4.2.2 SELECT Clause
The SELECT clause chooses a file in the COBOL program to be associated with an external data set.
- SELECT OPTIONAL
-
Can be specified only for files opened in the input, I-O, or extend
mode. You must specify SELECT OPTIONAL for such input files that are
not necessarily present each time the object program is executed. For
more information, see the IBM COBOL Programming Guide for your
platform.
- file-name-1
-
Must be identified by an FD or SD entry in the Data Division. A
file-name must conform to the rules for a COBOL user-defined name,
must contain at least one alphabetic character, and must be unique
within this program.
If the file connector referenced by file-name-1 is an external file connector, all file control entries in the run unit that reference this file connector must have the same specification for the OPTIONAL phrase.
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