DISPLAY statement

identifier-1

Identifier-1 references the data that is to be displayed. Identifier-1 can reference any data item except an item of usage PROCEDURE-POINTER, FUNCTION-POINTER, OBJECT REFERENCE, or INDEX. Identifier-1 cannot be an index-name.

If identifier-1 is a binary, internal decimal, or internal floating-point data item, identifier-1 is converted automatically to external format as follows:

• Binary and internal decimal items are converted to zoned decimal. Negative signed values cause a low-order sign overpunch. This can cause unreadable output if the DISPSIGN(COMPAT) compiler option is used. If the DISPSIGN(SEP) compiler option is in effect, the sign is displayed separately from the data, as if SIGN IS SEPARATE was specified. For details, see DISPSIGN.
• Internal floating-point numbers are converted to external floating-point numbers for display such that:
  • A COMP-1 item will display as if it had an external floating-point PICTURE clause of -.9(8)E-99.
  • A COMP-2 item will display as if it had an external floating-point PICTURE clause of -.9(17)E-99.

Data items defined with USAGE POINTER are converted to a zoned decimal number that has an implicit PICTURE clause of PIC 9(10).

If the output is directed to CONSOLE, data items described with usage NATIONAL are converted from national character representation to EBCDIC. The conversion uses the EBCDIC code page that was specified in the CODEPAGE compiler option when the source code was compiled. National characters without EBCDIC counterparts are converted to default substitution characters; no exception condition is indicated or raised.

If the output is not directed to CONSOLE, data items described with usage NATIONAL are written without conversion and without data validation.

No other categories of data require conversion.

DBCS data items, explicitly or implicitly defined as USAGE DISPLAY-1, are transferred to the sending field of the output device. For proper results, the output device must have the capability to recognize DBCS shift-out and shift-in control characters.

Both DBCS and non-DBCS operands can be specified in a single DISPLAY statement.

identifier-1 must not be a dynamic-length group item.

literal-1

Can be any literal or any figurative constant as specified in Figurative constants. When a figurative constant is specified, only a single occurrence of that figurative constant is displayed.

UPON

environment-name-1 or the environment name associated with mnemonic-name-1 must be associated with an output device. See SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph.

A default logical record size is assumed for each device, as follows:

The system logical output device

120 characters

The system punch device

80 characters

The console

100 characters

A maximum logical record size is allowed for each device, as follows:

The system logical output device

255 characters

The system punch device

255 characters

The console

100 characters

On the system punch device, the last eight characters are used for PROGRAM-ID name.

When the UPON phrase is omitted, the system's logical output device is assumed. The list of valid environment-names in a DISPLAY statement is shown in Table 1.

For details on routing DISPLAY output to stdout, see Displaying values on a screen or in a file (DISPLAY) in the Enterprise COBOL Programming Guide.

WITH NO ADVANCING

When specified, the positioning of the output device will not be changed in any way following the display of the last operand.

If the WITH NO ADVANCING phrase is not specified, after the last operand has been transferred to the output device, the positioning of the output device will be reset to the leftmost position of the next line of the device.

Enterprise COBOL does not support output devices that are capable of positioning to a specific character position. See Displaying values on a screen or in a file (DISPLAY) in the Enterprise COBOL Programming Guide for more information about the DISPLAY statement.

The DISPLAY statement transfers the data in the sending field to the output device. The size of the sending field is the total byte count of all operands listed. If the output device is capable of receiving data of the same size as the data item being transferred, then the data item is transferred. If the output device is not capable of receiving data of the same size as the data item being transferred, then one of the following applies:

• If the total count is less than the device maximum, the remaining rightmost positions are padded with spaces.
• If the total count exceeds the maximum, as many records are written as are needed to display all operands. Any operand being printed or displayed when the end of a record is reached is continued in the next record.

If a DBCS operand must be split across multiple records, it will be split only on a double-byte boundary.

Shift code insertion is required for splitting DBCS items. That is, when a DBCS operand is split across multiple records, the shift-in character is inserted at the end of the current record, and the shift-out character is inserted at the beginning of the next record. A space is padded after the shift-in character, if necessary. These inserted shift codes and spaces are included in the total byte count of the sending data items.

After the last operand has been transferred to the output device, the device is reset to the leftmost position of the next line of the device.

If a DBCS data item or literal is specified in a DISPLAY statement, the size of the sending field is the total byte count of all operands listed, with each DBCS character counted as two bytes, plus the necessary shift codes and spaces for DBCS.