The VS COBOL II compatibility features available in this COBOL system are controlled by the two Compiler directives:
FLAG "VSC2" VSC2 "integer"
where integer provides compatibility as follows:
VSC2 (1) VS COBOL II release 1.x VSC2 (2) VS COBOL II release 2 VSC2 (3) VS COBOL II release 3.x VSC2 (4) VS COBOL II release 4.x
Most differences are reflected as flagging differences when the FLAG "VSC2" Compiler directive is specified. COBOL will not report any differences in the four levels of support. Indication is always given in the form of a flag.
| Element | VSC2(1) | VSC2(2) | VSC2(3) | VSC2(4) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADD..TO..GIVING | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| ALPHABET alphabetic class test | Keyword is prohibited in SPECIAL-NAMES | Keyword is prohibited in SPECIAL-NAMES | Keyword is required in SPECIAL-NAMES | Keyword is required in SPECIAL-NAMES |
| Alpha-numeric literal 160 chars. | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| BINARY usage | Rejected | Rejected | Supported | Supported |
| CALL BY CONTENT | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| CALL ON EXCEPTION | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| Class Name | User defined class names are rejected Only upper case accepted | User defined class names are rejected Only upper case is accepted | Additional user class names can be defined in the SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph Both upper and lower case are accepted | Additional user class names can be defined in the SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph Both upper and lower case are accepted |
| COMMON | Rejected | Rejected | Supported | Supported |
| Data - name following level number allowed in margin A | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| DAY - OF - WEEK | Rejected | Rejected | Supported | Supported |
| DISPLAY WITH NO ADVANCING | Flagged as ANSI'85 extension | Flagged as ANSI'85 extension | Supported | Supported |
| END PROGRAM | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| EVALUATE omitted ALSO | Supported | Flagged as MF extension | Flagged as MF extension | Flagged as MF extension |
| EXIT PROGRAM not alone in paragraph | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| EXTERNAL | Rejected | Rejected | Supported | Supported |
| File Status Code | ANSI 74 codes | ANSI 74 codes | ANSI'85 codes | ANSI'85 codes |
| GLOBAL clause | Rejected | Rejected | Supported | Supported |
| OCCURS nest depth seven | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| OPEN EXTEND for relative and indexed organizations | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| Optional FILLER or data name | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| INITIAL program-id | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| INITIALIZE Replacing DBCS | Rejected | Rejected | Supported | Supported |
| INSPECT CONVERTING | Rejected | Rejected | Supported | Supported |
| LESS OR EQUAL, GREATER OR EQUAL, <=, >= | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| Lower case letters | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| MERGE GIVING Multiple files | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| NOT scope delimiter | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| OPTIONAL RELATIVE files | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| PACKED - DECIMAL | Rejected | Rejected | Supported | Supported |
| PADDING CHARACTER | Rejected | Rejected | Supported | Supported |
| PIC continuation | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| Program-name can be the same as a user-defined word | Rejected | Rejected | Rejected | Rejected |
| RECORD DELIMITER | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| RECORD IS VARYING | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| Reference modification | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| REPLACE | Rejected | Rejected | Supported | Supported |
| SET TO ON/OFF | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| SIGN nested | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| SORT DUPLICATES phrase | Rejected if ORDER used | Rejected if ORDER used | Supported | Supported |
| STANDARD -2 | Rejected | Rejected | Supported | Supported |
| Symbolic chars. | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |
| VALUE with OCCURS | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Flagged as ANSI'85 | Supported | Supported |