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

programs (for example, by the execution of PERFORM or CALL statements) control remains within
the paragraph until either:
• The execution of a GO TO, STOP RUN, or EXIT PROGRAM statement transfers control out of
the paragraph.
• The final executable sentence of the paragraph completes without explicitly transferring control
to some other procedure. In this case, control passes to the next paragraph of the same section
if one exists or to the next section in the source program, except in these situations:
1. The rules for the implicit transfer of control among procedures, described later, can cause
control to revert to some other paragraph or section instead.
2. If no such reversion occurs, and no next section exists, execution of the program terminates.
During the execution of a paragraph, control passes to successive sentences unless this order is
modified by a conditional or delimited-scope statement or a GO TO, STOP RUN, CALL, ENTER,
or EXIT PROGRAM statement. Execution of a paragraph that does not have any sentences involves
only the passing of control described for item 2.
Section Execution
Execution of a section normally consists of serial execution of its paragraphs; however, this order
can be modified by explicit transfer statements (for example, a GO TO statement) and the rules
for implicit transfer of control. Execution of the section terminates when either:
1. The execution of a GO TO, STOP RUN, or EXIT PROGRAM statement transfers control out of
the section.
2. The final paragraph of the section completes without explicitly transferring control to some
other section. In this case, control passes to the next section of the source program, except in
these situations:
• The rules for the implicit transfer of control among procedures, described later, can cause
control to revert to some other section instead.
• If no such reversion occurs, and the section is the last one in the source program, the
execution of the program terminates.
Execution of a section that does not have any paragraphs involves only the passing of control
described for FIX_THIS_LINK.
Implicit Transfer of Control
The mechanism that transfers control from statement to statement in the sequence in which they
appear in the source program is an implicit transfer of control. This mechanism applies unless it is
overridden by an explicit transfer of control or the absence of a next executable statement to which
control can be passed.
Explicit Transfer of Control
An explicit transfer of control consists of execution of one of these statements:
• Conditional
• CALL
• ENTER
• Delimited-scope statement
• EXIT PROGRAM (when executed in a called program)
• GO TO
• PERFORM
240 Procedure Division