Appendix C: COBOL Language Quick Reference

Notation Conventions

This reference uses the following notation:

  • UPPERCASE — COBOL reserved words (must appear as shown)
  • lowercase-italic — User-supplied names or values
  • [ ] — Optional element; may be omitted
  • { } — Required choice; exactly one alternative must be selected
  • | — Separates alternatives within braces or brackets
  • ... — Preceding element may be repeated
  • ( ) — Literal parentheses in COBOL syntax

1. Program Structure

IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. program-name [IS {INITIAL | COMMON | INITIAL COMMON}].
[AUTHOR. comment-text.]
[DATE-WRITTEN. comment-text.]

ENVIRONMENT DIVISION.
CONFIGURATION SECTION.
[SOURCE-COMPUTER. computer-name [WITH DEBUGGING MODE].]
[OBJECT-COMPUTER. computer-name.]
[SPECIAL-NAMES. special-names-entries.]
[REPOSITORY. repository-entries.]

INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION.
FILE-CONTROL.
    SELECT [OPTIONAL] file-name
        ASSIGN TO assignment-name
        [ORGANIZATION IS {SEQUENTIAL | INDEXED | RELATIVE}]
        [ACCESS MODE IS {SEQUENTIAL | RANDOM | DYNAMIC}]
        [RECORD KEY IS data-name]
        [ALTERNATE RECORD KEY IS data-name [WITH DUPLICATES]] ...
        [RELATIVE KEY IS data-name]
        [FILE STATUS IS data-name].

DATA DIVISION.
FILE SECTION.
    FD / SD entries and record descriptions.
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
    Data item descriptions.
LOCAL-STORAGE SECTION.
    Data item descriptions (per-invocation).
LINKAGE SECTION.
    Data item descriptions for passed parameters.

PROCEDURE DIVISION [USING parameter-list] [RETURNING data-name].
    Paragraphs, sections, and statements.

2. DATA DIVISION Entries

FD (File Description) Entry

FD  file-name
    [BLOCK CONTAINS {integer-1 TO} integer-2 {CHARACTERS | RECORDS}]
    [RECORD {CONTAINS integer CHARACTERS |
             CONTAINS integer-1 TO integer-2 CHARACTERS |
             IS VARYING IN SIZE FROM integer-1 TO integer-2
                CHARACTERS DEPENDING ON data-name}]
    [LABEL RECORDS ARE {STANDARD | OMITTED}]
    [RECORDING MODE IS {F | V | U | S}]
    [DATA RECORDS ARE record-name ...]
    .
01  record-name.
    ...

SD (Sort-Merge File Description) Entry

SD  file-name
    [RECORD CONTAINS integer-1 TO integer-2 CHARACTERS]
    .
01  record-name.
    ...

Level Numbers

Level Purpose
01 Record-level entry or independent item in WORKING-STORAGE
02–49 Group and elementary items within a record structure
66 RENAMES entry — regroups previously defined items
77 Independent elementary item (not part of a group)
88 Condition name (defines values for conditional testing)

Level 66 (RENAMES)

66  data-name-1 RENAMES data-name-2 [THROUGH data-name-3].

Level 88 (Condition Name)

88  condition-name  VALUE IS literal-1 [THROUGH literal-2] ...
                    [WHEN SET TO FALSE IS literal-3].

Data Description Entry

level-number  [data-name | FILLER]
    [REDEFINES data-name-2]
    [PIC | PICTURE IS character-string]
    [USAGE IS {DISPLAY | BINARY | COMP | COMP-1 | COMP-2 | COMP-3 |
               COMP-4 | COMP-5 | PACKED-DECIMAL | INDEX | POINTER |
               FUNCTION-POINTER | PROCEDURE-POINTER |
               NATIONAL | DISPLAY-1}]
    [VALUE IS literal]
    [OCCURS integer TIMES
        [{ASCENDING | DESCENDING} KEY IS data-name ...]
        [INDEXED BY index-name ...]]
    [OCCURS integer-1 TO integer-2 TIMES
        DEPENDING ON data-name
        [{ASCENDING | DESCENDING} KEY IS data-name ...]
        [INDEXED BY index-name ...]]
    [SIGN IS {LEADING | TRAILING} [SEPARATE CHARACTER]]
    [SYNCHRONIZED | SYNC [LEFT | RIGHT]]
    [JUSTIFIED | JUST RIGHT]
    [BLANK WHEN ZERO]
    [EXTERNAL]
    [GLOBAL]
    .

