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

Source Program Organization and Format
HP COBOL Manual for TNS/E Programs—520347-003
2-15
External and Internal Objects
Topics:
•
Data Records in Working and Extended-Storage
•
File Connectors and Their Records
•
Linkage Section Records
Data Records in Working and Extended-Storage
To give a data record described in the Working-Storage or Extended-Storage Section
the external attribute, include the keyword EXTERNAL in its data description entry.
Only record data description entries can include the EXTERNAL clause. Any data item
described by a data description entry subordinate to an entry describing an external
record also inherits the external attribute.
If a record or data item does not have the external attribute, it is part of the internal
data of the program that describes it.
File Connectors and Their Records
To give a file connector the external attribute, include the keyword EXTERNAL in its file
description entry. When a file connector has the external attribute, the records and the
data items of the file inherit the external attribute.
If a file connector does not have the external attribute, it is internal to the program that
describes the associated file-name.
The data records described subordinately to either of these file description entries are
internal to the program that describes the file-name unless the data records
themselves are declared to be external:
•
A file description entry that does not contain the EXTERNAL clause
•
A sort-merge file description entry
Any data items described subordinate to the data description entries for such records
are also internal to the program that describes the file-name.
Linkage Section Records
Data records and any subordinate data items in the Linkage Section are
representatives of data items defined in other programs. They are considered to be
internal to the program describing them and are directly accessible only to that
program; however, they are indirectly accessible to programs called by that program.