APPENDIX1.7 Appendix G. Summary of Language Difference: Host COBOL and Workstation COBOL

Table 59lists the language elements that are different between COBOL for OS/390 & VM and the IBM Workstation COBOL compilers (COBOL Set for AIX and VisualAge COBOL). Many COBOL for OS/390 & VM clauses and phrases are treated as comments under AIX, OS/2, and Windows. However, this will have minimal effect on existing applications that you download to the workstation. The Workstation compilers recognize and process most COBOL for OS/390 & VM language syntax, even if the language element has no functional effect.

Language Element	Implementation

Table 59. Language Difference Between Mainframe and Workstation IBM COBOL
ACCEPT statement	Under AIX, OS/2, and Windows, environment-name determines file identification.
APPLY WRITE-ONLY clause	Treated as a comment under AIX, OS/2, and Windows.
ASSIGN clause	Different syntax for the ASSIGNment name. ASSIGN...USING data-name is not supported on OS/390 and VM.
BLOCK CONTAINS clause	Treated as a comment under AIX, OS/2, and Windows.
CALL statement	A file-name as a CALL argument is not supported under AIX, OS/2, and Windows.
CLOSE statement	The following phrases are treated as comments under AIX, OS/2, and Windows: FOR REMOVAL, WITH NO REWIND, and UNIT/REEL.
CODE-SET clause	Treated as a comment under AIX, OS/2, and Windows.
DISPLAY statement	Under AIX, OS/2, and Windows, environment-name determines file identification.
File Status data-name-1	Some values and meanings for file status 9x are different under OS/390 and VM than under AIX, OS/2, and Windows.
File Status data-name-8	The format and values are different depending on the platform and the file system.
LABEL RECORD clause	LABEL RECORD IS data-name, USE...AFTER...LABEL PROCEDURE, and GO TO MORE-LABELS are treated as comments under AIX, OS/2, and Windows. These language elements are processed by the compiler; however, the user label declaratives are not invoked at run time.
Line Sequential files	Line sequential I-O is not supported on OS/390 and VM.
LOCK MODE clause	For OS/2 VSAM files, you can use this clause to specify the locking technique used for files.
MULTIPLE FILE TAPE	Treated as a comment under AIX, OS/2, and Windows. On the workstation, all files are treated as single volume files.
OPEN statement	The following phrases are treated as comments under AIX, OS/2, and Windows: REVERSED and WITH NO REWIND.
PASSWORD clause	Treated as a comment under AIX, OS/2, and Windows.
POINTER and PROCEDURE-POINTER data items	Under COBOL for OS/390 & VM, a POINTER data item is defined as 4 bytes; a PROCEDURE-POINTER data item is defined as 8 bytes. Under AIX, OS/2, and Windows, the size of these data items are consistent with the native pointer definition of the platform (4 bytes for 32-bit machines and 8 bytes for 64-bit machines).
READ...PREVIOUS	Under AIX, OS/2, and Windows only, allows you to read the previous record for relative or index files with DYNAMIC access mode.
RECORD CONTAINS clause	The RECORD CONTAINS n CHARACTERS clause is accepted with one exception: RECORD CONTAINS 0 CHARACTERS is treated as a comment under AIX, OS/2, and Windows.
RECORDING MODE clause	Treated as a comment under AIX, OS/2, and Windows for relative, indexed, and line sequential files.
RERUN clause	Treated as a comment under AIX, OS/2, and Windows.
RESERVE clause	Treated as a comment under AIX, OS/2, and Windows.
SAME AREA clause	Treated as a comment under AIX, OS/2, and Windows.
SAME SORT clause	Treated as a comment under AIX, OS/2, and Windows.
SET statement	Under AIX, OS/2, and Windows, format 5, rules for identifier-7 have extensions.
SORT-CONTROL special register	The contents of this special register differ between host and workstation COBOL.
SORT-CORE-SIZE special register	The contents of this special register differ between host and workstation COBOL.
SORT-FILE-SIZE special register	Treated as a comment under AIX, OS/2, and Windows. Values in this special register are not used.
SORT-MESSAGE special register	Treated as a comment under AIX, OS/2, and Windows.
SORT-MODE-SIZE special register	Treated as a comment under AIX, OS/2, and Windows. Values in this special register are not used.
SORT MERGE AREA clause	Treated as a comment under AIX, OS/2, and Windows.
START...<	Under AIX, OS/2, and Windows, the following relational operators are allowed: IS LESS THAN, IS <, IS NOT GREATER THAN, IS NOT >, IS LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO, IS <=
USAGE clause	Under AIX, OS/2, and Windows, addition of COMP-5 (new data type, native binary data format).
WRITE statement	Under AIX, OS/2, and Windows, if you specify the WRITE...ADVANCING with environment names: C01 - C12 or S01 - S05, one line is advanced.
Names known to the platform environment	The following names are identified differently: program-name, text-name, library-name, assignment-name, SORT-CONTROL special register, basis-name, DISPLAY/ACCEPT target identification, and system-dependent names.

Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, the Acrobat logo, and Acrobat Reader are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems incorporated.

APPENDIX1.7 Appendix G. Summary of Language Difference: Host COBOL and Workstation COBOL

IBM Library Server Copyright 1989, 2005 IBM Corporation. All rights reserved.