Data Division Structure

The Data Division must begin with the words DATA DIVISION, followed by a period and a space.

The Data Division is divided into four sections:
File Section
Describes externally stored data (including sort-merge files).
Working-Storage Section
Describes internal data.
Local-Storage Section
Describes internal data that is allocated on a per-invocation basis.
Linkage Section
Describes data made available by another program. It appears in the called program and describes data items that are provided by the calling program and are referred to by the called program. The called program can be a nested program. For more information on nested programs, see the IBM® Rational® Development Studio for i: ILE COBOL Programmer's Guide.

Each section has a specific logical function within a COBOL source program, and each may be omitted from the source program when that logical function is not needed. If included, the sections must be written in the order shown.

Data Division - Format

Read syntax diagramSkip visual syntax diagramDATA DIVISION.FILE SECTION.file-section-entriesWORKING-STORAGE SECTION.record-description-entrydata-item-description-entryLOCAL-STORAGE SECTION.record-description-entrydata-item-description-entryLINKAGE SECTION.record-description-entrydata-item-description-entry
file-section-entries
Read syntax diagramSkip visual syntax diagramfile-description-entry record-description-entry