Linkage Section

The Linkage Section describes data made available from another program through the CALL statement. It can also be used to describe the format of data accessed by using the ADDRESS OF special register. For example, you can set the ADDRESS OF special register for a Linkage Section item to data that is dynamically allocated using ILE bindable APIs.
record-description-entry
See File Section for a description.
data-item-description-entry
See Working-Storage Section for a description.

Record description entries and data item description entries in the Linkage Section provide names and descriptions of the data item, but not the storage. Storage is not reserved in the program because the data area exists elsewhere. Type-names may be defined in the LINKAGE SECTION.

Any data description clause may be used to describe items in the Linkage Section, with these exceptions:
  • The VALUE clause may not be specified for items other than level-88 items.
    IBM Extension

    If the VALUE clause is specified for items other than level-88 in the Linkage section, it is treated as a comment.

    End of IBM Extension
  • The EXTERNAL clause cannot be specified in the Linkage section.
  • The GLOBAL clause cannot be specified in the Linkage section.
  • IBM Extension
    The GLOBAL clause can be specified for a data-name or condition-name in the LINKAGE section, with level number 01. When GLOBAL is specified in a LINKAGE section data item, a contained source program can refer directly to the item by the name of the data item. For more information on coding the LINKAGE section, see the IBM® Rational® Development Studio for i: ILE COBOL Programmer's Guide.
    End of IBM Extension
Note: A maximum of 16 711 568 bytes is permitted for group items (including tables).
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