COBOL Manual for TNS/E Programs (H06.03+)

Data Division
HP COBOL Manual for TNS/E Programs—520347-003
7-46
General Considerations
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Data Items in the File Section
Technically, the data description entries in the File Section only establish
descriptions of data items in record areas—they are not declarations in the
purest sense. If the file description does not establish a record length, the
longest data description entry associated with it does so.
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Relationship with File Description Entries
In the File Section, data description entries that describe records follow file
description entries or sort-merge file description entries.
The file description or sort-merge file description entry is not part of the data
description entry (see Example 7-8).
The record description entry defines a record area associated with the file named in
the file description entry.
In the other sections of the Data Division, record description entries are data
declarations, as in Example 7-9. The level-77 entry is a description of a data item that
is not part of a record. See Descriptions of Noncontiguous Elementary Items
(Level 77).
Note. Any File Section record you describe cannot exceed 32,767 bytes. At execution time,
records for $RECEIVE files cannot exceed 32 KB (see RECEIVE-CONTROL Paragraph). For
input and output operations on NonStop systems, the actual record-length limit for individual
devices depends on the operating system limits.
Example 7-8. File Description Entry Followed by Record Description Entry
FD SAMPLE-FILE
LABEL RECORDS ARE OMITTED.
01 SAMPLE-RECORD.
05 STORE-ID.
10 STORE-NUMBER PIC 999.
10 STORE-REGION PIC X.
88 NORTHERN VALUE "N".
88 SOUTHERN VALUE "S".
05 STORE-MANAGER PIC X(35).
05 STORE-ADDRESS.
10 STREET PIC X(25).
10 CITY PIC X(15).
10 ZIP-CODE PIC 9(5).