6.1.3 "COBOL Language Reference" IBM Library Server

6.1.3 Declaratives

Declaratives provide one or more special-purpose sections that are executed when an exceptional condition occurs.

When Declarative Sections are specified, they must be grouped at the beginning of the Procedure Division, and the entire Procedure Division must be divided into sections.

Each Declarative Section starts with a USE statement that identifies the section's function; the series of procedures that follow specify what actions are to be taken when the exceptional condition occurs. Each Declarative Section ends with another section-name followed by a USE statement, or with the key words END DECLARATIVES. See "USE Statement" in topic 8.1.15 for more information on the USE statement.

The entire group of Declarative Sections is preceded by the key word DECLARATIVES, written on the line after the Procedure Division header; the group is followed by the key words END DECLARATIVES. The key words DECLARATIVES and END DECLARATIVES must each begin in Area A and be followed by a separator period. No other text can appear on the same line.

In the declaratives part of the Procedure Division, each section header must be followed by a separator period, and must be followed by a USE statement, followed by a separator period. No other text can appear on the same line.

The USE statement has three formats:

EXCEPTION declarative (see "USE Statement" in topic 8.1.15)
DEBUGGING declarative (see "USE Statement" in topic 8.1.15)
X LABEL declarative (see "USE Statement" in topic 8.1.15)

The USE statement itself is never executed; instead, the USE statement defines the conditions that execute the succeeding procedural paragraphs, which specify the actions to be taken. After the procedure is executed, control is returned to the routine that activated it.

Within a declarative procedure, except for the USE statement itself, there must be no reference to any nondeclarative procedure.

X As IBM extensions, the following apply to declarative procedures:

X For AIX, OS/2, Windows, OS/390, and VM:
- X A declarative procedure can be performed from a nondeclarative
  X procedure.
X Additionally for OS/390 and VM:
- X A nondeclarative procedure can be performed from a declarative
  X procedure.
- X A declarative procedure can be referenced in a GO TO statement in
  X a declarative procedure.
- X A nondeclarative procedure can be referenced in a GO TO statement
  X in a declarative procedure.

Within a declarative procedure, no statement should be included that would cause the execution of a USE procedure that had been previously invoked and had not yet returned control to the invoking routine.

X You can include a statement that executes a previously invoked USE
X procedure that is still in control. However, to avoid an infinite loop,
X you must be sure there is an eventual exit at the bottom.

The declarative procedure is exited when the last statement in the procedure is executed.

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6.1.3 Declaratives

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