Glossary

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.

glossary.html

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 - COBOL - Intrinsic Function Module for COBOL, and ANSI INCITS 23b-1993, Programming Languages - Correction Amendment for COBOL
  • ISO 1989:1985, Programming languages - COBOL, as amended by ISO/IEC 1989/AMD1:1992, Programming languages - COBOL: Intrinsic function module
  • ANSI X3.172-2002, American National Standard Dictionary for Information Systems
  • INCITS/ISO/IEC 1989-2002, Information technology - Programming languages - COBOL
  • INCITS/ISO/IEC 1989:2014, Information technology - Programming languages, their environments and system software interfaces - Programming language COBOL

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 a 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.
actual document encoding
For an XML document, one of the following encoding categories that the XML parser determines by examining the first few bytes of the document:
  • ASCII
  • EBCDIC
  • UTF-8
  • UTF-16, either big-endian or little-endian
  • Other unsupported encoding
  • No recognizable encoding
Linux® native file system
Any of the local or network file systems that directly support encoded or binary stream files.

The Linux native file systems support line-sequential files directly, and are used as the file store for all the other COBOL file types.

* alphabet-name
A user-defined word, in the SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph of the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION, that assigns a name to a specific character set or collating sequence or both.
* alphabetic character
A letter or a space character.
alphabetic data item
A data item that is 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 single-byte character set of the computer.
alphanumeric character position
See character position.
alphanumeric data item
A general reference to a data item that is described implicitly or explicitly as USAGE DISPLAY, and that has category alphanumeric, alphanumeric-edited, or numeric-edited.
alphanumeric-edited data item
A data item that is described by a PICTURE character string that contains at least one instance of the 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 whose value is composed of a string of one or more characters from the alphanumeric character set of the computer.
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 as 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, or INITIALIZE, 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', or Z". The string of characters 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 that consists of producers, consumers, and general-interest groups and 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 statement, used for passing values to a called program.
* 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 ADD, COMPUTE, DIVIDE, MULTIPLY, and SUBTRACT.
array
An aggregate that consists of data objects, each of which can be uniquely referenced by subscripting. An array is roughly analogous to a COBOL table.
* 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. The standard code uses a coded character set that is based on 7-bit coded characters (8 bits including parity check). The standard is 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-based multibyte code page
A UTF-8, EUC, or ASCII DBCS code page. Each ASCII-based multibyte code page includes both single-byte and multibyte characters. The encoding of the single-byte characters is the ASCII encoding.
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 but no physical representation.
AT END condition
A condition that is caused during the execution of a READ, RETURN, or SEARCH statement under certain conditions:
  • A READ statement runs on 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.
  • A RETURN statement runs when no next logical record exists for the associated sort or merge file.
  • A SEARCH statement runs 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 the 85 COBOL Standard.

big-endian
The default format that the mainframe and the Linux workstation use to store binary data and UTF-16 characters. In this format, the least significant byte of a binary data item is at the highest address and the least significant byte of a UTF-16 character is at the highest address. Compare with little-endian.
binary item
A numeric data item that is represented in binary notation (on the base 2 numbering system). The decimal equivalent consists 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. Synonymous with physical record.
boolean condition
A boolean condition determines whether a boolean literal is true or false. A boolean condition can only be used in a constant conditional expression.
boolean literal
Can be either B'1', indicating a true value, or B'0', indicating a false value. Boolean literals can only be used in constant conditional expressions.
breakpoint
A place in a computer program, usually specified by an instruction, where external intervention or a monitor program can interrupt the program as it runs.
buffer
A portion of storage that is used to hold input or output data temporarily.
built-in function
See intrinsic function.
byte
A string that consists of a certain number of bits, usually eight, treated as a unit, and representing a character or a control function.
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.
bytecode
Machine-independent code that is generated by the Java™ compiler and executed by the Java interpreter. (Oracle)

