Glossary

A data description entry that describes a noncontiguous data item with the level-number 77.

A data description entry that describes a constant-name with the level-number 78.

A data description entry that describes a condition-name with the level-number 88.

The combined condition that results from the omission of a common subject or a common subject and common relational operator in a consecutive sequence of relation conditions.

A class which does not act as a creator of instance objects. Abstract classes implement behavior for their subclasses.

The manner in which records are to be operated upon within a file.

A function, method or program placed into the active state by a statement.

A function, method or program that contains the activating statement.

A statement that causes the execution of a function, method or program.

The state of a function, method or program that has been activated but has not yet returned to the activating runtime element.

The physical representation, using either of the decimal point characters "." (period) or "," (comma), of the decimal point position in a data item.

A user-defined word in the Special-Names paragraph of the Environment Division that assigns a name to a specific character set and/or collating sequence.

A character that belongs to the following set of letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y and z and the space.

Any letter or number in the computer's character set.

A function whose value is composed of a string of one or more characters from the computer's character set.

A key, other than the prime record key, whose contents identify a record within an indexed file.

An operand specified in the activating statement of a function, a method or a program that specifies the data to be passed upon activation of the intrinsic function or runtime element.

An identifier or a numeric elementary item, a numeric literal, such identifiers and literals separated by arithmetic operators, two arithmetic expressions separated by an arithmetic operator, or an arithmetic expression enclosed in parentheses.

A single character, or a fixed two-character combination, that belongs to the following set:

A key upon the values of which data is ordered starting with the lowest value of key up to the highest value of key in accordance with the rules for comparison of data items.

A decimal point position which does not involve the existence of an actual character in a data item. The assumed decimal point has logical meaning but no physical representation.

A condition caused in one of three circumstances:

1. During the execution of a READ statement for a sequentially accessed file.
2. During the execution of a RETURN statement when no next logical record exists for the associated sort or merge file.
3. During the execution of a SEARCH statement, when the search operation terminates without satisfying the condition specified in any of the associated WHEN phrases.

The data described in the Local-Storage Section.

A data item that is described as part of an automatic data record.

A logical record that is described in the Local-Storage Section.

A physical unit of data that is normally composed of one or more logical records. For mass storage files, a block can contain a portion of a logical record. The size of a block has no direct relationship to the size of the file within which the block is contained or to the size of the logical record(s) that are either continued within the block or that overlap the block. The term is equivalent to physical record.

A program with the EXTERNAL clause in the Program-ID paragraph. A call prototype is a program declaration that is not executed but is used by the compiler system to validate CALL statements in program definitions that appear in the same source file.

A program that receives control as the result of the execution of a CALL statement.

A function, method or program that transfers control to a program by execution of a CALL statement.

A program which is the object of a CHAIN statement.

A program which executes a CHAIN to another program.

The basic indivisible unit of the language.

The leftmost bit of an addressing boundary in the storage of the computer.

The amount of physical storage required to store a single standard data format character described as USAGE IS DISPLAY.

The complete COBOL language character set consists of all the characters listed below:

A sequence of contiguous characters which form a COBOL word, a literal, a PICTURE character-string or a comment-entry.

The entity that defines common behavior and implementation for zero, one or more objects. Objects that share the same implementation are considered to be objects of the same class.

The proposition, for which a truth value can be determined, that an operand is wholly alphabetic or is wholly numeric, or alphabetic-lower, or alphabetic-upper, or contains only the characters in the set of characters specified by the CLASS clause as defined in the Special-Names paragraph of the Environment Division.

The source unit that defines a class.

A method for a class object.

A user-defined word that identifies a class.

A user-defined word defined in the Special-Names paragraph of the Environment Division that assigns a name to the proposition for which a truth value can be determined, that the content of a data item consists exclusively of those characters listed in the definition of the class-name.

An ordered set of consecutive COBOL character-strings whose purpose is to specify an attribute of an entry.

See word.

The sequence in which the characters that are acceptable in a computer are ordered for purposes of sorting, merging, comparing and for processing indexed files sequentially.

A character position within a print line or a screen line. The columns are numbered from one, by one, starting at the leftmost character position of the line and extending to the rightmost character position of the line.

A condition that is the result of connecting two or more conditions with the "AND" or the "OR" logical operator.

An entry in the Identification Division that can be any combination of characters from the computer's character set. A comment entry is for documentary purposes only, may extend over more than one line and is terminated upon encountering a division, section or paragraph name or encountering any character in area A of a line.

The two contiguous COBOL characters '*>', which indicate a comment line or an in-line comment.

