Control Data Corporation 3300 Reference Manual page 10

Whenever a level number is used,
it
is the first element in the entry.
The entries below show how level numbers are used:
£
77 ITEM-A PICTURE:XX VALUE
Ol.
~ UPDATE-RECORD.
~
RECORD-ID.
p4.
CODE-NUMBER PICTURE X.
l e v e l > _&.§ NEW-CODE VALUE "A".
numbers
I
,88. OLD-CODE VALUE "B".
~ ~
ACCOUNT-NUMBER PICTURE 999.
~ CUSTOMER-IDENTIFICATION.
6 RETAIL-ID RENAMES CUSTOMER-IDENTIFICATION.
Symbols
Symbols are special characters which have specific meanings for the compiler. Symbols are used
in punctuation, as operators in arithmetic expressions, as relational operators in conditions, and
as editing symbols in pictures. The COBOL Character Set in appendix B lists all the symbols
available to the COBOL programmer. Punctuation rules are given in appendix B, the rules for
arithmetic and conditional operators in chapter 4, and picture symbols in chapter 3.
Pictures
Pictures describe such characteristics of data items as:
• Size of item
• Class of item: numeric, alphabetic, or alphanumeric
• Whether the item is signed
• Position of an assumed decimal point
• Editing (deletion, insertion, or replacement of characters) to be performed on the item
Each picture is a string of from 1 to 30 characters. Pictures are composed of the characters listed
under PICTURE in chapter 3. In general, the number of characters defines the size of the item and
the character itself defines the class: X=alphanumeric, 9=numeric, A=alphabetic. A picture may be
abbreviated by enclosing an integer in parentheses to show the size immediately after the character
defining the class. For instance, X(20) means the same as 20 X's in a row; both mean that the item
consists of 20 alphanumeric characters.
x
60229400