You can use mixed literals to specify an initial value for a data item that is not numeric, or to define values for level-88 condition-name entries. DBCS literals should be used to specify initial values for DBCS or DBCS-edited data items.
Any shift control characters in the literal are considered part of the literal’s picture string, except when used to continue a new line. When you continue a mixed literal, the compiler does not include the shift-in character in column 71 or 72, or the initial quotation mark (") and shift-out character on the continued line as part of the mixed literal. Make certain, however, that the mixed literal does not exceed the size of the data item specified in the PICTURE clause, otherwise truncation occurs.
DBCS literals can be used to initialize DBCS data items.
When you use literals that contain DBCS characters in the VALUE clause for level-88 condition-name entries, COBOL treats the DBCS characters as alphanumeric. Therefore, follow the rules for specifying alphanumeric data, including allowing a THROUGH option. This option uses the normal EBCDIC collating sequence, but remember that shift control characters in DBCS data take part in the collating sequence.