A source line represented by an asterisk in the indicator area of the line and any characters from the computer's character set in area A and area B of that line. The comment line serves only for documentation . A special form of comment line is represented by a slash (/) in the indicator area of the line and any characters from the computer's character set in area A and area B of that line causes page ejection before the comment is printed.

A program that is directly contained within another program, and can be called from any program directly or indirectly contained in that other program.

A sequence of source units submitted for compilation together.

A source unit that is not nested within another source unit.

The time at which a compilation group is translated to a runtime module consisting of one or more executable runtime elements.

A compiler directive or a source text manipulation statement.

An instruction to the COBOL Compiler to take specific action when compiling a compilation group.

A line of source text beginning with the two contiguous COBOL characters >> followed by a compiler-directive word.

A COBOL word that is used in the syntax of a compiler directive.

A condition in which one or more logical operators act upon one or more conditions. See negated simple condition, combined condition, negated combined condition.

A system-name that identifies the computer upon which the compilation group is to be converted to object code, or the object code run.

A status for which a truth value can be determined at execution time. Where the term "condition" (condition-1, condition-2, ...) appears in a general format or in rules that reference a general format, it is a conditional expression consisting of either a simple condition optionally parenthesized, or a combined condition consisting of a syntactically correct combination of simple conditions, logical operators, and parentheses for which a truth value can be determined.

A user-defined word assigned to a specific value, set of values, or range of values, within the complete set of values that a conditional variable can possess; or the user-defined word assigned to a status of an implementor-defined switch or device.

The proposition, for which a truth value can be determined, that the value of a conditional variable is a member of the set of values attributed to a condition-name associated with the conditional variable.

A simple condition or a complex condition specified in an IF, PERFORM, EVALUATE or SEARCH statement. See simple condition and complex condition.

A statement for which the truth value of a specified condition is evaluated and used to determine subsequent flow of control.

A data item, one or more values of which has a condition-name assigned to it.

A section of the Environment Division that describes overall specifications of source and run computers.

The property that allows an object with a given interface to be used where an object with a different interface is expected. Conformance ensures that any operation specified for the conformed interface is supported by the conforming interface.

A user-defined word assigned as the name of a fixed value.

COBOL words that are specified in formats but are reserved only in the context in which they are specified.

Items that are described by consecutive entries in the Data Division and that bear a definite hierarchic relationship to one another.

A data item used for storing numbers or number representations in a manner that permits these numbers to be increased or decreased by the value of another number, or to be changed or reset to zero or to an arbitrary positive or negative value.

A conceptual entity whose value is set to indicate the status of a terminal input-output operation during the execution of an ACCEPT screen statement.

The COBOL character '$', used as the default currency symbol in a picture character-string and as the default currency string that appears in the edited format of data items.

The set of characters to be placed into numeric-edited data items as a result of editing operations when the item includes a currency symbol in its picture character-string. See the topic The Special-Names Paragraph.

The character used in a picture character-string to represent the presence of a currency string. See the section The Special-Names Paragraph.

In file processing, the record that is available in the record area associated with a file.

A conceptual entity that points to the current volume of a sequential file.

A visible indicator on a character-addressable terminal screen that shows the position on the screen at which the next data character input at the keyboard will be displayed.

Keys on the keyboard of a character-addressable terminal that control the positioning of the cursor on the screen. Typically these include keys that move the cursor up, down, left, right, to the next screen item, to the previous screen item.

An entry in the Data Division that is composed of a level-number followed by a data-name, if required, and then followed by a set of data clauses as required.

A unit of data defined by a data description entry or resulting from the evaluation of an identifier.

Keys on the keyboard of a character-addressable terminal that represent individual printable data characters.

A user-defined word that names a data item described in a data description entry in the Data Division. When used in the general formats, "data-name" represents a word which can neither be subscripted nor indexed unless specifically permitted by the rules for that format.

See double-byte character set.

Any line with "D" or "d" in the indicator area of the line for fixed format source, or any line with "D" or "d" as the first character and space as the second character of the line for free format source.

A section that contains a USE FOR DEBUGGING statement.

A set of one or more special purpose sections written at the beginning of the Procedure Division, the first of which is preceded by the key word DECLARATIVES and the last of which is followed by the key words END DECLARATIVES. A declarative is composed of a section header, followed by a USE COBOL system-directing-sentence, followed by a set of associated paragraphs (zero or more).

A COBOL system-directing sentence consisting of a single USE statement terminated by the separator period (. ).

The logical removal of all editing characters from a numeric-edited data item in order to determine that item's unedited numeric value.

Any statement that includes its explicit scope terminator.

A character (or sequence of contiguous characters) that identifies the end of a string of characters, and separates that string of characters from the following string of characters. A delimiter is not part of the string of characters that it delimits.

