Each statement definition consists of the following subsections: purpose, syntax, parameters, description (the effect of executing the statement), examples (one or more examples of the statement's usage), and restrictions (any limitations on using the statement). In most cases, the statement is described in the context of the example(s) given in the Example section of the statement definition.
Where one statement has several different forms, each form of the statement is presented. The header lists the main statement with the variation of that statement following it. For example:
The previous example shows the header for the INT pseudovariable assignment, which is one type of assignment statement.
Statements may be prefixed by one or more statement labels. A statement label is a name followed by a colon (:). The name can be specified with a subscript. For example:
DCL_TOP: DECLARE (A,B) FIXED BINARY(31) ... LL(1): READ FILE(F) INTO(REC(1)); GOTO NAME_X; LL(2): READ FILE(F) INTO(REC(2)); GOTO NAME_Y; ... NAME_X: NAME_Y: A = B + 1
Square brackets used in the syntax diagrams indicate optional parts of statements and are not part of statement punctuation. Unless a label prefix is required by a statement, it is not shown in the syntax diagram of the statement.
