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

Compiler Directive
A compiler directive has a question mark (?) in the indicator area. If the question mark is in column
1 instead of column 7, the compiler treats the line as if it begins with the indicator area.
A compiler directive is an instruction to the COBOL compiler, and a compiler directive line has no
sequence number area. (For more information on compiler directives, see Compiler Directives
(page 533).)
Ordinary Comment
An ordinary comment has an asterisk (*) in the indicator area. A comment can appear anywhere
in a program. The compiler ignores it.
Comment for Top of Page
A comment to be printed at the top of the next page has a slash (/) in the indicator area. Like an
ordinary comment, this comment can appear anywhere in a program. The compiler advances to
the top of the next page and prints the comment at the top of that page.
Debugging Line
A debugging line has D or d in the indicator area. If you run the program with DEBUGGING
MODE, the line is part of the program; otherwise, the line is a comment. A debugging line cannot
contain embedded SQL/MP or SQL/MX statements. For information on DEBUGGING MODE, see
SOURCE-COMPUTER Paragraph (page 102).
Continuation Line
A continuation line has a hyphen (-) in the indicator area. It is a continuation of the previous line.
Always leave area A of a continuation line blank.
You can continue any word or literal. If you continue a numeric literal, a reserved word, or a
user-defined word, the compiler ignores the trailing spaces of the previous line and initial spaces
of the continuation line.
The ANSI rules for continuing a nonnumeric literal are:
• The nonnumeric literal contains all trailing spaces present in area B (through column 72) in
the previous line.
• The first character in area B of the continuation line that is not a space must be a quotation
mark. The continuation begins with the character immediately following that quotation mark.
Example 225 Continuation of Nonnumeric Literal in ANSI Format
....+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....+....7....+....8
DISPLAY "THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF CONTINUING A LITERAL IN ANSI S
- "TANDARD FORMAT."
The ANSI rules for continuing a national literal are:
• The national literal contains all trailing spaces present in area B in the previous line.
• The first character in area B of the continuation line that is not a space must be an N or n
followed by a quotation mark. The N or n must be in an odd-numbered column. The continuation
begins with the character immediately following the quotation mark.
• The literal string must end on the previous line before the internal character count (the number
of bytes) reaches 73. If you are counting the national characters as you type them, remember
that each national character represents two bytes internally. The number of characters allowed
Indicator Area 703