3. PICTURE Clause Symbols

Symbol Category Meaning
9 Numeric Decimal digit (0-9)
A Alphabetic Alphabetic character (A-Z, a-z, space)
X Alphanumeric Any character
S Numeric Indicates signed numeric; must be leftmost
V Numeric Implied decimal point position
P Numeric Assumed decimal scaling position
Z Numeric edited Zero-suppressed digit (replaced with space)
* Numeric edited Zero-suppressed digit (replaced with asterisk)
$ Numeric edited Currency symbol (fixed or floating)
+ Numeric edited Plus sign (fixed or floating)
- Numeric edited Minus sign (fixed or floating)
. (period) Numeric edited Decimal point (actual)
, (comma) Numeric edited Comma insertion
CR Numeric edited Credit symbol (appears for negative values)
DB Numeric edited Debit symbol (appears for negative values)
B Edited Blank insertion
0 Edited Zero insertion
/ Edited Slash insertion

4. USAGE Clause Options

USAGE Storage Description
DISPLAY 1 byte/digit Default; character representation of data
BINARY / COMP / COMP-4 2, 4, or 8 bytes Binary integer (halfword, fullword, doubleword)
COMP-3 / PACKED-DECIMAL (n+1)/2 bytes Packed decimal; 2 digits per byte plus sign nibble
COMP-1 4 bytes Single-precision floating-point (IBM)
COMP-2 8 bytes Double-precision floating-point (IBM)
COMP-5 2, 4, or 8 bytes Native binary (platform byte order, full range)
INDEX 4 bytes Index data item for table processing
POINTER 4 bytes Address pointer
NATIONAL 2 bytes/char UTF-16 encoding (IBM)
DISPLAY-1 2 bytes/char DBCS encoding (IBM)

5. PROCEDURE DIVISION Verbs

ACCEPT

ACCEPT identifier FROM {DATE | DATE YYYYMMDD | DAY | DAY YYYYDDD |
                         DAY-OF-WEEK | TIME | CONSOLE | SYSIN |
                         environment-name}

ADD

ADD {identifier | literal} ... TO identifier [ROUNDED] ...
    [ON SIZE ERROR imperative-statement]
    [NOT ON SIZE ERROR imperative-statement]
[END-ADD]

ADD {identifier | literal} ... TO {identifier | literal}
    GIVING identifier [ROUNDED] ...
    [ON SIZE ERROR imperative-statement]
    [NOT ON SIZE ERROR imperative-statement]
[END-ADD]

ADD CORRESPONDING group-item-1 TO group-item-2 [ROUNDED]
    [ON SIZE ERROR imperative-statement]
[END-ADD]

CALL

CALL {identifier | literal}
    [USING {[BY REFERENCE] identifier | ADDRESS OF identifier |
            BY CONTENT {identifier | literal | LENGTH OF identifier} |
            BY VALUE {identifier | literal}} ...]
    [RETURNING identifier]
    [ON OVERFLOW imperative-statement]
    [ON EXCEPTION imperative-statement]
    [NOT ON EXCEPTION imperative-statement]
[END-CALL]

CLOSE

CLOSE file-name [{REEL | UNIT} [FOR REMOVAL | WITH NO REWIND] |
                  WITH {NO REWIND | LOCK}] ...

