COBOL command format

When you are entering commands directly at your terminal or workstation, the format is free-form, because you can begin your commands in column 1 and continue long commands using the appropriate method. You can continue on the next line during your z/OS® Debugger session by using an SBCS hyphen (-) as a continuation character.

However, when you use a file as the source of command input, the format for your commands is similar to the source format for the COBOL compiler. The first six positions are ignored, and an SBCS hyphen in column 7 indicates continuation from the previous line. You must start the command text in column 8 or later, and end it in column 72.

The continuation line (with a hyphen in column 7) optionally has one or more blanks following the hyphen, followed by the continuing characters. In the case of the continuation of a literal string, an additional quotation mark is required. When the token being continued is not a literal string, blanks following the last nonblank character on the previous line are ignored, as are blanks following the hyphen.

When z/OS Debugger copies commands to the log file, they are formatted according to the rules above so that you can use the log file during subsequent z/OS Debugger sessions.

Continuation is not allowed within a DBCS name or literal string. This restriction applies to both interactive and commands file input.

Refer to the following topics for more information related to the material discussed in this topic.