Some application files describe data arrays with an OCCURS clause without the DEPENDING ON phrase. However, the files have uninitialized or otherwise invalid data in some of the occurrences. For example:
03 NUMBER-OF-STYLES PIC 99. 03 STYLE-STORAGE OCCURS 25. 05 FIELD-A ... 05 FIELD-B ... 05 FIELD-C ...
Because of the limitations on the use of the DEPENDING ON phrase, the COBOL Procedure Division statements test the data item NUMBER-OF-STYLES to limit the occurrences used. For such situations in the Designer, you must link the data array with a controlling item that exists within the file definition: the controlling item is a numeric item that specifies the number of occurrences.