C

called program
A program that is the object of a CALL statement. At run time the called program and calling program are combined to produce a run unit.
* calling program
A program that executes a CALL to another program.
case structure
A program-processing logic in which a series of conditions is tested in order to choose between a number of resulting actions.
CCSID
See coded character set identifier.
century window
A 100-year interval within which any two-digit year is unique. Several types of century window are available to COBOL programmers:
  • For windowed date fields, you use the YEARWINDOW compiler option.
  • For the windowing intrinsic functions DATE-TO-YYYYMMDD, DAY-TO-YYYYDDD, and YEAR-TO-YYYY, you specify the century window with 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 to hold or present 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
A collection of elements that are used to represent textual information, but for which no coded representation is assumed. See also coded character set.
character string
A sequence of contiguous characters that form a COBOL word, a literal, a PICTURE character string, or a comment-entry. A character string 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
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. Classes can be defined hierarchically, allowing one class to inherit from another.
* 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-name (of data)
A user-defined word that is defined in the SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph of the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION; this word assigns a name to the proposition (for which a truth value can be defined) that the content of a data item consists exclusively of the characters that are 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
The set of characters used in writing COBOL syntax. The complete COBOL character set consists of these characters:
Character Meaning
0,1, . . . ,9 Digit
A,B, . . . ,Z Uppercase letter
a,b, . . . ,z Lowercase letter
  Space
+ Plus sign
- Minus sign (hyphen)
* Asterisk
/ Slant (forward slash)
= Equal sign
$ Currency sign
, Comma
; Semicolon
. Period (decimal point, full stop)
" Quotation mark
' Apostrophe
( Left parenthesis
) Right parenthesis
> Greater than
< Less than
: Colon
_ Underscore
* COBOL word
See word.
code page
An assignment of graphic characters and control function meanings to all code points. For example, one code page could assign characters and meanings to 256 code points for 8-bit code, and another code page could assign characters and meanings to 128 code points for 7-bit code. For example, one of the IBM code pages for English on the workstation is IBM-1252 and on the host is IBM-1047.
code point
A unique bit pattern that is defined in a coded character set (code page). Graphic symbols and control characters are assigned to code points.
coded character set
A set of unambiguous rules that establish a character set and the relationship between the characters of the set and their coded representation. Examples of coded character sets are the character sets as represented by ASCII or EBCDIC code pages or by the UTF-16 encoding scheme for Unicode.
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. See also condition and negated combined condition.
* 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, can 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 only of a windowed year, DATE FORMAT YY.
    • Both are expanded date fields, where one consists only of an expanded year, DATE FORMAT YYYY.
    • One has DATE FORMAT YYXXXX, and the other has YYXX.
    • One has DATE FORMAT YYYYXXXX, and the other has YYYYXX.

    A windowed date field can be subordinate to a data item that is an expanded date group. 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
* compile
(1) To translate a program expressed in a high-level language into a program expressed in an intermediate language, assembly language, or a computer language. (2) To prepare a machine-language program from a computer program written in another programming language by making use of the overall logic structure of the program, or generating more than one computer instruction for each symbolic statement, or both, as well as performing the function of an assembler.
compilation variable
A symbolic name for a particular literal value or the value of a compile-time arithmetic expression as specified by the DEFINE directive or by the DEFINE compiler option.
* compile time
The time at which COBOL source code is translated, by a COBOL compiler, to a COBOL object program.
compile-time arithmetic expression
A subset of arithmetic expressions that are specified in the DEFINE and EVALUATE directives or in a constant conditional expression. The difference between compile-time arithmetic expressions and regular arithmetic expressions is that in a compile-time arithmetic expression:
  • The exponentiation operator shall not be specified.
  • All operands shall be integer numeric literals or arithmetic expressions in which all operands are integer numeric literals.
  • The expression shall be specified in such a way that a division by zero does not occur.
compiler
A program that translates source code written in a higher-level language into machine-language object code.
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 Linux supports the CALLINTERFACE compiler directive, as well as Conditional compilation compiler directives (DEFINE, EVALUATE, and IF).
* complex condition
A condition in which one or more logical operators act upon one or more conditions. See also condition, negated simple condition, and negated combined condition.
complex ODO
Certain forms of the OCCURS DEPENDING ON clause:
  • Variably located item or group: A data item described by an OCCURS clause with the DEPENDING ON option is followed by a nonsubordinate data item or group. The group can be an alphanumeric group or a national group.
  • Variably located table: A data item described by an OCCURS clause with the DEPENDING ON option is followed by a nonsubordinate data item described by an OCCURS clause.
  • Table with variable-length elements: A data item described by an OCCURS clause contains a subordinate data item described by an OCCURS clause with the DEPENDING ON option.
  • Index name for a table with variable-length elements.
  • Element of a table with variable-length elements.
component
(1) A functional grouping of related files. (2) In object-oriented programming, a reusable object or program that performs a specific function and is designed to work with other components and applications. JavaBeans is Oracle's architecture for creating components.
* computer-name
A system-name that identifies the computer where the program is to be compiled or run.
condition (exception)
Any alteration to the normal programmed flow of an application. Conditions can be detected by the hardware or the operating system and result in an interrupt. They can also be detected by language-specific generated code or language library code.
condition (expression)
A status of data at run time for which a truth value can be determined. Where used in this information in or in reference to condition (condition-1, condition-2,. . .) of a general format, the term refers to a conditional expression that consists 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. See also simple condition, complex condition, negated simple condition, combined condition, and negated combined condition.
* 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 phrase that specifies the action to be taken upon determination of the truth value of a condition that results from the execution of a conditional statement.
* conditional statement
A statement that specifies that the truth value of a condition is to be determined and that the subsequent action of the object program depends 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 can 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.
CONSOLE
A COBOL environment-name associated with the operator console.
constant conditional expression
A subset of conditional expressions that may be used in IF directives or WHEN phrases of the EVALUATE directives.
A constant conditional expression shall be one of the following items:
  • A relation condition in which both operands are literals or arithmetic expressions that contain only literal terms. The condition shall follow the rules for relation conditions, with the following additions:
    • The operands shall be of the same category. An arithmetic expression is of the category numeric.
    • If literals are specified and they are not numeric literals, the relational operator shall be “IS EQUAL TO”, “IS NOT EQUAL TO”, “IS =”, “IS NOT =”, or “IS <>”.
    See also relation condition.
  • A defined condition. See also defined condition.
  • A boolean condition. See also boolean condition.
  • A complex condition formed by combining the above forms of simple conditions into complex conditions by using AND, OR, and NOT. Abbreviated combined relation conditions shall not be specified. See also complex condition.
contained program
A COBOL program that is nested within another COBOL program.
* contiguous items
Items that are described by consecutive entries in the DATA DIVISION, and that bear a definite hierarchic relationship to each other.
copybook
A file or library member that contains a sequence of code that is included in the source program at compile time using the COPY statement. The file can be created by the user, supplied by COBOL, or supplied by another product. Synonymous with copy file.
* 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.
cross-reference listing
The portion of the compiler listing that contains information on where files, fields, and indicators are defined, referenced, and modified in a program.
currency-sign value
A character string that identifies the monetary units stored in a numeric-edited item. Typical examples are $, USD, and EUR. A currency-sign value can be defined by either the CURRENCY compiler option or the CURRENCY SIGN clause in the SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph of the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION. If the CURRENCY SIGN clause is not specified and the NOCURRENCY compiler option is in effect, the dollar sign ($) 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 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 clause
A clause, appearing in a data description entry in the DATA DIVISION of a COBOL program, that provides information describing a particular attribute of a data item.
* data description entry
An entry in the DATA DIVISION of a COBOL program that is composed of a level-number followed by a data-name, if required, and then followed by a set of data clauses, as required.
DATA DIVISION
The division of a COBOL program that describes the data to be processed by the program: the files to be used and the records contained within them; internal WORKING-STORAGE records that will be needed; data to be made available in more than one program in the COBOL run unit.
* 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. 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 items:
  • 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 (COBOL for Linux on x86 Language Reference).

