DIALECT

Enables check-time and run-time behavior consistent with the specified dialect.

Syntax:

>>--.---.----DIALECT--"dialect"-----------><
    +-/-+

Parameters:

dialect: The dialect to use. Other compiler directives are set depending on the value. Valid values are listed in the Comments section below.

Properties:

Default:	DIALECT"MF"
Phase:	Check
$SET:	Initial

Dependencies:

Depending on the setting of dialect, various other Compiler directives are set by default.

Comments:

The settings SAA1 and SAA2 are also available; use these for backward compatibility purposes only.

Note: Under your COBOL development system, the DIALECT directive does not set the AMODE directive. To provide compatibility with mainframe style pointers, you will need to set AMODE to the appropriate storage format.

Valid dialect values are listed below. Click on a value to see the other compiler directives that are set for each dialect.

Examples

DIALECT"ANS85": This sets the dialect to emulate the ANS85 COBOL.

Some directives set by DIALECT are the same as those set by default by the Compiler. However, you need to know the setting of a dialect-specific directive as it might overwrite the setting you expect. For example:

ALIGN"2" DIALECT"ANS85": This sets ALIGN to ALIGN"8", since this is the value set by the DIALECT"ANS85".
ALIGN"2" DIALECT"MF": This also sets ALIGN to ALIGN"8", since the MF dialect sets the directives to their default values. For ALIGN, the defualt is ALIGN"8".