Before you can parse an XML
document using an XML PARSE statement,
you must make the document available to your program.
Common methods of acquiring an XML document are
from a parameter to your program
or by reading the document from a file.
If the XML document that you want to parse is held in a file,
use ordinary COBOL facilities to place the document into a data
item in your program:
- A FILE-CONTROL entry to define the file to your program.
- An OPEN statement to open the file.
- READ statements to read all the records from the file into
a data item (either an elementary item of category
alphanumeric or national, or an alphanumeric or national group).
You can define the data item in the WORKING-STORAGE SECTION or
the LOCAL-STORAGE SECTION.
- Optionally, the STRING statement to string all of the separate records
together into one continuous stream, to remove extraneous blanks,
and to handle variable-length records.