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 in either of the following ways:
  • 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 (COBOL for Linux on x86 Language Reference).
Db2® file system
The Db2 file system supports sequential, indexed, and relative files. It provides enhanced interoperation with CICS®, enabling batch COBOL programs to access CICS ESDS, KSDS, and RRDS files that are stored in Db2.
DBCS
See double-byte character set (DBCS).
DBCS character
Any character defined in IBM's double-byte character set.
DBCS character position
See character position.
DBCS data item
A data item that is 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
Any line with a D in the indicator area of the line.
* debugging section
A section that contains a USE FOR DEBUGGING statement.
* declarative sentence
A compiler-directing sentence that consists of a single USE statement terminated by the separator period.
* 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 key word DECLARATIVE and the last of which is followed by the key words 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 the unedited numeric value of the item.
defined condition
A compile-time condition that tests whether a compilation variable is defined. Defined conditions are specified in IF directives or WHEN phrases of the EVALUATE directives.
* 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 to refer 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 that is described implicitly or explicitly as USAGE DISPLAY and that has a PICTURE character string that describes an external floating-point data item.
* division
A collection of zero, one, or more sections or paragraphs, called the division body, that are formed and combined in accordance with a specific set of rules. Each division consists of the division header and the related division body. 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 construct
In structured programming, a DO statement is used to group a number of statements in a procedure. In COBOL, an inline PERFORM statement functions in the same way.
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.
document type declaration
An XML element that contains or points to markup declarations that provide a grammar for a class of documents. This grammar is known as a document type definition, or DTD.
document type definition (DTD)
The grammar for a class of XML documents. See document type declaration.
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)
A set of characters in which each character is represented by 2 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 2 bytes, entering, displaying, and printing DBCS characters requires hardware and supporting software that are DBCS-capable.
DWARF
DWARF was developed by the UNIX International Programming Languages Special Interest Group (SIG). It is designed to meet the symbolic, source-level debugging needs of different languages in a unified fashion by supplying language-independent debugging information. A DWARF file contains debugging data organized into different elements. For more information, see DWARF program information in the DWARF/ELF Extensions Library Reference.
* 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.
dynamic CALL
A CALL literal statement in a program that has been compiled with the DYNAM option, or a CALL identifier statement in a program.