COMPUTE

COMPUTE identifier [ROUNDED] ... = arithmetic-expression
    [ON SIZE ERROR imperative-statement]
    [NOT ON SIZE ERROR imperative-statement]
[END-COMPUTE]

CONTINUE

CONTINUE

DELETE

DELETE file-name [RECORD]
    [INVALID KEY imperative-statement]
    [NOT INVALID KEY imperative-statement]
[END-DELETE]

DISPLAY

DISPLAY {identifier | literal} ... [UPON {CONSOLE | SYSOUT | environment-name}]
    [WITH NO ADVANCING]

DIVIDE

DIVIDE {identifier | literal} INTO identifier [ROUNDED] ...
    [ON SIZE ERROR imperative-statement]
[END-DIVIDE]

DIVIDE {identifier | literal} INTO {identifier | literal}
    GIVING identifier [ROUNDED] ...
    [REMAINDER identifier]
    [ON SIZE ERROR imperative-statement]
[END-DIVIDE]

DIVIDE {identifier | literal} BY {identifier | literal}
    GIVING identifier [ROUNDED] ...
    [REMAINDER identifier]
    [ON SIZE ERROR imperative-statement]
[END-DIVIDE]

EVALUATE

EVALUATE {identifier | literal | expression | TRUE | FALSE}
    [ALSO {identifier | literal | expression | TRUE | FALSE}] ...
  {WHEN {ANY | condition | TRUE | FALSE |
         [NOT] {identifier | literal | arithmetic-expression}
         [THROUGH {identifier | literal | arithmetic-expression}]}
    [ALSO ...] ...
    imperative-statement} ...
  [WHEN OTHER imperative-statement]
[END-EVALUATE]

EXIT

EXIT [PROGRAM | PARAGRAPH | SECTION | PERFORM [CYCLE]]

GO TO

GO TO procedure-name

GO TO procedure-name-1 ... DEPENDING ON identifier

GOBACK

GOBACK

IF

IF condition THEN
    {imperative-statement | NEXT SENTENCE}
[ELSE
    {imperative-statement | NEXT SENTENCE}]
[END-IF]

INITIALIZE

INITIALIZE identifier ...
    [REPLACING {{ALPHABETIC | ALPHANUMERIC | NUMERIC |
                 ALPHANUMERIC-EDITED | NUMERIC-EDITED} DATA
                BY {identifier | literal}} ...]

INSPECT

INSPECT identifier TALLYING
    {tally-counter FOR {{CHARACTERS | {ALL | LEADING} {identifier | literal} ...}
        [{BEFORE | AFTER} INITIAL {identifier | literal}]} ...} ...

INSPECT identifier REPLACING
    {{CHARACTERS BY {identifier | literal}
        [{BEFORE | AFTER} INITIAL {identifier | literal}]} |
     {{ALL | LEADING | FIRST} {identifier | literal}
        BY {identifier | literal}
        [{BEFORE | AFTER} INITIAL {identifier | literal}]} ...} ...

INSPECT identifier CONVERTING {identifier | literal}
    TO {identifier | literal}
    [{BEFORE | AFTER} INITIAL {identifier | literal}]

MERGE

MERGE file-name
    ON {ASCENDING | DESCENDING} KEY data-name ... ...
    [COLLATING SEQUENCE IS alphabet-name]
    USING file-name-2 file-name-3 ...
    {OUTPUT PROCEDURE IS procedure-name [THROUGH procedure-name] |
     GIVING file-name ...}

MOVE

MOVE {identifier | literal} TO identifier ...

MOVE CORRESPONDING group-item-1 TO group-item-2

MULTIPLY

MULTIPLY {identifier | literal} BY identifier [ROUNDED] ...
    [ON SIZE ERROR imperative-statement]
[END-MULTIPLY]

MULTIPLY {identifier | literal} BY {identifier | literal}
    GIVING identifier [ROUNDED] ...
    [ON SIZE ERROR imperative-statement]
[END-MULTIPLY]

OPEN

OPEN {INPUT file-name ...  |
      OUTPUT file-name ... |
      I-O file-name ...    |
      EXTEND file-name ...} ...

PERFORM

PERFORM procedure-name [THROUGH procedure-name]

PERFORM procedure-name [THROUGH procedure-name]
    {identifier | integer} TIMES

PERFORM procedure-name [THROUGH procedure-name]
    [WITH TEST {BEFORE | AFTER}]
    UNTIL condition

PERFORM procedure-name [THROUGH procedure-name]
    [WITH TEST {BEFORE | AFTER}]
    VARYING identifier FROM {identifier | literal}
        BY {identifier | literal}
        UNTIL condition
    [AFTER identifier FROM {identifier | literal}
        BY {identifier | literal}
        UNTIL condition] ...

