COBOL Manual for TNS and TNS/R Programs

Data Fundamentals
HP COBOL Manual for TNS and TNS/R Programs—522555-006
4-19
Qualifiers
Topics:
•
Qualifiers
•
Subscripts
•
Reference Modifiers
•
Identifiers
•
Condition-Names
Qualifiers
When the name of a data element exists within a hierarchy of names, you must be able
to make references to the name unique by mentioning one or more names defined at
higher levels of the hierarchy. The higher-level names are called qualifiers. Although
you must provide enough qualifiers to make the name unique, you need not include all
levels. For more information on qualifiers, see Qualified Names.
Subscripts
A subscript, or set of subscripts, identifies an element in a table (created by an
OCCURS clause). Whenever a statement in the Procedure Division refers to an
individual table element or any item subordinate to a table element, that reference
must include a subscript.
If the data item belongs to a table nested within one or more other tables (because
more than one OCCURS clause applies to the data-name), a reference to the data
item must include a subscript corresponding to each table (except in SEARCH
statements and some intrinsic functions, which do not allow subscripts).
If a condition-name is associated with a data item for which subscripts are required, a
reference to that condition-name must also include appropriate subscripts.
Topics:
•
Subscript Syntax
•
Number and Range of Subscripts
•
Using Indexes Instead of Subscripts