E

* EBCDIC (Extended Binary-Coded Decimal Interchange Code)
A coded character set based on 8-bit coded characters.
EBCDIC character
Any one of the symbols included in the EBCDIC (Extended Binary-Coded-Decimal Interchange Code) set.
EBCDIC DBCS
See double-byte EBCDIC.
edited data item
A data item that has been modified by suppressing zeros or inserting editing characters or both.
* 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)
/ Slant (forward slash)
element (text element)
One logical unit of a string of text, such as the description of a single data item or verb, preceded by a unique code identifying the element type.
* elementary item
A data item that is described as not being further logically subdivided.
CICS SFS file system
See SFS file system.
encoding unit
See character encoding unit.
* end of PROCEDURE DIVISION
The physical position of a COBOL source program 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 terminated by a separator period and written in the IDENTIFICATION DIVISION, ENVIRONMENT DIVISION, or DATA DIVISION of a COBOL program.
* environment clause
A clause that appears as part of an ENVIRONMENT DIVISION entry.
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
One of the four main component parts of a COBOL program. The ENVIRONMENT DIVISION describes the computers where the source program is compiled and those where the object program 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, program switches or all of these. When an environment-name is associated with a mnemonic-name in the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION, the mnemonic-name can 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.
exponent
A number that indicates the power to which another number (the base) is to be raised. Positive exponents denote multiplication; negative exponents denote division; and 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.
extensions
COBOL syntax and semantics supported by IBM compilers in addition to those described in the 85 COBOL Standard.
external code page
For ASCII or UTF-8 XML documents, the code page indicated by the current runtime locale. For EBCDIC XML documents, either:
  • The code page specified in the EBCDIC_CODEPAGE environment variable
  • The default EBCDIC code page selected for the current runtime locale if the EBCDIC_CODEPAGE environment variable is not set
* external data
The data that is 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 can be referenced from any program in which it is described.
* external data record
A logical record that is described in one or more programs of a run unit and whose constituent data items can be referenced from any program in which they are described.
external decimal data item
See zoned decimal data item and national decimal data item.
* external file connector
A file connector that is accessible to one or more object programs in the run unit.
external floating-point data item
See display floating-point data item and national floating-point data item.
external program
The outermost program. A program that is not nested.
* 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

* 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 clause
A clause that appears as part of any of the following DATA DIVISION entries: file description entry (FD entry) and sort-merge file description entry (SD entry).
* file connector
A storage area that 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 that 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 file clauses as required.
* 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 that conform to a specific set of data-record and file-description protocols, and a set of programs that manage these files.
* fixed file attributes
Information about a file that is established when a file is created and that 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 comment indicators (*>)
A floating comment indicator indicates a comment line if it is the first character string in the program-text area (Area A plus Area B), or indicates an inline comment if it is after one or more character strings in the program-text area.
floating point
A format for representing numbers in which a real number is represented by a pair of distinct numerals. In a 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 data item
A numeric data item that contains 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 that the exponent specifies.
* 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 data item
A data item in which a pointer to an entry point can be stored. A data item defined with the USAGE IS FUNCTION-POINTER clause contains the address of a function entry point. Typically used to communicate with C and Java programs.

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 files; each such file is called a generation data set (GDS) or generation.
generation data set (GDS)
One of the files in a generation data group (GDG); each such file is chronologically related to the other files in the group.
* global name
A name that is declared in only one program but that can be referenced from the program and from any program contained within the 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. 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 label that precedes the data records in a unit of recording media. (2) Synonym for beginning-of-file label.
* high-order end
The leftmost character of a string of characters.
host alphanumeric data item
(Of XML documents) A category alphanumeric data item whose data description entry does not contain the NATIVE phrase, and that was compiled with the CHAR(EBCDIC) option in effect. The encoding for the data item is the EBCDIC code page in effect. This code page is determined from the EBCDIC_CODEPAGE environment variable, if set, otherwise from the default code page associated with the runtime locale.

I

IBM COBOL extension
COBOL syntax and semantics supported by IBM compilers in addition to those described in the 85 COBOL Standard.
ICU
See International Components for Unicode (ICU).
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION
One of the four main component parts of a COBOL program. The IDENTIFICATION DIVISION identifies the program, class. The IDENTIFICATION DIVISION can include the following documentation: author name, installation, or date.
* identifier
A syntactically correct combination of character strings and separators that names a data item. When referencing a data item that is not a function, an identifier consists of a data-name, together with its qualifiers, subscripts, and reference-modifier, as required for uniqueness of reference. When referencing a data item that is a function, a function-identifier is used.
* imperative statement
A statement that either begins with an imperative verb and specifies an unconditional action to be taken or is a conditional statement that is delimited by its explicit scope terminator (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
Synonymous with subscripting using index-names.
* index-name
A user-defined word that names an index associated with a specific table.
* 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 an object program 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 on individual records or on 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.
* 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 lets you readily build applications from component routines written in a variety of languages.
intermediate result
An intermediate field that contains the results of a succession of arithmetic operations.
* internal data
The data that is described in a program and excludes 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 that 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 as USAGE PACKED-DECIMAL or USAGE COMP-3, and that has a PICTURE character string that defines the item as numeric (a valid combination of symbols 9, S, P, or V). Synonymous with packed-decimal data item.
* internal file connector
A file connector that is accessible to only one object program in the run unit.
internal floating-point data item
A data item that is described as USAGE COMP-1 or USAGE 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.
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® and Linux.
* intrarecord data structure
The entire collection of groups and elementary data items from a logical record that a contiguous subset of the data description entries defines. These data description entries include all entries whose level-number is greater than the level-number of the first data description entry describing the intra-record data structure.
intrinsic function
A predefined function, such as a commonly used arithmetic function, called by a built-in function reference.
* 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 not valid.
* I-O-CONTROL
The name of an ENVIRONMENT DIVISION paragraph in which object program requirements for rerun points, sharing of same areas by several data files, and multiple file storage on a single input-output device are specified.
* I-O-CONTROL entry
An entry in the I-O-CONTROL paragraph of the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION; this entry contains clauses that provide information required for the transmission and handling of data on named files during the execution of a program.
* 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 that 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.
iteration structure
A program processing logic in which a series of statements is repeated while a condition is true or until a condition is true.

