HP OpenVMS Systems Documentation

HP COBOL

User Manual

Order Number: AA--Q2G1H--TK

January 2005

This manual provides information that helps you develop HP COBOL programs for the OpenVMS Alpha, OpenVMS Industry Standard 64, OpenVMS VAX, and Tru64 UNIX platforms.

Revision/Update Information: This manual supersedes the Compaq COBOL User Manual, Version 2.8 and the VAX COBOL User Manual, Version 5.4, as well as the online-only Compaq COBOL User Manual, Version 2.8 and Version 5.7.

Operating System and Version: OpenVMS I64 Version 8.2 OpenVMS Alpha Version 6.2 or higher OpenVMS VAX Version 6.2 or higher Tru64 UNIX Version 5.1 or higher

Software Version: HP COBOL for OpenVMS Alpha Version 2.8 HP COBOL for Tru64 UNIX Version 2.8 HP COBOL for OpenVMS VAX Version 5.7

Hewlett-Packard Company Palo Alto, California

Confidential computer software. Valid license from HP required for possession, use or copying. Consistent with FAR 12.211 and 12.212, Commercial Computer Software, Computer Software Documentation, and Technical Data for Commercial Items are licensed to the U.S. Government under vendor's standard commercial license.

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

Motif, UNIX and X/Open are trademarks of The Open Group in the U.S. and/or other countries.

All other product names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

Intel and Itanium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

Printed in the US

ZK6297

This manual is available on CD-ROM.

Contents

Index

Preface

This manual provides information to help you develop HP COBOL programs for the OpenVMS Alpha, OpenVMS Industry Standard 64, OpenVMS VAX, and Tru64 UNIX platforms.

HP COBOL is the new name for what has formerly been known as Compaq COBOL, DEC COBOL, DIGITAL COBOL, and VAX COBOL. HP COBOL, unmodified, refers to the following products:

HP COBOL for OpenVMS Industry Standard 64
HP COBOL for OpenVMS Alpha
HP COBOL for Tru64 UNIX
HP COBOL for OpenVMS VAX

Any references to the former names in product documentation or other components should be construed as references to the HP COBOL names.

Intended Audience

This manual is intended for experienced applications programmers who have a thorough understanding of the COBOL language. Some familiarity with your operating system is also recommended. This is not a tutorial manual.

If you are a new COBOL user, you may need to read introductory COBOL textbooks or take COBOL courses. Additional prerequisites are described at the beginning of each chapter or appendix, if appropriate.

Document Structure

This manual is organized as follows:

Chapter 1 describes how to create, compile, link, and run HP COBOL programs and how to develop programs at the command level.
Chapter 2 describes how the HP COBOL compiler stores, represents, moves, and manipulates numeric data.
Chapter 3 describes how the HP COBOL compiler stores, represents, moves, and manipulates nonnumeric data.
Chapter 4 describes how to define, initialize, and access tables.
Chapter 5 describes how to perform text manipulation using the STRING, UNSTRING, and INSPECT statements.
Chapter 6 describes I/O services provided by the operating systems, including record management services.
Chapter 7 describes how to include exception handling routines in HP COBOL programs.
Chapter 8 describes file sharing and record locking for sequential, relative, and indexed files.
Chapter 9 describes how to sort and merge files using the SORT and MERGE statements.
Chapter 10 describes how to produce printed reports.
Chapter 11 describes screen handling using the HP COBOL ACCEPT and DISPLAY statements.
Chapter 12 describes how HP COBOL programs communicate with each other or with non-COBOL programs through the CALL statement and external data.
Chapter 13 describes the use of HP COBOL in the OpenVMS Common Language Environment.
Chapter 14 describes how to use the REFORMAT utility, which converts terminal format source programs to conventional ANSI format and converts conventional ANSI format source programs to terminal format.
Chapter 15 presents guidelines for using the HP COBOL compiler optimization features.
Chapter 16 describes how to use compile-time and run-time features to optimize the use of system resources while also maximizing run-time performance.
Appendix A contains a list of HP COBOL specifications and limits on the Tru64 UNIX and OpenVMS systems.
Appendix B describes compatibility and portability issues between HP COBOL for OpenVMS VAX and HP COBOL on the OpenVMS I64, Tru64 UNIX and OpenVMS Alpha systems.
Appendix C describes optional programming productivity tools available on OpenVMS systems and Tru64 UNIX systems.
Appendix D describes porting assistance for migrating applications between other COBOL compilers and HP COBOL.
The Index indexes and references terms in this manual.

Associated Documents

The following documents contain additional information directly related to various topics in this manual:

HP COBOL Reference Manual

This manual describes the concepts and rules of the HP COBOL programming language under the supported operating systems.

Release Notes

Consult the HP COBOL release notes for your installed version for late corrections and new features.

On the OpenVMS operating systems, the release notes are in:

SYS$HELP:COBOLnnn.RELEASE_NOTES (ASCII text)
SYS$HELP:COBOLnnn_RELEASE_NOTES.PS
where nnn is the version and release number, for example, 028 for Version 2.8.

On the Tru64 UNIX operating system, the release notes are in:

/usr/lib/cmplrs/cobol/relnotes

HP COBOL for OpenVMS Alpha and I64 Systems Installation Guide

This manual provides information on how to install HP COBOL on the OpenVMS Alpha and OpenVMS I64 operating systems.

Compaq COBOL for OpenVMS VAX Systems Installation Guide

This manual provides information on how to install HP COBOL on the OpenVMS VAX operating system.

Compaq COBOL for Tru64 UNIX Systems Installation Guide

This manual provides information on how to install HP COBOL on the Tru64 UNIX operating system.

HP COBOL DBMS Database Programming Manual

This manual provides information on using HP COBOL for database programming with Oracle CODASYL DBMS on the OpenVMS Alpha, OpenVMS I64, and OpenVMS VAX operating systems.

The OpenVMS Documentation Set

This set contains information about using the features of the OpenVMS Alpha, OpenVMS I64, and OpenVMS VAX operating systems and their tools, including the OpenVMS Debugger.

The DECset Documentation

This documentation contains information about using DECset.

The Tru64 UNIX Documentation Set

This set contains information about using the features of the Tru64 UNIX operating system and its tools.