A key upon the values of which data is ordered starting with the highest value of key down to the lowest value of key, in accordance with the rules for comparing data items.

The amount of physical storage required to store a single digit. This amount varies depending on the usage of the data item describing the digit position.

There are four divisions in a COBOL source element: Identification, Environment, Data and Procedure. Each division consists of zero or more sections or paragraphs.

A combination of words followed by a period and a space that indicate the beginning of a division. The division headers are:

A character set in which two bytes are used for each character.

An access mode in which specific logical records can be obtained from or placed into a disk file in a non-sequential manner (see random access) and obtained from a file in a sequential manner (see sequential access) during the scope of the same OPEN statement.

A single character or two-character combination that is specified in the PICTURE character-string and inserted into the data item when it is edited.

A data item that is not logically subdivided.

A marker for the end of a source unit.

The physical position in a COBOL source element after which no further procedures appear.

A key on the keyboard of a character-addressable terminal that signals that the input of the screen item or the screen record is complete.

Any descriptive set of consecutive clauses terminated by a separator period (. ) (except for a comment entry) and written in the Identification Division, Environment Division or Data Division.

A user-defined word that identifies an alternative point at which to start executing a program from the default point which is the first non-declarative procedural statement in the source program.

The time at which a function, method or program is executed.

Any attribute which has been explicitly defined.

An explicit interface member implementation is a method that may not be invoked explicitly. The method may be invoked implicitly when the corresponding method is invoked on an instance of this class which has been cast to the interface type.

A reserved word that terminates the scope of a particular Procedure Division statement.

In floating-point representation, that power to which the radix of the representation is to be raised.

An arithmetic or conditional expression.

The state of a file connector after execution of an OPEN statement, with the EXTEND phrase specified, for that file connector and before the execution of a CLOSE statement without the REEL or UNIT phrase for that file connector.

Data described as external data items and external file connectors.

A file connector which is accessible to one or more runtime elements in the run unit.

See repository.

A hardware or software device, defined and named by the implementor, that is used to indicate that one of two alternate states exists.

The source unit that defines a factory object.

A method for a factory object.

The single object of a class, defined by the factory definition of a class. There is one factory object for each class. The factory object is the creator of objects of the class.

The data for a factory object, declared in the Data Division of a factory definition and common for all objects of the class.

A contiguous area of a terminal screen that represents an elementary screen item.

A value generated by your COBOL system which is referenced through the use of certain reserved words.

A physical collection of logical records.

A storage area which contains information about a file and is used as the linkage between a file-name and a physical file and between a file-name and its associated record area.

A SELECT clause and subordinate clauses that declare the relevant physical attributes of a file.

An entry in the File Section of the Data Division that is composed of the level indicator FD, followed by a file-name, and then followed by a set of file clauses as required.

A user-defined word that names a file connector described in a file description entry or a sort-merge file description entry within the File Section of the Data Division.

The permanent logical file structure established at the time that a file is created.

A conceptual entity that contains the value of the current key within the key of reference for an indexed file, or the record number of the current record for a sequential file, or the relative record number of the current record for a relative file, or indicates that no next logical record exists, or that the number of significant digits in the relative record number is larger than the size of the relative key data item, or that an optional input file is not present, or that the at end condition already exists, or that no valid next record has been established.

The section of the Data Division that contains file description entries and sort-merge file description entries together with their associated record descriptions.

A conceptual entity that contains a two-character value indicting the status of an input-output operation.

A cooperative environment that controls concurrent access to the same physical file.

Information about a file which is established when a file is created and cannot subsequently be changed during the existence of the file. These attributes include the organization of the file (sequential, relative, or indexed), the prime record key, the alternate record keys, the code set, the minimum and maximum record size, the record type (fixed or variable), the collating sequence of the keys for indexed files, the maximum and minimum physical record size, the padding character, and the record delimiter.

The default manner in which data entry is made to numeric and numeric-edited screen fields. This mode formats and echoes the entered data and also moves the cursor in accordance with the requirements of the field's picture specification, as each keystroke is received. Characters other than " +", "-", and the decimal point character, are rejected; insertion characters in edited fields are skipped over as the cursor moves backwards and forwards; any sign indicator is modified in accordance with its normal specification; floating symbols move left and right in the field, and insertion symbols appear and disappear as digits are inserted or deleted.

A source format in which each COBOL source line consists of 80 characters which are divided into various fixed areas. There are restrictions on the syntax that can appear in each area. The alternative is free format source.

A record associated with a file whose file description or sort-merge description entry requires that all records contain the same number of character positions.

A numeric data item using fixed-point representation.

A quantity, in fixed-point representation, that has a radix of ten and is expressed as a literal composed of one or more numeric characters and optionally either a decimal point or an algebraic sign, or both.

