Data Division; Sections - Control Data Corporation 3300 Reference Manual

3.1
SECTIONS
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DATA DIVISION
The Data Division, required in every COBOL program, contains a full
description of the data to be processed by the object program. The data
falls into four categories:
Data stored on external files
Data common to more than one subprogram
Constants and data developed during program operation
Output reports
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The Data Division is divided into four sections corresponding to the categories
of data:
DATA DIVISION.
[FILE SECTION.]
[COMMON-STORAGE SECTION.]
[WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.]
[REPORT SECTION.]
The Data Division must begin with the header: DATA DIVISION followed by a
period and a space. Each of the sections is optional; when present, they
must be in the order of appearance shown in the format above. Each section
header is followed by one or more sets of entries; the File Section and Report
Section contain file descriptions followed by associated record description
entries, the Working-Storage and Common -Storage headers are followed
by data description entries for independent items, followed by record
descriptions.
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