J

J2EE
See Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE).
Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE)
An environment for developing and deploying enterprise applications, defined by Oracle. The J2EE platform consists of a set of services, application programming interfaces (APIs), and protocols that provide the functionality for developing multitiered, Web-based applications. (Oracle)
Java Native Interface (JNI)
A programming interface that lets Java code that runs inside a Java virtual machine (JVM) interoperate with applications and libraries written in other programming languages.
Java virtual machine (JVM)
A software implementation of a central processing unit that runs compiled Java programs.
JSON
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data-interchange format.
JVM
See Java virtual machine (JVM).

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 that 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 context-sensitive word or a reserved word 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
A state that a program is in if its internal values remain the same as when the program was exited (the values are not reset to their initial values).
* letter
A character belonging to one of the following two sets:
  1. 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
  2. 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) that 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 the compiler is to use for compiling a given source program.
* 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.
link
(1) The combination of the link connection (the transmission medium) and two link stations, one at each end of the link connection. A link can be shared among multiple links in a multipoint or token-ring configuration. (2) To interconnect items of data or portions of one or more computer programs; for example, linking object programs by a linkage-editor to produce a shared library.
LINKAGE SECTION
The section in the DATA DIVISION of the called program that describes data items available from the calling program. Both the calling program and the called program can refer to these data items.
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 and UTF-16 characters. In this format, the most significant byte of a binary data item is at the highest address and the most significant byte of a UTF-16 character is at the highest address. Compare with 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 and 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 the 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. Synonymous with record.
* low-order end
The rightmost character of a string of characters.
LSQ file system
The LSQ file system supports only LINE SEQUENTIAL files.

M

main program
In a hierarchy of programs and subroutines, the first program that receives control when the programs are run within a process.
makefile
A text file that contains a list of the files for your application. The make utility uses this file to update the target files with the latest changes.
* mass storage
A storage medium in which data can be organized and maintained in both a sequential manner and a nonsequential manner.
* mass storage device
A device that has a large storage capacity, such as a magnetic disk.
* mass storage file
A collection of records that is stored in a mass storage medium.
MBCS
See multibyte character set (MBCS).
* megabyte (MB)
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.
* mnemonic-name
A user-defined word that is associated in the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION with a specified implementor-name.
module definition file
A file that describes the code segments within a load module.
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: EUC (Extended Unix Code), UTF-8, and character sets composed of a mixture of single-byte and double-byte EBCDIC or ASCII characters.
multitasking
A mode of operation that provides for the concurrent, or interleaved, execution of two or more tasks.
multithreading
Concurrent operation of more than one path of execution within a computer. Synonymous with multiprocessing.