A positional representation in which each number is represented by a single sequence of digits, the position of the radix point being fixed with respect to the rightmost end of the set according to the position of the implicit or explicit radix point.

A quantity, in floating-point representation, that has a base of ten and is written as a signed fixed-point numeric literal that must have a decimal point in any character position (the significand), immediately followed by the letter "E", which is, in turn, immediately followed by a signed fixed-point numeric literal that does not contain a decimal point (the exponent).

A number representation in which a number is represented by two sequences of digits, the significand and the exponent.

The position of the page body adjacent to the bottom margin of the printed page.

A specific arrangement of a set of data.

A data-name specified in the USING phrase of the PROCEDURE DIVISION header or ENTRY statement that gives the name used in the function, method or program for a parameter.

An alternative manner in which data entry can be made to numeric and numeric-edited screen fields. The default mode is fixed format mode. This configurable mode allows data to be keyed into a PIC X field of appropriate length, and it is only when the operator leaves the field that the data is reformatted to comply with the picture specification. Once the operator moves the cursor from the field, your COBOL system disregards all characters other than digits and the sign and decimal point symbols. It then extracts, stores, or reformats the numeric value in accordance with the normal COBOL rules for a MOVE to an item with the same picture as the screen or working-storage item. The numeric value is then usually echoed to the screen.

A source format in which each COBOL source line can consist of up to 250 bytes of characters. There is no restriction on where syntax may appear on the line. The alternative is fixed format source.

A temporary data item whose value is determined at the time an intrinsic or a user-defined function is referenced during the execution of a statement.

An identifier that references an intrinsic-function-name, a user-defined-name, or a function-prototype-name. The data item represented by a function is uniquely identified by a function-name with its arguments, if any. A function-identifier can include a reference-modifier. A function-identifier that references an alphanumeric function can be specified anywhere in the general formats that an identifier can be specified, subject to certain restrictions. A function-identifier that references an integer or numeric function can be referenced anywhere in the general formats that an arithmetic expression can be specified.

A key on the keyboard of a character addressable terminal that, when enabled and pressed, signals that input of the screen record is complete and a function is requested.

A word that names a mechanism provided by the implementor to determine the value of a function.

A definition that specifies the rules governing the arguments needed for the evaluation of a particular function, the data item resulting from the evaluation of the function, and all other requirements needed for the evaluation of that function.

A name declared in only one program that may be referenced from that program and from any program contained within that program.

A named contiguous set of elementary items.

The leftmost character of a string of characters.

The name of an Environment Division paragraph in which requirements for specific input/output techniques, rerun points, sharing of same areas by several data files, and multiple file storage on a single input/output device are specified.

The state of a file connector after execution of an OPEN statement with the I-O phrase specified, for that file connector and before the execution of a CLOSE statement without the REEL or UNIT phrase for that file connector.

A sequence of character-strings and separators that uniquely references a unit of data.

A statement that specifies an unconditional action to be taken or a conditional statement that is delimited by its explicit scope terminator (delimited scope statement). An imperative statement can consist of a sequence of imperative statements.

Any attribute which has not been explicitly specified.

A separator period that terminates the scope of any preceding unterminated statement, or a phrase of a statement which by its occurrence indicates the end of the scope of any statement contained within the preceding phrase.

A segment created by your COBOL system to control the size of code segments.

A computer storage area or register, the contents of which represent the identification of a particular element in a table.

A data item in which the value associated with an index-name can be stored.

A user-defined word that names an index associated with a specific table.

An identifier that is composed of a data-name, followed by one or more index-names enclosed in parentheses.

A file with indexed organization.

The permanent logical file structure in which each record is identified by the value of one or more keys within that record.

The leftmost position of a COBOL source record that indicates the use of the record.

A mechanism for using the interface and implementation of one or more classes as the basis for another class. A subclass inherits from one or more superclasses. The interface of an inheriting class conforms to the interface of the inherited classes.

A mechanism for using the specification of one or more interfaces as the basis for another interface. An inheriting interface conforms to the inherited interface.

The data described in the Working-Storage or File Section of an initial program.

A data item that is described as part of an initial data record.

A logical record that is described in the Working-Storage or File Section of an initial program and is initialized on every call to the program.

A file connector that is described in an initial program and is not in an open mode on any call to the program.

A program that is placed into an initial state every time the program is called in a run unit.

The state of a function, method or program when it is first activated in a run unit.

A comment preceded on a source line by one or more COBOL words or character-strings.

A screen item whose description contains a TO phrase.

A file that is opened in the input mode.

The state of a file connector after execution of an OPEN statement with the INPUT phrase specified, for that file connector and before the execution of a CLOSE statement without the REEL or UNIT phrase for that file connector.

