Describing the computing environment

In the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION of a program, you describe the aspects of the program that depend on the computing environment.

About this task

Use the CONFIGURATION SECTION to specify the following items:

Use the FILE-CONTROL and I-O-CONTROL paragraphs of the INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION to:

  • Identify and describe the characteristics of the files in the program.
  • Associate your files with the corresponding system file-name, directly or indirectly.
  • Optionally identify the file system (for example, SFS or STL) that is associated with a file. You can also do so at run time.
  • Provide information about how the files are accessed.

Example: FILE-CONTROL paragraph

Related references  
Sections and paragraphs (COBOL for Linux® on x86 Language Reference)