENDING
phrase of the OCCURS 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 which 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 level-01 record. A variably located
group 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 level-01 record.
- 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 procedures executed automatically when the end of a unit
or reel has been reached before end-of-file has been reached.
W
- white space characters
- Characters that introduce space into a document. They are:
- Space
- Horizontal tabulation
- Carriage return
- Line feed
- Next line
as named in the Unicode Standard.
- windowed date field
- A date field containing a windowed (two-digit) year. See also date
field and windowed year.
- windowed year
- A date field that consists only of a two-digit year. This two-digit
year can be interpreted using a century window. For example, 05 could
be interpreted as 2005. See also century window. Compare with expanded
year.
- * word
- A character-string 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 describes working-storage
data items, composed either of noncontiguous items or working-storage
records, or both.
X
- XML
- Extensible Markup Language. A 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
- Transmit and share structured information across diverse computing
systems
XML is being 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.
Z
- zoned decimal data item
- A data item described by a PICTURE character-string
that contains valid combinations of picture symbols 9, S, P, and V.
A zoned decimal data item is an external decimal data item that has
usage DISPLAY. See external decimal data item and national
decimal data item.