A system provided by the implementor that directs, or controls, the processing of files.

A file that is opened in the I-O mode.

The section of the Environment Division that names the files and the external media used and which provides information required for transmission and handling of data during execution .

A statement that causes files to be processed by performing operations upon individual records or upon the file as a unit. The input-output statements are: CLOSE, DELETE, OPEN, READ, REWRITE, START and WRITE.

A set of statements to which control is given during the execution of a SORT statement, for the purpose of controlling the release of specified records to be sorted..

A method of an instance object (as opposed to a class method).

The proposition, for which a truth value can be determined, that an object reference is an instance of a particular class or interface.

A numeric literal or a numeric data item that does not include any digit positions to the right of the decimal point.

A function whose category is numeric and whose definition provides that all digits to the right of the decimal point are zero in the returned value for any possible evaluation of the function.

The information needed to invoke a method correctly.

A grouping of method prototypes.

The source unit that defines an interface.

The data described in a source unit excluding all external data items and external file connectors. Items described in the Linkage Section are treated as internal data.

A file connector which is accessible to only one runtime module in a run unit.

A word that names a mechanism provided by the implementor to determine the value of a function.

A condition occurring at execution time when a specific value of the key associated with an indexed or relative file is determined to be invalid.

See method invocation.

See input-output control system.

A data item which identifies the location of a record, or a set of data items which serve to identify the ordering of data.

The key, either prime or alternate, currently being used by a file connector to access records within an indexed file.

A reserved word or intrinsic-function-name whose presence is required when the general format in which the word appears is used.

A system-name that specifies a particular programming language.

Two alphabetic characters that identify a specific type of file. The level indicators in the Data Division are: FD, RD and SD.

A user-defined word which indicates the position of a data item in the hierarchical structure of a logical record or which indicates special properties of a data description entry. A level-number is expressed as a one- or two-digit number.

Level-numbers in the range 1 through 49 indicate the position of a data item in the hierarchical structure of a logical record. Level-numbers in the range 1 through 9 can be written either as a single digit or as a zero followed by a significant digit.

Level-numbers 66, 77, 78 and 88 identify special properties of a data description entry.

A user-defined word that names a COBOL library source file that is to be used by your COBOL system during creation of the object code.

Text that resides in a COBOL library for the purpose of being introduced into the source text at compile time by a COPY statement.

A type of sequential file containing variable length records in the format of text files produced by the host operating system.

The section in the Data Division of the activated element that describes data items available from the activating element. These data items can be referenced by both the activating and the activated elements.

A character-string whose value is derived from the ordered set of characters in the string.

An elementary screen item whose description contains no PICTURE clause.

The state of an open file connector when record locking is in effect that indicates whether record locking is manual or automatic.

One of the reserved words AND, OR and NOT. In the formation of a condition, both or either of AND and OR can be used as logical connections. NOT can be used for logical negation.

A conceptual entity consisting of the top margin, the page body and the bottom margin.

The most inclusive data item. The level-number for a record is 01.

The rightmost character of a string of characters.

A storage medium in which data may be organized and maintained in both a sequential and nonsequential manner.

A collection of records that is assigned to mass storage.

A collection of records to be merged by a MERGE statement. The merge file is created and can be used only by the merge function.

Procedural code that is declared in the Procedure Division of a method definition and is executed by a method invocation on that object.

The source unit that defines a method.

The request to execute a named method on a given object. A method invocation identifies an object, a method name, and the parameters required by the method definition.

A user-defined word that identifiers a method.

The method-name and parameter types (including a returning item if specified) for a method. It is specified by a method definition in an interface.

A nonnumeric literal that includes DBCS characters.

A user-defined word that is associated in the Environment Division with a specified implementor-name.

The implementor-defined character set associated with the computer specified in the Object-Computer paragraph.

The default collating sequence associated with the computer specified in the Object-Computer paragraph.

The "NOT" logical operator immediately followed by a parenthesized combined condition.

The "NOT" logical operator immediately followed by a simple condition.

The next sentence to which control will be transferred after execution of the current statement is complete.

The next statement to which control will be transferred after execution of the current statement is complete.

The record which logically follows the current record of a file.

Elementary data items, in the Working-Storage, Local-Storage and Linkage Sections, which bear no hierarchic relationship to other data items.

A data item whose description permits its contents to be composed of any combination of characters taken from the computer's character set. Certain categories of nonnumeric items can be formed from more restricted character sets.

A character-string bounded by quotation marks. The string of characters can include any character in the computer's character set. To represent a single quotation mark character within a nonnumeric literal, two contiguous quotation marks must be used.

