User:SemperBlotto/COBOL

This appendix contains lists of reserved words, statements, functions, commands, and similar terminology used in COBOL programs, and whose presence in Wiktionary is not universally accepted.

Note: in older versions of COBOL, all terms are written in capital letters.

• identification division
  • program-id - specifies the external name of the program
• environment division
  • configuration section
    • source-computer - used only as a comment
    • object-computer - specifies the computer architecture that the compiled code will run on
  • input-output section
    • file-control - associates a file with an external medium
      • select - specifies the files logical name
      • assign - specifies a reference to its external name
      • organization - specifies that the file is either sequential or indexed
• data division
  • file section
  • working-storage section
  • linkage section
• procedure division
  • accept - used to read data from the operator's keyboard (or similar device)
  • add - arithmetic operator used to sum two numeric operands and store the result
  • alter - changes the target location of a go to statement
  • call - used to pass control temporarily to a subroutine
  • close - closes an external file after use
  • commit - makes changes to a database permanent
  • compute - evaluates an arithmetical expression and stores the result
  • continue - part of an if statement that specifies no action; a synonym of next sentence
  • copy - used at compile time to copy code from an external template
  • date - returns the current date in a variety of formats
  • delete - removes a record from an indexed file
  • display - writes text to the operator's console or to a printer etc
  • divide - arithmetic division operator
  • else - part of the if construction
  • entry - establishes an entry point of a called subroutine
  • evaluate - a multi-condition case statement
  • exhibit - a form of display statement
  • exit - returns control from a called subroutine
  • function - describes a function (that can be called)
  • goback - equivalent to exit in a subroutine or to stop in a main program
  • if - establishes conditional programming sequences
  • initialize - sets data fields to specified values
  • inspect - a string function that tallies or replaces characters
  • merge - merges two files according to key values
  • move - a general-purpose assignment statement
  • multiply - arithmetic multiplication operator
  • open - opens an external file for use
  • perform - transfers control temporarily to a named part of the same program
  • read - transfers a record from an external file to an area in the data division
  • return - transfers control back from a sort or merge statement
  • rewrite - replaces a record in an external file
  • rollback - cancels uncommited changes made to a database
  • search - searches a table based on a specified index key
  • set - assignes a value to an index
  • sort - sorts the records of one or more external files
  • start - positions an indexed file for subsequent data retrieval
  • stop - halts program execution
  • subtract - arithmetic subtraction operator
  • unstring - separates data into multiple fields
  • write - writes a logical record to a file