In the calling program, describe arguments in the DATA DIVISION in the same manner as other data items in the DATA DIVISION.
Storage for arguments is allocated only in the outermost program. For example, program A calls program B, which calls program C. Data items are allocated in program A. They are described in the LINKAGE SECTION of programs B and C, making the one set of data available to all three programs.
If you reference data in a file, the file must be open when the data is referenced.
Code the USING phrase of the CALL statement to pass the arguments. If you pass a data item BY VALUE, it must be an elementary item.
related references
The USING phrase (COBOL for AIX Language Reference)