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HP COBOL
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B.2 Differences in Extensions and Other Features

HP COBOL on Alpha and I64 contains the following language extensions and other features that are not in HP COBOL on VAX:

  • A choice of alignment (with the /ALIGNMENT qualifier or -align flag) on the compile command line or as a source directive for individual records; you can select Alpha data alignment for performance or VAX data alignment for compatibility.
  • A qualifier or flag (/ARCHITECTURE or -arch ) that enhances performance through targeted code generation.
  • A qualifier or flag (/ARITHMETIC or -arithmetic ) that selects native or standard arithmetic.
  • A qualifier or flag (/CONVERT=LEADING_BLANKS or -convert leading_blanks ) that changes all blanks to zeros in numeric display items in arithmetic expressions or statements.
  • A qualifier or flag (/DISPLAY_FORMATTED or -display_formatted ) that causes the proper display of numeric values without the use of WITH CONVERSION on the DISPLAY statement.
  • A qualifier (/FLOAT) on OpenVMS Alpha that selects IEEE or VAX floating-point data types for single- and double-precision data items.
    On Tru64 UNIX, only IEEE floating point is supported.
    On OpenVMS I64, only IEEE floating point is supported.
  • A qualifier or flag (/INCLUDE or -include ) to control where the compiler searches for files for simple COPY statements.
  • A qualifier or flag (/MATH_INTERMEDIATE or -math_intermediate ) to specify the intermediate data type for extended arithmetic precision and/or compatibility.
  • A qualifier or flag (/OPTIMIZE=TUNE or -tune ) that improves optimization through instruction scheduling, and a choice of levels of optimization (with /OPTIMIZE=LEVEL or -On .)
  • A qualifier or flag (/RESERVED_WORDS or -rsv ) to recognize or not to recognize additional COBOL reserved words defined by the X/Open Portability Guide, words that are foreign extensions, or selected words that are reserved as defined by the draft ANSI Standard for COBOL.
  • A qualifier (/TIE) on OpenVMS I64 to generate code that allows native OpenVMS I64 images to call translated Alpha images and translated Alpha images to call native OpenVMS I64 images.
  • COMP-5 and COMP-X as synonyms for COMP.
  • READ PRIOR and START LESS.
  • X/Open ASSIGN TO, LINE SEQUENTIAL, RETURN-CODE, SCREEN SECTION, FILE-SHARING, and RECORD-LOCKING.

HP COBOL on Alpha and I64 does not contain the following VAX features:

  • The DECset/LSE Program Design Facility, the /DESIGN qualifier, design comments, or pseudocode placeholders.

HP COBOL on Alpha and I64 includes the following:

  • Support for the relevant subset of the features in the HP COBOL on VAX /STANDARD=V3 qualifier. See Section B.3.3.
  • Support for file status values that are compatible with HP COBOL for OpenVMS VAX Version 5.1 or higher. These differ from those of Version 5.0 and previous versions.

B.3 Command-Line Qualifiers (Options or Flags)

Sections B.3.1, B.3.2, and B.3.3 compare the HP COBOL command-line qualifiers and flags on the four operating systems. For more information about HP COBOL command-line qualifiers on the OpenVMS Alpha, I64, or VAX operating systems, invoke the online help facility: Type HELP COBOL at the OpenVMS system prompt. For more information on the flags, refer to the man page: Type man cobol at the Tru64 UNIX system prompt.

B.3.1 Qualifiers and Flags Shared by HP COBOL on Alpha, I64, and VAX

Table B-2 lists the OpenVMS command-line qualifiers shared by HP COBOL on the Alpha, I64, and VAX platforms and the equivalent flags on Tru64 UNIX.

Table B-2 Qualifiers Shared by HP COBOL for OpenVMS Alpha, I64, and VAX and Equivalent Tru64 UNIX Flags and Options
OpenVMS Qualifier Equivalent Tru64 UNIX Flag1
/ANALYSIS_DATA None
/ANSI_FORMAT -ansi
/AUDIT None
/CHECK 2 -check
/CONDITIONALS -conditionals
/COPY_LIST -copy_list
/CROSS_REFERENCE -cross_reference
/DEBUG -g
/DEPENDENCY_DATA None
/DIAGNOSTICS None
/FIPS 2 -fips 74
/FLAGGER -flagger
/LIST -list
/MACHINE_CODE -machine_code
/MAP -map
/NATIONALITY={JAPAN|US} -nationality {japan|us}
/OBJECT None
/SEQUENCE_CHECK -sequence_check
/STANDARD 2 -std
/STANDARD=MIA -std mia
/TRUNCATE -trunc
/WARNINGS -warn

1The flags are generally equivalent in features to the qualifiers, except that flags do not have a negative form.
2There are some differences in behavior and features between HP COBOL on Alpha, I64, and VAX. See the specific documentation for details.

/NATIONALITY={JAPAN|US}, -nationality japan

When /NATIONALITY=JAPAN or -nationality japan is specified, the yen sign (¥) is the default currency sign and symbol, and Japanese Language Support features are enabled. Also, in this case /NODIAGNOSTICS and /NOANALYSIS_DATA are specified implicitly.

Oracle CDD/Repository is not supported when /NATIONALITY=JAPAN is used.

When /NATIONALITY=US or -nationality us is specified on the compile command line, the dollar sign ($) is the default currency sign and symbol, and Japanese Language Support features are disabled.

/STANDARD=MIA, -std mia

If /STANDARD=MIA or -std mia are present on the compile command line, the compiler will issue informational diagnostics for those language elements that do not conform to the MIA specifications:

  • Hewlett-Packard syntax extension from Base Standards (ANSI-85, JIS-88)
  • Two of four optional modules
  • All obsolete language elements of required modules in Base Standards
  • Language elements omitted from required modules in Base Standards because of the different implementation of the vendors
  • HP-specific Japanese features out of MIA Extension Elements related to Japanese

To receive the diagnostics, the -warn all flag, /WARNINGS=ALL qualifier, -warn information flag, or /WARNING=INFORMATION qualifier is required.

The default is NOMIA.


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