A character that belongs to the following set of digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

A function whose class and category are numeric but which for some possible evaluation does not satisfy the requirements of an integer function.

A data item whose description restricts its contents to a value represented by characters chosen from the digits 0 through 9; if signed, the item can also contain a "+", "-" , or other representation of an operational sign.

See fixed-point numeric literal and floating-point numeric literal.

A unit consisting of data and the methods that can act upon that data.

Data described in the Data Division of an object definition, excluding data described in its methods.

The source unit that defines an object.

A method of an object (as opposed to a factory method, which is a method of factory object).

A name that may be used to qualify an object reference to get a value from or pass a value to an object.

An explicitly or implicitly defined data item that contains a reference to an object.

Syntax that causes an object reference to be treated at complie time as though it had the specified description. At run time a conformance check for this description is performed on the object.

A language element in Standard COBOL that is to be deleted from the next edition of Standard COBOL.

The state of a file after execution of an OPEN statement for that file and before the execution of a CLOSE statement without the REEL or UNIT phrase for that file. The particular open mode is specified in the OPEN statement as either INPUT, OUTPUT, I-O or EXTEND.

Any lower-case word (or words) that appears in a statement or entry format can be considered to be an operand and, as such, is an implied reference to the data indicated by the operand.

An algebraic sign, associated with a numeric data item or a numeric literal, that indicates whether its value is positive or negative.

A file declared as being not necessarily present each time the runtime module is executed.

A reserved word that is included in a specific format only to improve the readability of the language.

A screen item whose description contains a FROM phrase.

A file that is opened in either the output mode or extend mode.

The state of a file connector after execution of an OPEN statement with the OUTPUT phrase specified, for that file connector and before the execution of a CLOSE statement without the REEL or UNIT phrase for that file connector.

A set of statements to which control is given during execution of a SORT statement after the sort function is completed, or during execution of a MERGE statement after the merge function reaches a point at which it can select the next record in merged order when requested.

In the Identification and Environment Divisions, a paragraph header followed by zero, one, or more entries. In the Procedure Division, a paragraph-name followed by a period and a space and optionally by one or more sentences.

A reserved word, followed by a period and a space that indicates the beginning of a paragraph in the Identification and Environment Divisions.

A user-defined word that identifies and begins a paragraph in the Procedure Division.

A class where the full details of one or more dependent classes or interfaces are not specified in the class definition. The full details of these dependent classes or interfaces are specified by parameters before the parameterized class is used.

An interface where the full details of one or more dependent classes or interfaces are not specified in the interface definition. The full details of these dependent classes or interfaces are specified by parameters before the parameterized interface is used.

An ordered set of COBOL character-strings that specifies an attribute of an entry or a statement and is a subset of a clause or paragraph in all divisions except the Procedure Division, and a subset of a statement in the Procedure Division.

A device-dependent concept defined by the implementor.

See block.

A data item in which the address of a data item may be stored.

An implicitly generated data item referenced by one of the identifiers NULL, SELF, SELFCLASS or SUPER.

A key whose contents uniquely identify a record within an indexed file.

A paragraph or group of logically successive paragraphs, or a section or group of logically successive sections, within the Procedure Division.

A statement that causes the explicit transfer of control to a statement other than the next executable statement in the sequence in which the statements are written. The procedure branching statements are: CALL, EXIT, EXIT METHOD, EXIT PROGRAM, GO TO, GOBACK, INVOKE, MERGE (with the OUTPUT PROCEDURE phrase), PERFORM, and SORT (with the INPUT PROCEDURE or OUTPUT PROCEDURE phrase).

A user-defined word that names a paragraph or section in the Procedure Division.

A data item in which the address of a program may be stored.

A source program that merely declares how the program is to be called, a call prototype. Unlike a program definition, it does not include any executable procedures. See call prototype.

A source program that defines how a program is to execute by procedures specified in a Procedure Division. A traditional COBOL program, as distinct from a program declaration.

A user-defined word that identifies a COBOL source program.

A definition that specifies the rules governing the class of the parameters expected to be received by a particular subprogram, and any other requirements needed to transfer control to and get control and return information from that subprogram.

The character used to mark empty character positions in a screen item.

See object property.

A sequence of text-words, comment lines, or the separator space in a source text or a COBOL library bounded by, but not including, pseudo-text delimiters.

Two contiguous equal sign (=) characters used to delimit pseudo-text.

A character that belongs to the following set:

An identifier that is composed of a data-name followed by one or more sets of either of the connectives OF and IN, followed by a data-name qualifier.

In positional representation of numeric values, that positive integer by which the significance of a digit place must be multiplied to give the significance of the next higher digit position.

An access mode in which the programmer-specified value of a key data item identifies the logical record that is obtained from, deleted from or placed into a relative or indexed file.

