COBOL Manual for TNS/E Programs (H06.08+, J06.03+)

description does not establish a record length, the longest data description entry associated
with it does so.
◦ 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 41).
The record description entry defines a record area associated with the file named in the file
description entry.
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 (page 143)).
For input and output operations on NonStop systems, the actual record-length limit for individual
devices depends on the operating system limits.
Example 41 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).
In the other sections of the Data Division, record description entries are data declarations, as in
Example 42. 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).
Example 42 Record Description Entries as Data Declarations
01 MEDICATIONS.
03 BRAND-NAME PICTURE X(50).
03 SIZE-IN-MG PICTURE 9999V99.
03 CONTRA-COUNT PICTURE 99.
03 CONTRAINDICATIONS OCCURS 1 TO 25 TIMES
= DEPENDING ON CONTRA-COUNT
PICTURE X(50).
77 I-DEX PICTURE 9999
USAGE IS COMPUTATIONAL
VALUE IS ZERO.
FILLER Keyword
The FILLER keyword, explicit or implicit, substitutes for a data-name when it is not important that
an item have a name. It is allowed on elementary or data structures. Commonly, FILLER is used
when you build records in the Working-Storage Section or Extended-Storage Section for heading
lines or error messages, where most of the text is groups of literals.
186 Data Division