Compiler limits

Enterprise COBOL has the following limits for programs and class definitions.

Although the COBOL compiler supports addressing various memory areas in a compile unit up to the limits described in this appendix, a complete application, typically consisting of multiple compile units, is still restricted by the amount of private storage available in the address space in which it runs. In other words, an application might run out of storage before reaching the described limits.

You can sum the length fields in the MAP (also requires either OFFSET or LIST) option output's PPA4 section for the static memory footprint of a compile unit. For automatic (local-storage) requirements, see Example: DSA memory map (stack storage map) section.

Example: DSA memory map (stack storage map) in the Enterprise COBOL Programming Guide.

In general, the maximum size of tables and of elementary alphanumeric data items in LP(64) is 2,147,483,646 bytes. See the table below for more details.

The LOCAL-STORAGE SECTION is allocated on the Language Environment® stack. Its total size is limited by the settings in the Language Environment as well as the requirements of internal variables used by the compiler. The actual limit available for COBOL programs is less than 2,147,483,646 bytes.

The Language Environment STACK64 runtime option controls the allocation of stack storage for AMODE 64 applications. The default value is STACK64(1M,1M,128M). Use this runtime option to specify the maximum size of the stack required by your application.

The WORKING-STORAGE SECTION is allocated on the Language Environment heap. Its total size is limited by the 64-bit storage capacity of the machine.

