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

a comma, semicolon, or period separator as part of that separator and not as a distinct space
separator.
Comma or Semicolon
A comma (,) or semicolon (;) that immediately precedes one or more spaces acts as a comma
separator or semicolon separator, respectively. Except where explicitly prohibited, you can use
comma and semicolon separators anywhere that the specifications permit or require space
separators.
Colon
The colon (:) is a separator that COBOL uses to distinguish a reference modifier from a subscript.
The colon marks the end of the leftmost character position portion of the reference modifier. It is
required when shown in a syntax diagram.
Period
A period (.) that immediately precedes one or more spaces acts as a period separator. Period
separators are required in certain places by the syntactic definition of COBOL. They cannot appear
anywhere else.
Each sentence within the Identification and Procedure divisions and each entry within the
Environment and Data divisions must end with a period separator.
Quotation Marks
Quotation marks in balanced pairs enclose nonnumeric literals. You must precede the beginning
quotation mark (") with a space and follow the ending quotation mark with a separator space,
comma, semicolon, period, or right parenthesis. Except where a literal continues across several
lines, each delimiting quotation mark acts as a separator.
Within a simple nonnumeric literal, two consecutive quotation marks represent one quotation mark.
Parentheses
The punctuation characters left parenthesis [(] and right parenthesis [)] serve individually as
separators. Parenthesis separators can appear only in balanced pairs delimiting subscripts, reference
modifiers, arithmetic expressions, or conditions. The opening member of each balanced pair must
be a left parenthesis separator; the closing member must be a right parenthesis separator.
Equal Sign
The pseudo-text delimiter (==) is a separator. It can only appear in balanced pairs delimiting
pseudo-text. An opening pseudo-text separator must be immediately preceded by a space. A
closing pseudo-text separator must be immediately followed by a space, comma, semicolon, or
period separator.
Comments
All characters appearing within a comment-entry or comment line are a part of that entity and are
never interpreted as separators in that context.
Nonnumeric and National Literals
Characters appearing within a character-string that represents a nonnumeric or national literal are
components of its value and are never interpreted as separators.
Numeric Literals and PICTURE Character-Strings
Several punctuation characters (comma, period, left parenthesis, right parenthesis) are also defined
as characters available for the formation of numeric literals and PICTURE character-strings. They
are not separators in these contexts but instead represent a part of that language element; however,
62 Language Elements