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

Nondisk File (Device) Names
Nondisk files are devices such as terminals, printers, magnetic tape drives, and data communications
lines. A nondisk file can be accessed by its name (the recommended method) or its logical device
number, both of which are assigned by system management.
node-name
is a backward slash (\) followed by an alphabetic character and up to six alphanumeric
characters. Example: \mynode.
ldev-number
is a dollar sign ($) followed by an integer whose value is less than or equal to 34492. Example:
$12345.
device-name
is a dollar sign ($) followed by an alphabetic character and up to six alphanumeric characters.
Example: $printr2.
qualifier
is a number sign (#) followed by one to seven alphanumeric characters. Example: #PRINTR2.
An example of a nondisk file name is \mynode.$printer2.#S. If \mynode is the default node, then
these are equivalent:
\mynode.$printer2.#S
$printer2.#S
COBOL File Names
A COBOL file name is the name by which a particular HP COBOL program recognizes a system
file. It is unique within the HP COBOL program. A COBOL file name is the file-name in the
file-control entry (in the Environment Division) and the file description entry (in the Data Division).
A file-name must meet these criteria:
• Consist of one or more (a maximum of 30) alphanumeric characters (letters, digits, and
hyphens)
• Contain at least one nonnumeric character (letter or hyphen)
• Not begin or end with a hyphen
Letters can be uppercase or lowercase.
NOTE: HP COBOL requires a file-name to contain at least one nonnumeric character; COBOL
requires a file-name to contain at least one letter.
832 Input and Output Concepts