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Preface

This publication is intended for programmers engaged in the writing of new COBOL programs using Report Writer, or the maintenance of old ones. Most of the text is intended for the general application programmer, but there is also information in part 5 for the systems programmer engaged in writing user extensions, such as for special output devices. The language described in this eigth edition includes all the extensions to the Report Writer feature described in the ANS-85 standard and enhancements to the language made up to May 1995.

This publication also describes the basic (ANS-68) features used in IBM* OS/VS and DOS/VS COBOL and the many extensions introduced by IBM, Codasyl, and SPC Systems. For this reason, the product is referred to here as new Repor Writer to distinguish it from the built-in Report Writer of OS/VS and DOS/VS COBOL that they contain as a subset.

This publication is a combination of all the following elements:

  • Tutorial (Introduction and Tutorial)

    The tutorial is a step-by-step introduction, containing sufficient detail to enable programmers to write or maintain simple Report Writer code, while giving them an appreciation of what is possible using the more advanced features. Readers with a knowledge of OS/VS or DOS/VS COBOL's built-in Report Writer should also read this part.

  • Detailed language description (Report Files and RD Entries, Report GroupDescriptions, Procedural Statements and Special Topics)

    The language description contains a formal explanation of the syntax and illustrated explanation of the usage of each clause and statement.

  • Migration guide (Migration from OS/VS or DOS/VS COBOL-IT Report Writer)

    The migration guide is for use in the migration of programs from OS/VS or DOS/VS COBOL's built-in Report Writer to the new Report Writer described here. You can obtain notification of your use of any extensions by means of a precompiler option (see Installation and Operation).

  • Quick reference

    The Appendices list and categorize the extensions, with an explanation of the error messages and a summary of syntax and reserved words.

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