A data item referenced in a TO or USING phrase in a PICTURE clause in the Screen Section.

See logical record.

A storage area allocated for the purpose of processing the record described in a record description entry in the File Section.

The total set of data description entries associated with a particular record.

A key, either the prime record key or an alternate record key, whose contents identify a record within an indexed file.

An indicator that is associated with a specific record in a file and is set and released by the locking facility. It is used to determine whether multiple file connectors may access the record concurrently.

The controlling of record access for shared files in which a record lock prevents access to the associated record from other file connectors.

A user-defined word that names a record described in a record description entry in the Data Division.

The ordinal number of a record in a file whose organization is sequential.

A discrete portion of a storage medium that contains part of a file, all of a file, or any number of files.

A format that provides a standard method for describing source text and library text.

A definition of a data item by specifying a leftmost character and length for the data item.

An identifier that references a unique data item created by specifying an identifier, a starting position and a length.

See relational operator.

A character that belongs to the following set:

A proposition, for which a truth value can be determined, that the value of an arithmetic expression, data item, literal or index has a specific relationship to the value of another arithmetic expression, data item, literal or index.

A reserved word, a relation character, a group of consecutive reserved words, or a group of consecutive reserved words and relation characters used in the construction of a relation condition. The permissible operators and their meanings are:

A file with relative organization.

A key whose contents identify a logical record in a relative file.

The permanent logical file structure in which each record is uniquely identified by an integer value greater than zero, which specifies the record's logical ordinal position in the file.

The ordinal number of a record in a file whose organization is relative.

Implementor-provided storage for information relating to class names, method names, method parameters, and any other information that the implementor requires.

A paragraph in the Configuration Section of the Environment Divisison that allows specification of program prototype names, function prototype names, property-names, class names, and interface names that may be used within the scope of that Environment Division. It also allows declaration of intrinsic-function-names that may be used without specifying the word FUNCTION.

A COBOL word specified in the list of words which can be used in COBOL, but which must not appear as a user-defined word or a system-name.

A user-defined data item that is to contain the result of an arithmetic operation.

A class with no superclass.

A user-defined word that identifies a procedure written in a language other than COBOL.

The time at which the code produced by your COBOL system is executed.

The software that interprets the code produced by your COBOL system and enables it to be executed by providing interfaces to the operating system.

One or more runtime modules that interact with one another and that function, at execution time, as an entity to provide problem solutions.

The executable unit resulting from compiling a source element, which may be a function, method or a program.

The result of compiling a compilation unit.

An entry in the Screen Section of the Data Division that is composed of a level number, followed by an optional screen-name, and then by a set of screen clauses as required. This entry is very similar in structure to a data description entry, but while a data description entry declares areas in memory, a screen description entry declares areas on the screen.

A field on the screen to which the screen description entry assigns properties.

A user-defined word that names a screen item described in a screen description entry.

A screen description entry with a level-number of 1.

A section in the Data Division in which the layouts of the screen areas accessed in Format 4 of the ACCEPT and Format 2 of the DISPLAY statements are defined.

A set of zero, one, or more paragraphs or entries, called a section body, the first of which is preceded by a section header. Each section consists of the section header and the related section body.

A combination of words followed by a period and a space that indicates the beginning of a section in the Environment, Data and Procedure Divisions.

A user-defined word which names a section in the Procedure Division.

A user-defined word which classifies sections in the Procedure Division for purposes of segmentation. Segment-numbers can contain only the characters "0" through "9". A segment-number can be expressed either as a one- or two-digit number.

A data item referenced in a FROM or USING phrase in a PICTURE clause in the Screen Section.

A sequence of one or more statements, the last of which is terminated by a period followed by a space.

A program, together with its contained programs, that is not contained in another program.

A character or two contiguous characters used to delimit character-strings.

An access mode in which logical records are obtained from or placed into a file in a consecutive predecessor-to-successor logical record sequence determined by the order of records in the file.

A file with sequential organization.

The permanent logical file structure in which a record is identified by a predecessor-successor relationship established when the record is placed into the file.

A file for which file sharing has been specified.

The state of an open file connector that indicates the mode of file sharing. The sharing modes are: sharing with all other, sharing with no other, and sharing with read only.

The proposition, for which a truth value can be determined, that the algebraic value of a data item or an arithmetic expression is less than, greater than, or equal to zero.

The information stored about a source unit in the external repository.

In floating-point representation, the fixed-point numeral that represents the significant digits of the number.

Any of the following:

relation condition class condition switch-status condition condition-name condition sign condition (simple-condition)

A collection of records to be sorted by a SORT statement. The sort file is created and can be used by the sort function only.

