COBCH1004 Continuation character expected. End of literal assumed
The literal in the previous line of source code is not delimited by quotation marks, so your COBOL system is expecting a continuation character in column 7, and a continuation of the literal. Your COBOL system has assumed that you meant to end the literal on the previous line.
COBCH1005 Name ends in hyphen. Processed as written
You have used a hyphen as the last character in a user-defined-name, which is against the rules of COBOL syntax. Your COBOL system has accepted this as a valid name, however, and has not changed the name in any way.
COBCH1010 Nonnumeric literal has length of zero. One SPACE assumed
The alphabetic or alphanumeric literal you have defined in your source code is empty, that is, you have a pair of quotation marks with no character between them. Your COBOL system has assumed that the literal contains one space character.
COBCH1011 DBCS literal has length of zero. Length of one DBCS character assumed
The Double Byte Character Set (DBCS) literal you have defined in your source code is empty, that is, you have a pair of quotation marks with no DBCS character between them. Your COBOL system has assumed that the literal is two characters long, and that it has a value of spaces.
COBCH1014 Period missing. Period assumed
You have omitted a period in a place where one is expected by the rules of COBOL syntax. Your COBOL system has assumed the period is present.
COBCH1015 OCCURS integer-1 exceeds OCCURS integer-2. Zero is assumed for integer-1
You have included the OCCURS integer-1 TO integer-2 DEPENDING clause in your source code, but the value given for integer-1 is greater than that for integer-2, which is against the rules of COBOL syntax. Your COBOL system has effectively changed the value of integer-1 to 0.
COBCH1016 Expected SEPARATE before CHARACTER in SIGN clause. SEPARATE assumed
You have incorrectly coded the SIGN clause because you have included the word CHARACTER, which is not required, but you have omitted the required word SEPARATE. Your COBOL system has assumed that you intended the clause to be SIGN IS LEADING (or TRAILING) SEPARATE CHARACTER.
COBCH1019 Unsigned numeric literal expected. Sign ignored
You have specified a sign where one is not expected, for example, you have used the AFTER ADVANCING +1 or BEFORE ADVANCING -2 clause to the WRITE statement. Your COBOL system ignores the sign, and treats the digits as a positive value.
COBCH1020 Unsigned numeric field. Sign in VALUE clause ignored
You have defined a numeric data item (that is, PIC 9) and you have tried to assign a signed number as its value. Your COBOL system ignores the sign you have specified. Where you are trying to move a number with a negative sign into a numeric field, the result is not as expected.