N

name
A word (composed of not more than 30 characters) that defines a COBOL operand.
namespace
See XML namespace.
national character
(1) A UTF-16 character in a USAGE NATIONAL data item or national literal. (2) 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 category national, national-edited, or numeric-edited of USAGE NATIONAL.
national decimal data item
An external decimal data item that is described implicitly or explicitly as USAGE NATIONAL and that contains a valid combination of PICTURE symbols 9, S, P, and V.
national-edited data item
A data item that is described by a PICTURE character string that contains at least one instance of the symbol N and at least one of the simple insertion symbols B, 0, or /. A national-edited data item has USAGE NATIONAL.
national floating-point data item
An external floating-point data item that is described implicitly or explicitly as USAGE NATIONAL and that has a PICTURE character string that describes a floating-point data item.
national group item
A group item that is explicitly or implicitly described with a GROUP-USAGE NATIONAL clause. A national group item is processed as though it were defined as an elementary data item of category national for operations such as INSPECT, STRING, and UNSTRING. This processing ensures correct padding and truncation of national characters, as contrasted with defining USAGE NATIONAL data items 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, a national group is processed using group semantics.
native alphanumeric data item
(Of XML documents) A category alphanumeric data item that is described with the NATIVE phrase, or that was compiled with the CHAR(NATIVE) option in effect. The encoding for the data item is the ASCII or UTF-8 code page of the runtime locale in effect.
* 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. See also condition and combined condition.
* negated simple condition
The NOT logical operator immediately followed by a simple condition. See also condition and 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 SECTION and LINKAGE SECTION that bear no hierarchic relationship to other data items.
nondate
Any of the following items:
  • 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 is used to assign, to pointer data items, the value of an address that is not valid. 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 0 through 9. If signed, the item can also contain a +, -, or other representation of an operational sign. (2) A data item of category numeric, internal floating-point, or external floating-point. 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. The data item 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 item can be represented in either USAGE DISPLAY or USAGE NATIONAL.
* numeric function
A function whose class and category are numeric but that for some possible evaluation does not satisfy the requirements of integer functions.
* numeric literal
A literal composed of one or more numeric characters that can contain 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 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, where the object program is run, is described.
* object computer entry
An entry in the OBJECT-COMPUTER paragraph of the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION; this entry contains clauses that describe the computer environment in which the object program is to be executed.
* 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 definition. Where there is no danger of ambiguity, the word program can be used in place of object program.
* object time
The time at which an object program is executed. Synonymous with run time.
* obsolete element
A COBOL language element in the 85 COBOL Standard that was deleted from the 2002 COBOL Standard.
ODBC
See Open Database Connectivity (ODBC).
ODO object
In the example below, X is the object of the OCCURS DEPENDING ON clause (ODO object).

WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
01  TABLE-1.
    05  X                   PIC S9.
    05  Y OCCURS 3 TIMES
          DEPENDING ON X    PIC X.

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 Database Connectivity (ODBC)
A specification for an application programming interface (API) that provides access to data in a variety of databases and file systems.
* 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
(1) The general definition of operand is the component that is operated upon. (2) For the purposes of this document, any lowercase word (or words) that appears in a statement or entry format can be considered to be an operand and, as such, is an implied reference to the data indicated by the operand.
operation
A service that can be requested of an object.
* operational sign
An algebraic sign that is 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 run.
* optional word
A reserved word that is included in a specific format only to improve the readability of the language. Its 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 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.

P

packed-decimal data item
See internal decimal data item.
padding character
An alphanumeric or national character that is used to fill the unused character positions in a physical record.
page
A vertical division of output data that represents a physical separation of the data. The separation is based on internal logical requirements or external characteristics of the output medium or both.
* page body
That part of the logical page in which lines can be written or spaced or both.
* paragraph
In the PROCEDURE DIVISION, a paragraph-name followed by a separator period and by zero, one, or more sentences. In the IDENTIFICATION DIVISION and ENVIRONMENT DIVISION, 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 in the IDENTIFICATION DIVISION and ENVIRONMENT DIVISION. The permissible paragraph headers in the IDENTIFICATION DIVISION are:
PROGRAM-ID. (Program IDENTIFICATION 
   DIVISION)
AUTHOR.
INSTALLATION.
DATE-WRITTEN.
DATE-COMPILED.
SECURITY.

The permissible paragraph headers in the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION are:

SOURCE-COMPUTER.
OBJECT-COMPUTER.
SPECIAL-NAMES.
REPOSITORY. (Program
   CONFIGURATION SECTION)
FILE-CONTROL.
I-O-CONTROL.
* paragraph-name
A user-defined word that identifies and begins a paragraph in the PROCEDURE DIVISION.
parameter
Data passed between a calling program and a called program.
* 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.
port
(1) To modify a computer program to enable it to run on a different platform. (2) In the Internet suite of protocols, a specific logical connector between the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and a higher-level protocol or application. A port is identified by a port number.
portability
The ability to transfer an application program from one application platform to another with relatively few changes to the source program.
* 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. Segment numbers can contain only the characters 0 through 9. A segment number can be expressed as either one or two digits.
* 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 code. The procedure branching statements are: ALTER, CALL, EXIT, EXIT PROGRAM, GO TO, MERGE (with the OUTPUT PROCEDURE phrase), PERFORM and SORT (with the INPUT PROCEDURE or OUTPUT PROCEDURE phrase), XML PARSE.
PROCEDURE DIVISION
The COBOL division that contains instructions for solving a problem.
procedure integration
One of the functions of the COBOL optimizer is to simplify calls to performed procedures or contained programs.

PERFORM procedure integration is the process whereby a PERFORM statement is replaced by its performed procedures. Contained program procedure integration is the process where a call to a contained program is replaced by the program code.