PERFORM [WITH TEST {BEFORE | AFTER}]
    {UNTIL condition | {identifier | integer} TIMES |
     VARYING ...}
    imperative-statement
END-PERFORM

READ

READ file-name [NEXT | PREVIOUS] [RECORD] [INTO identifier]
    [AT END imperative-statement]
    [NOT AT END imperative-statement]
[END-READ]

READ file-name [RECORD] [INTO identifier]
    [KEY IS data-name]
    [INVALID KEY imperative-statement]
    [NOT INVALID KEY imperative-statement]
[END-READ]

RELEASE

RELEASE record-name [FROM identifier]

RETURN

RETURN file-name [RECORD] [INTO identifier]
    AT END imperative-statement
    [NOT AT END imperative-statement]
[END-RETURN]

REWRITE

REWRITE record-name [FROM identifier]
    [INVALID KEY imperative-statement]
    [NOT INVALID KEY imperative-statement]
[END-REWRITE]

SEARCH identifier [VARYING identifier]
    [AT END imperative-statement]
    {WHEN condition {imperative-statement | NEXT SENTENCE}} ...
[END-SEARCH]

SEARCH ALL identifier
    [AT END imperative-statement]
    WHEN {data-name IS {EQUAL TO | =} {identifier | literal}
         [AND data-name IS {EQUAL TO | =} {identifier | literal}] ...}
    {imperative-statement | NEXT SENTENCE}
[END-SEARCH]

SET

SET {index-name | identifier} ... TO {index-name | identifier | integer}

SET index-name ... {UP BY | DOWN BY} {identifier | integer}

SET condition-name ... TO TRUE

SET {ADDRESS OF identifier} TO {pointer | ADDRESS OF identifier}

SORT

SORT file-name
    ON {ASCENDING | DESCENDING} KEY data-name ... ...
    [WITH DUPLICATES IN ORDER]
    [COLLATING SEQUENCE IS alphabet-name]
    {INPUT PROCEDURE IS procedure-name [THROUGH procedure-name] |
     USING file-name ...}
    {OUTPUT PROCEDURE IS procedure-name [THROUGH procedure-name] |
     GIVING file-name ...}

START

START file-name
    KEY IS {EQUAL TO | = | GREATER THAN | > | NOT LESS THAN | >= |
            LESS THAN | < | NOT GREATER THAN | <=} data-name
    [INVALID KEY imperative-statement]
    [NOT INVALID KEY imperative-statement]
[END-START]

STOP

STOP RUN

STOP {literal}

STRING

STRING {identifier | literal} ... DELIMITED BY {identifier | literal | SIZE}
    ...
    INTO identifier [WITH POINTER identifier]
    [ON OVERFLOW imperative-statement]
    [NOT ON OVERFLOW imperative-statement]
[END-STRING]

SUBTRACT

SUBTRACT {identifier | literal} ... FROM identifier [ROUNDED] ...
    [ON SIZE ERROR imperative-statement]
[END-SUBTRACT]

SUBTRACT {identifier | literal} ... FROM {identifier | literal}
    GIVING identifier [ROUNDED] ...
    [ON SIZE ERROR imperative-statement]
[END-SUBTRACT]

SUBTRACT CORRESPONDING group-item-1 FROM group-item-2 [ROUNDED]
    [ON SIZE ERROR imperative-statement]
[END-SUBTRACT]

UNSTRING

UNSTRING identifier
    DELIMITED BY [ALL] {identifier | literal}
        [OR [ALL] {identifier | literal}] ...
    INTO {identifier [DELIMITER IN identifier] [COUNT IN identifier]} ...
    [WITH POINTER identifier]
    [TALLYING IN identifier]
    [ON OVERFLOW imperative-statement]
    [NOT ON OVERFLOW imperative-statement]
[END-UNSTRING]

WRITE

WRITE record-name [FROM identifier]
    [{BEFORE | AFTER} ADVANCING
        {{identifier | integer} {LINE | LINES} | PAGE |
         mnemonic-name}]
    [AT {END-OF-PAGE | EOP} imperative-statement]
    [NOT AT {END-OF-PAGE | EOP} imperative-statement]
[END-WRITE]

