HP DDL D40 Reference Manual page 123

Definition Attributes
The maximum field length depends on data type:
If an alphanumeric or national field is used only in working storage (not in a
record), the maximum field length is 32,767 bytes.
If an alphanumeric or national field is defined in or referenced by a RECORD
statement, the maximum field length is the maximum record length, which
depends on file type:
Entry-sequenced
files
Key-sequenced files
Relative files
Unstructured files
The maximum length of a numeric field is 18 digits.
The symbols S and V are not counted in the 18-digit COBOL limit on numeric
fields; the symbols 9 and T are each counted as 1 digit in the 18-digit COBOL limit
on numeric fields.
The DDL symbol S is not the same as the COBOL PICTURE S:
In DDL, the symbol S represents a digit with a separate sign. DDL translates
the symbol S into the COBOL PICTURE S and adds a COBOL SIGN clause
with a SEPARATE phrase.
If S is the first symbol in a numeric picture string, DDL adds SIGN LEADING
SEPARATE.
If S is the last symbol in a numeric picture string, DDL adds SIGN TRAILING
SEPARATE.
For COBOL, the symbol T represents a digit that contains an embedded sign:
DDL translates the symbol T into PICTURE S9 and adds the COBOL SIGN
clause.
If the T is the first character in the PICTURE string, DDL adds SIGN LEADING.
If T is the last character, DDL adds SIGN TRAILING.
If T is the only character in the PICTURE string, DDL translates the PICTURE
clause into a PIC S9 SIGN IS LEADING clause for COBOL.
The symbol T is counted as one digit in a numeric field.
PICTURE Clause Guidelines for FORTRAN
Consider the following guidelines when generating FORTRAN source code:
Data Definition Language (DDL) Reference Manual—426798-002
4,072 bytes
4,062 bytes
4,072 bytes
4,096 bytes
6- 29
PICTURE Clause