* 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.
procedure-pointer data item
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.  Typically used to communicate with COBOL programs.
process
The course of events that occurs during the execution of all or part of a program. Multiple processes can run concurrently, and programs that run within a process can share resources.
program
(1) A sequence of instructions suitable for processing by a computer. Processing may include the use of a compiler to prepare the program for execution, as well as a runtime environment to execute it. (2) A logical assembly of one or more interrelated modules. Multiple copies of the same program can be run in different processes.
* program identification entry
In the PROGRAM-ID paragraph of the IDENTIFICATION DIVISION, an entry that contains clauses that specify the program-name and assign selected program attributes to the program.
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.
project
The complete set of data and actions that are required to build a target, such as a dynamic link library (DLL) or other executable (EXE).
* pseudo-text
A sequence of text words, comment lines, or the separator space in a source program 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.
QSAM file system
The QSAM (Queued Sequential Access Method) file system supports fixed, variable, and spanned records, and it enables you to directly access a QSAM file that you transferred (using z/OS® FTP) from z/OS to AIX or Linux with the options binary and quote site rdw. A QSAM file supports all COBOL data types in the record.
* 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 that 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. Synonymous with record description.
record key
A key whose contents identify a record within an indexed file.
record-key-name
A user-defined word that names a key associated with 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 one of its called programs.
recursively capable
A program is recursively capable (can be called recursively) if the RECURSIVE attribute is on the PROGRAM-ID statement.
reel
A discrete portion of a storage medium, the dimensions of which are determined by each implementor that contains part of a file, all of a file, or any number of files. Synonymous with unit and volume.
reentrant
The attribute of a program or routine that lets more than one user share a single copy of a load module.
* reference format
A format that provides a standard method for describing COBOL source programs.
reference modification
A method of defining a new category alphanumeric, category DBCS, or category national data item by specifying the leftmost character and length relative to the leftmost character position of a USAGE DISPLAY, DISPLAY-1, or NATIONAL 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 logical ordinal position of the record 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 that is specified in the list of words that can be used in a COBOL source program, but that must not appear in the program as a user-defined word or system-name.
* resource
A facility or service, controlled by the operating system, that an executing program can use.
* 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 or variable-length records, can be edited by most file editors, and can be read by programs written in other languages. This system only supports sequential files.
* run time
The time at which an object program is executed. 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 by means of COBOL CALL statements and function at run time as an entity.

S

SBCS
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 (separator period).
* 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 in any of these divisions: ENVIRONMENT, DATA, or PROCEDURE. In the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION and DATA DIVISION, a section header is composed of reserved words followed by a separator period. The permissible section headers in the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION are:

CONFIGURATION SECTION.
INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION.

The permissible section headers in the DATA DIVISION are:


FILE SECTION.
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
LOCAL-STORAGE SECTION.
LINKAGE SECTION.

In the PROCEDURE DIVISION, a section header is composed of a section-name, followed by the reserved word SECTION, followed by a separator period.

* section-name
A user-defined word that names a section in the PROCEDURE DIVISION.
segmentation

Refers to the 85 COBOL Standard segmentation module. This feature has been obsoleted and removed from subsequent COBOL Standard versions and is not supported in COBOL for Linux.

selection structure
A program processing logic in which one or another series of statements is executed, depending on whether a condition is true or false.
* 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.
sequence structure
A program processing logic in which a series of statements is executed in sequential order.
* 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.
SFS file system
The CICS Structured File Server file system is a record-oriented file system that supports sequential, relative, and key-indexed file access.
shared library
A library created by the linker that contains at least one subroutine that can be used by multiple processes. Programs and subroutines are linked as usual, but the code common to different subroutines is combined in one library file that can be loaded at run time and shared by many programs. A key to identify the shared library file is in the header of each subroutine.
* 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 an operation and its parameters.
* simple condition
Any single condition chosen from this set:
  • Relation condition
  • Class condition
  • Condition-name condition
  • Switch-status condition
  • Sign condition

See also condition and negated simple condition.

single-byte character set (SBCS)
A set of characters in which each character is represented by a single byte. See also ASCII and 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 by a set of file clauses as required.
* SOURCE-COMPUTER
The name of an ENVIRONMENT DIVISION paragraph in which the computer environment, where the source program is compiled, is described.
* source computer entry
An entry in the SOURCE-COMPUTER paragraph of the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION; this entry contains clauses that describe the computer environment in which the source program is to be compiled.
* source item
An identifier designated by a SOURCE clause that provides the value of a printable item.
source program
Although a source program can be represented by other forms and symbols, in this document the term always refers to a syntactically correct set of COBOL statements. A COBOL source program commences with the IDENTIFICATION DIVISION or a COPY statement and terminates with the end program marker, if specified, or with the absence of additional source program lines.
source unit
A unit of COBOL source code that can be separately compiled: a program. Also known as a 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
; 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 names entry
An entry in the SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph of the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION; this entry provides means for specifying the currency sign; choosing the decimal point; specifying symbolic characters; relating implementor-names to user-specified mnemonic-names; relating alphabet-names to character sets or collating sequences; and relating class-names to sets of characters.
* 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.
* statement
A syntactically valid combination of words, literals, and separators, beginning with a verb, written in a COBOL source program.
STL file system
The standard language file system is the native workstation file system for COBOL. 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.
* 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
See called program.
* subscript
An occurrence number that is 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.
substitution character
A character that is used in a conversion from a source code page to a target code page to represent a character that is not defined in the target code page.
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.
SYSADATA
A file of additional compilation information that is produced if the ADATA compiler option is in effect.
SYSIN
The primary compiler input file or files.
SYSLIB
The secondary compiler input file or files, which are processed if the LIB compiler option is in effect.
SYSPRINT
The compiler listing file.
* 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-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 a COBOL library, source program, or pseudo-text that is any of the following characters:
  • 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 program, 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.
thread
A stream of computer instructions (initiated by an application within a process) that is in control of a process.
token
In the COBOL editor, a unit of meaning in a program. A token can contain data, a language keyword, an identifier, or other part of the language syntax.
top-down design
The design of a computer program using a hierarchic structure in which related functions are performed at each level of the structure.
top-down development
See structured programming.
trailer-label
(1) A label that follows the data records on a unit of recording medium. (2) Synonym for end-of-file label.
troubleshoot
To detect, locate, and eliminate problems in using computer software.
* truth value
The representation of the result of the evaluation of a condition in terms of one of two values: true or false.