Table 1. **Compiler limits**
Language element	Compiler limit
Maximum length of alphanumeric literals	160 bytes
Maximum length of user-defined words (for example, `data-name`, `file-name`, `class-name`)	30 bytes
Size of program	999,999 lines With `SOURCE(DEC)`: 999,999 lines With `SOURCE(HEX)`: 16,777,215 lines
Size of the following data types: USAGE IS INDEX USAGE IS POINTER USAGE IS FUNCTION-POINTER USAGE IS OBJECT-REFERENCE	With LP(32): 4 bytes With LP(64): 8 bytes
Size of the following data types: USAGE IS PROCEDURE-POINTER	With LP(32): 8 bytes With LP(64): 8 bytes
LENGTH OF special register	With LP(32): USAGE IS BINARY PICTURE 9(9) With LP(64): USAGE IS BINARY PICTURE 9(18)
ADDRESS OF special register	With LP(32): 4 bytes With LP(64): 8 bytes
Number of literals	4,194,303^{(Note 1)}
Total length of literals	4,194,303 bytes^{(Note 1)}
Reserved word table entries	1536
COPY REPLACING . . . BY . . . (items per COPY statement)	No limit
Number of COPY libraries	No limit
Block size of COPY library	32,760 bytes
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
Configuration section
Special-names paragraph
`mnemonic-name` IS	18
UPSI-`n` . . . (switches)	0-7
`alphabet-name` IS . . .	No limit
Literal THRU . . . or ALSO . . .	256
Input-Output section
File-control paragraph
SELECT `file-name` . . .	A maximum of 65,535 file names can be assigned external names
ASSIGN `system-name` . . .	No limit
ALTERNATE RECORD KEY `data-name` . . .	253
RECORD KEY length	No limit^{(Note 3)}
RESERVE `integer` (buffers)	255^{(Note 4)}
I-O-control paragraph
RERUN ON `system-name` . . .	32,767
RERUN `integer` RECORDS	16,777,215
SAME RECORD AREA	255
SAME RECORD AREA FOR `file-name` . . .	255
SAME SORT/MERGE AREA	No limit^{(Note 2)}
MULTIPLE FILE `file-name` . . .	No limit^{(Note 2)}
DATA DIVISION
77 data item size	With LP(32): 999,999,999 bytes With LP(64): 2,147,483,646 bytes
01-49 data item size	With LP(32): 999,999,999 bytes With LP(64): 2,147,483,646 bytes
Total 01 + 77 (data items)	No limit
88 condition-names . . .	No limit
88 level VALUE clause . . .	No limit
66 RENAMES . . .	No limit
PICTURE clause, number of characters in `character-string`	50
PICTURE clause, numeric item digit positions	With ARITH(COMPAT): 18 With ARITH(EXTEND): 31
PICTURE clause, numeric-edited character positions	249
Picture symbol replication ( )	With LP(32): 999,999,999 bytes With LP(64): 2,147,483,646 bytes
Picture symbol replication (editing)	32,767
Picture symbol replication ( ), class DBCS items	With LP(32): 499,999,999 bytes With LP(64): 1,073,741,823 bytes
Picture symbol replication ( ), class national items	With LP(32): 499,999,999 bytes With LP(64): 1,073,741,823 bytes
Elementary item size	With LP(32): 999,999,999 bytes With LP(64): 2,147,483,646 bytes
OCCURS integer	With LP(32): 999,999,999 bytes With LP(64): 2,147,483,646 bytes
Total number of ODOs	4,194,303^{(Note 1)}
Table size	With LP(32): 999,999,999 bytes With LP(64): 2,147,483,646 bytes
Table element size	With LP(32): 999,999,999 bytes With LP(64): 2,147,483,646 bytes
ASCENDING or DESCENDING KEY . . . (per OCCURS clause)	12 KEYS
Total length of keys (per OCCURS clause)	256 bytes
INDEXED BY . . . (index names per OCCURS clause)	12
Total number of indexes (index names) per class or program	65,535
Size of relative index	32,765
FILE SECTION
FD record description entry	1,048,575 bytes
FD `file-name` . . .	65,535
LABEL `data-name` . . . (if no optional clauses)	255
Label record length	80 bytes
BLOCK CONTAINS `integer`	2,147,483,647^{(Note 8)}
RECORD CONTAINS `integer`	1,048,575^{(Note 5)}
LINAGE clause values	99,999,999
SD `file-name` . . .	65,535
DATA RECORD `data-name` . . .	No limit^{(Note 2)}
LINKAGE SECTION
Total size	With LP(32): 2,147,483,646 bytes With LP(64): Unlimited, up to the available 64-bit addressing capacity of the machine.
LOCAL-STORAGE SECTION
Total size	With LP(32): 2,147,483,646 bytes With LP(64): 2,147,483,646 bytes
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION
Total size of items without the external attribute	With LP(32): 2,147,483,646 bytes With LP(64): Unlimited, up to the available 64-bit addressing capacity of the machine.
Total size of items with the external attribute	With LP(32): 2,147,483,646 bytes With LP(64): Unlimited, up to the available 64-bit addressing capacity of the machine.
PROCEDURE DIVISION
Procedure and constant area	4,194,303 bytes^{(Note 1)}
PROCEDURE DIVISION USING `identifier` . . .	32,767
Procedure-names	1,048,575^{(Note 1)}
Subscripted data-names per statement	32,767
Statements per line (TEST)	7
ACCEPT statement, record length on input device	32,760
ADD `identifier` . . .	No limit
ALTER `procedure-name-1` TO `procedure-name-2` . . .	4,194,303^{(Note 1)}
CALL . . . BY CONTENT `identifier`	2,147,483,647 bytes
CALL `identifier` or `literal` USING `identifier` or `literal` . . .	16,380
CALL `literal` . . .	4,194,303^{(Note 1)}
Active programs in a run unit	32,767
Number of names called (DYN option)	No limit
CANCEL `identifier` or `literal` . . .	No limit
CLOSE file-name . . .	No limit
COMPUTE `identifier` . . .	No limit
DISPLAY `identifier` or `literal` . . .	No limit
DIVIDE `identifier` . . .	No limit
ENTRY USING `identifier` or `literal` . . .	No limit
EVALUATE . . . subjects	64
EVALUATE . . . WHEN clauses	256
GO `procedure-name` . . . DEPENDING	255
INSPECT TALLYING and REPLACING clauses	No limit
MERGE `file-name` ASC or DES KEY . . .	No limit
Total merge key length	4,092 bytes^{(Note 6)}
MERGE USING `file-name` . . .	16^(Note 7)
MOVE `identifier` or `literal` TO `identifier` . . .	No limit
MULTIPLY `identifier` . . .	No limit
OPEN file-name . . .	No limit
PERFORM	4,194,303
PERFORM . . . TIMES `identifier` or `literal`	999,999,999
SEARCH ALL . . . maximum key length	No limit
SEARCH ALL . . . total length of keys	No limit
SEARCH . . . WHEN . . .	No limit
SET `index` or `identifier` . . . TO	No limit
SET `index` . . . UP/DOWN	No limit
SORT `file-name` ASC or DES KEY	No limit
Total sort key length	4,092 bytes^{(Note 6)}
SORT USING `file-name` . . .	16^(Note 7)
STRING `identifier` . . .	No limit
STRING DELIMITED `identifier` or `literal` . . .	No limit
UNSTRING DELIMITED `identifier` or `literal` . . .	No limit
UNSTRING INTO `identifier` or `literal` . . .	No limit
USE . . . ON `file-name` . . .	No limit
XML PARSE statement, maximum size of `identifier`	999,999,999 bytes
Intrinsic Function
LENGTH UPOS UVALID ULENGTH USUPPLEMENTARY	With LP(32): Return maximum 9-digit integer With LP(64): Return maximum 18-digit integer
Notes: Items included in 4,194,303 byte limit for procedure plus constant area. Syntax checked, but has no effect on the execution of the program; there is no limit. No compiler limit, but VSAM limits it to 255 bytes. QSAM. Compiler limit shown, but QSAM limits it to 32,760 bytes. For QSAM and VSAM, the limit is 4088 bytes if EQUALS is coded on the OPTION control statement. SORT limit for QSAM and VSAM. Requires large block interface (LBI) support provided by OS/390® DFSMS Version 2 Release 10.0 or later. On OS/390 systems with earlier releases of DFSMS, the limit is 32,760 bytes. For more information about using large block sizes, see Setting block sizes in the Enterprise COBOL Programming Guide.