A Data Division entry that specifies the characteristics of a sort or merge file.

A source unit excluding any nested source units.

A statement beginning with the word COPY or the word REPLACE that provides the capability to insert and replace source text during compilation.

A sequence of statements beginning with an Identification Division and finishing with an end marker or the end of the compilation group, including any contained source units.

A character that belongs to the following set:

A reserved word that is composed entirely of special characters.

The name of an Environment Division paragraph in which implementor-names are related to user-specified mnemonic-names.

Storage areas created by your COBOL system whose primary use is to store information produced in conjunction with the use of specific COBOL features.

A concatenation of one or more data items within a record associated with that file-name. It can be referenced only in START and READ statements. See the chapter Examples for an example of Split Key.

A concept used to describe data in a COBOL Data Division whereby the characteristics or properties of the data are expressed in terms of the appearance of graphic characters on a printed page, rather than the manner in which the data is stored internally in the computer or on a particular external medium.

A syntactically valid combination of words and symbols written in the Procedure Division beginning with a verb.

The data described in the File or Working-Storage Section of a source element that is not an initial program.

A data item that is described as part of a static data record.

A logical record described in the File or Working-Storage Section of a source element that is not an initial program.

A class that inherits from another class. When two classes in an inheritance relationship are considered together, the subclass is the inheritor or inheriting class; the superclass is the inheritee or inherited class.

In the industry literature, the term derived class is also often used as an alternative to the term subclass. These terms are equivalent

The data item that is being defined by a data description entry.

See called program.

An occurrence number represented by either an integer, a data-name optionally followed by an integer with the operator + or -, or an index-name optionally followed by an integer with the operator + or -, that identifies a particular element in a table. A subscript can be the word ALL when the subscripted identifier is used as a function argument.

An identifier that is composed of a data-name followed by one or more subscripts enclosed in parentheses.

A class that is inherited by another class. See also subclass.

The proposition, for which a truth value can be determined, that an implementor-defined switch, capable of being set to an "on" or "off" status, has been set to a specified status.

A user-defined word that specifies a user-defined figurative constant.

The order in which elements must be put together to form a compilation group.

A statement, beginning with a directing verb, that causes your COBOL system to take a specific action during creation of the intermediate code.

A COBOL word which is used to communicate with the operating environment.

A set of logically consecutive items of data that are defined in the Data Division by means of the OCCURS clause.

A data item that belongs to the set of items in a table.

A character-addressable device that includes a display and a keyboard.

Any function key or the enter key of a terminal.

A user-defined word which identifies library text.

A character or a sequence of contiguous characters between margin A and margin R in a COBOL library, source text, or in pseudo-text which is:

1. A separator, except for: space; a pseudo text delimiter; and the opening and closing delimiters for nonnumeric literals. The right-parenthesis and left-parenthesis characters, regardless of context within the library, source text, or pseudo-text, are always considered text-words.
2. A literal including, in the case of nonnumeric literals, the opening quotation mark and the closing quotation mark which bound the literal.
3. Any other sequence of contiguous COBOL characters except comment lines and the word "COPY", bounded by separators, which is neither a separator nor a literal. One or both of the bounding separators can be a pseudo-text delimiter.

The representation of the result of the evaluation of a condition in terms of one of two values:

true false

A user-defined word which identifies a type definition.

A programmer-defined type or USAGE that may be used to define data items of that type. A type definition is defined in a data description entry that includes the TYPEDEF clause. The type contains all the characteristics of a data item and its subordinates.

See reel.

An object reference that is not restricted to a specific class or interface.

The attempted execution of a statement that does not result in the execution of all the operations specified by that statement.

A screen item whose description contains a USING phrase.

A COBOL word supplied by the user to satisfy the format of a clause or statement.

A data item whose value can be changed at run time.

A record associated with a file whose file description or sort-merge description entry permits records to contain a varying number of character positions.

A table element that is repeated a variable number of times. Such an item contains an OCCURS clause with the DEPENDING phrase in its data description entry or is subordinate to such an item.

A word that expresses an action to be taken during creation of native code or at run time.

See reel..

A character-string of not more than 30 characters which forms a user-defined word, a system-name, a reserved word, or an intrinsic-function-name.

The section of the Data Division that describes working storage data items, composed either of noncontiguous items or of working storage records, or of both.

An item whose minimum length is zero and whose length at execution time is zero. A zero-length group item can result from one of the following:

• A group data item containing only a variable-occurrence data item in which the minimum number of occurrences is zero.
• A group data item containing only a subordinate zero-length group item.
• A record that has been specified using format 2 or format 3 of the RECORD clause in which the minimum number of character positions is zero.
• A function that returns a zero-length item.