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 universal character encoding standard that supports the interchange, processing, and display of text that is written in any of the languages of the modern world. There are multiple encoding schemes to represent Unicode, including UTF-8, UTF-16, and UTF-32. COBOL for Linux supports Unicode using UTF-16 in little-endian format as the representation for the national data type.
Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)
A sequence of characters that uniquely names a resource; in COBOL for Linux, the identifier of a namespace. URI syntax is defined by the document Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax.
unit
A module of direct access, the dimensions of which are determined by IBM.
* unsuccessful execution
The attempted execution of a statement that does not result in the execution of all the operations specified by that statement. The unsuccessful execution of a statement does not affect any data referenced by that statement, but can affect status indicators.
UPSI switch
A program switch that performs the functions of a hardware switch. Eight are provided: UPSI-0 through UPSI-7.
URI
See Uniform Resource Identifier (URI).
* user-defined word
A COBOL word that must be supplied by the user to satisfy the format of a clause or statement.

V

* variable
A data item whose value can be changed by execution of the object program. A variable used in an arithmetic expression must be a numeric elementary item.
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 that 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 record. The group item 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 record.
* verb
A word that expresses an action to be taken by a COBOL compiler or object program.
volume
A module of external storage. For tape devices it is a reel; for direct-access devices it is a unit.
VSAM file system
A file system that supports COBOL sequential, relative, and indexed organizations.
VSAM
A generic term for the STL file system or SFS file system.

W

web service
A modular application that performs specific tasks and is accessible through open protocols like HTTP and SOAP.
white space
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, 10 could be interpreted as 2010. See also century window. Compare with expanded year.
* word
A character string of not more than 30 characters 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 of both.
workstation
A generic term for computers, including personal computers, 3270 terminals, intelligent workstations, and UNIX terminals. Often a workstation is connected to a mainframe or to a network.
wrapper
An object that provides an interface between object-oriented code and procedure-oriented code. Using wrappers lets programs be reused and accessed by other systems.

X

x
The symbol in a PICTURE clause that can hold any character in the character set of the computer.
XML
Extensible Markup Language. A standard 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, and transmit and share structured information across diverse computing systems. The use of XML does not require the robust applications and processing that is necessary for SGML. XML is 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.

Y

year field expansion
Explicit expansion of date fields that contain two-digit years to contain four-digit years in files and databases, and then use of these fields in expanded form in programs. This is the only method for assuring reliable date processing for applications that have used two-digit years.

Z

zoned decimal data item
An external decimal data item that is described implicitly or explicitly as USAGE DISPLAY and that contains a valid combination of PICTURE symbols 9, S, P, and V. The content of a zoned decimal data item is represented in characters 0 through 9, optionally with a sign. If the PICTURE string specifies a sign and the SIGN IS SEPARATE clause is specified, the sign is represented as characters + or -. If SIGN IS SEPARATE is not specified, the sign is one hexadecimal digit that overlays the first 4 bits of the sign position (leading or trailing).

#

77-level-description-entry
A data description entry that describes a noncontiguous data item that has level-number 77.
85 COBOL Standard
The COBOL language defined by the following standards:
  • ANSI INCITS 23-1985, Programming languages - COBOL, as amended by ANSI INCITS 23a-1989, Programming Languages - COBOL - Intrinsic Function Module for COBOL
  • ISO 1989:1985, Programming languages - COBOL, as amended by ISO/IEC 1989/AMD1:1992, Programming languages - COBOL: Intrinsic function module
2002 COBOL Standard
The COBOL language defined by the following standard:
  • INCITS/ISO/IEC 1989-2002, Information technology - Programming languages - COBOL
2014 COBOL Standard
The COBOL language defined by the following standard:
  • INCITS/ISO/IEC 1989:2014, Information technology - Programming languages, their environments and system software interfaces - Programming language COBOL