WRITE record-name [FROM identifier]
    [INVALID KEY imperative-statement]
    [NOT INVALID KEY imperative-statement]
[END-WRITE]

6. Scope Terminators

Scope Terminator Terminates
END-ACCEPT ACCEPT
END-ADD ADD
END-CALL CALL
END-COMPUTE COMPUTE
END-DELETE DELETE
END-DISPLAY DISPLAY
END-DIVIDE DIVIDE
END-EVALUATE EVALUATE
END-IF IF
END-MULTIPLY MULTIPLY
END-PERFORM Inline PERFORM
END-READ READ
END-RETURN RETURN
END-REWRITE REWRITE
END-SEARCH SEARCH
END-START START
END-STRING STRING
END-SUBTRACT SUBTRACT
END-UNSTRING UNSTRING
END-WRITE WRITE

7. Conditional Expressions

Relational Conditions

identifier IS [NOT] {EQUAL TO | = | GREATER THAN | > |
    LESS THAN | < | GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO | >= |
    LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO | <=} {identifier | literal}

Class Conditions

identifier IS [NOT] {NUMERIC | ALPHABETIC | ALPHABETIC-LOWER |
    ALPHABETIC-UPPER | DBCS | KANJI | class-name}

Sign Conditions

identifier IS [NOT] {POSITIVE | NEGATIVE | ZERO}

Condition-Name (Level 88) Conditions

condition-name

Combined Conditions

condition-1 {AND | OR} condition-2

NOT condition

Abbreviated Combined Relations

identifier IS GREATER THAN literal-1 AND LESS THAN literal-2
    (equivalent to: identifier > literal-1 AND identifier < literal-2)

8. Intrinsic Functions

Numeric Functions

Function Signature Returns
ABS FUNCTION ABS(argument) Absolute value
ACOS FUNCTION ACOS(argument) Arc cosine
ANNUITY FUNCTION ANNUITY(rate, periods) Annuity factor
ASIN FUNCTION ASIN(argument) Arc sine
ATAN FUNCTION ATAN(argument) Arc tangent
COMBINED-DATETIME FUNCTION COMBINED-DATETIME(date, time) Date-time integer
COS FUNCTION COS(argument) Cosine
CURRENT-DATE FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE 21-char date/time/GMT string
DATE-OF-INTEGER FUNCTION DATE-OF-INTEGER(integer) YYYYMMDD from integer date
DATE-TO-YYYYMMDD FUNCTION DATE-TO-YYYYMMDD(date [, window]) Convert 2-digit to 4-digit year
DAY-OF-INTEGER FUNCTION DAY-OF-INTEGER(integer) YYYYDDD from integer date
DAY-TO-YYYYDDD FUNCTION DAY-TO-YYYYDDD(date [, window]) Convert 2-digit to 4-digit year
DISPLAY-OF FUNCTION DISPLAY-OF(national [, codepage]) Convert national to display
E FUNCTION E Value of e (2.71828...)
EXP FUNCTION EXP(argument) e raised to a power
EXP10 FUNCTION EXP10(argument) 10 raised to a power
FACTORIAL FUNCTION FACTORIAL(integer) Factorial of integer
INTEGER FUNCTION INTEGER(argument) Truncated integer (toward negative)
INTEGER-OF-DATE FUNCTION INTEGER-OF-DATE(date) Integer from YYYYMMDD
INTEGER-OF-DAY FUNCTION INTEGER-OF-DAY(date) Integer from YYYYDDD
INTEGER-PART FUNCTION INTEGER-PART(argument) Truncated integer (toward zero)
LENGTH FUNCTION LENGTH(argument) Length in characters
LOG FUNCTION LOG(argument) Natural logarithm
LOG10 FUNCTION LOG10(argument) Base-10 logarithm
MAX FUNCTION MAX(argument ...) Maximum value
MEAN FUNCTION MEAN(argument ...) Arithmetic mean
MEDIAN FUNCTION MEDIAN(argument ...) Median value
MIDRANGE FUNCTION MIDRANGE(argument ...) Average of min and max
MIN FUNCTION MIN(argument ...) Minimum value
MOD FUNCTION MOD(argument-1, argument-2) Modulus (remainder)
NATIONAL-OF FUNCTION NATIONAL-OF(display [, codepage]) Convert to national
NUMVAL FUNCTION NUMVAL(string) Numeric value of string
NUMVAL-C FUNCTION NUMVAL-C(string [, currency]) Numeric value with currency
ORD FUNCTION ORD(character) Ordinal position in collating sequence
ORD-MAX FUNCTION ORD-MAX(argument ...) Position of maximum value
ORD-MIN FUNCTION ORD-MIN(argument ...) Position of minimum value
PI FUNCTION PI Value of pi (3.14159...)
PRESENT-VALUE FUNCTION PRESENT-VALUE(rate, amount ...) Present value calculation
RANDOM FUNCTION RANDOM[(seed)] Pseudo-random number 0 to 1
RANGE FUNCTION RANGE(argument ...) Difference of max and min
REM FUNCTION REM(argument-1, argument-2) Remainder of division
REVERSE FUNCTION REVERSE(string) Reversed string
SIN FUNCTION SIN(argument) Sine
SQRT FUNCTION SQRT(argument) Square root
STANDARD-DEVIATION FUNCTION STANDARD-DEVIATION(argument ...) Standard deviation
SUM FUNCTION SUM(argument ...) Sum of arguments
TAN FUNCTION TAN(argument) Tangent
VARIANCE FUNCTION VARIANCE(argument ...) Variance
WHEN-COMPILED FUNCTION WHEN-COMPILED Compilation date/time
YEAR-TO-YYYY FUNCTION YEAR-TO-YYYY(year [, window]) Convert 2-digit to 4-digit year

