I-O-CONTROL Paragraph

The I-O-CONTROL paragraph of the INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION specifies the storage areas to be shared by different files. This paragraph is optional in a COBOL program.

The keyword I-O-CONTROL may appear only once, at the beginning of the paragraph. The word I-O-CONTROL must begin in Area A, and must be followed by a separator period.

Each clause within the paragraph may be separated from the next by a separator comma or a separator semicolon. The order in which I-O-CONTROL paragraph clauses are written is not significant. The I-O-CONTROL paragraph ends with a separator period.