String Functions

Function Signature Returns
LOWER-CASE FUNCTION LOWER-CASE(string) Lowercase string
TRIM FUNCTION TRIM(string [{LEADING | TRAILING}]) Trimmed string
UPPER-CASE FUNCTION UPPER-CASE(string) Uppercase string

Date/Time Functions

Function Signature Returns
CURRENT-DATE FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE YYYYMMDDHHMMSSssGMToffset (21 chars)
DATE-OF-INTEGER FUNCTION DATE-OF-INTEGER(n) YYYYMMDD
INTEGER-OF-DATE FUNCTION INTEGER-OF-DATE(YYYYMMDD) Integer day number
WHEN-COMPILED FUNCTION WHEN-COMPILED Compilation timestamp

9. Arithmetic Expressions

Operators (in precedence order, highest first)

Operator Meaning Example
( ) Grouping (A + B) * C
** Exponentiation A ** 2
* Multiplication A * B
/ Division A / B
+ Addition A + B
- Subtraction A - B
Unary + / - Sign -A

10. Figurative Constants

Constant Value
ZERO / ZEROS / ZEROES Numeric zero or character '0'
SPACE / SPACES Space character(s)
HIGH-VALUE / HIGH-VALUES Highest character in collating sequence (X'FF' in EBCDIC)
LOW-VALUE / LOW-VALUES Lowest character in collating sequence (X'00' in EBCDIC)
QUOTE / QUOTES Quotation mark character
NULL / NULLS Null pointer value
ALL literal Repeated literal to fill field

11. Reference Modification

data-name ( leftmost-character-position : [length] )
  • leftmost-character-position — Integer starting position (1-based)
  • length — Number of characters to reference (optional; defaults to remainder)

Example: WS-FULL-NAME(1:10) references the first 10 characters.

12. COPY and REPLACE Statements

COPY

COPY text-name [OF | IN library-name]
    [REPLACING {==pseudo-text-1== | identifier-1 | literal-1 | word-1}
           BY  {==pseudo-text-2== | identifier-2 | literal-2 | word-2}} ...].

REPLACE

REPLACE {==pseudo-text-1== BY ==pseudo-text-2==} ...  .

REPLACE OFF.

This quick reference covers the most commonly used COBOL syntax elements. For complete syntax details, consult the IBM Enterprise COBOL Language Reference or the ISO/IEC 1989 standard.