COBOL Manual for TNS and TNS/R Programs

Glossary
HP COBOL Manual for TNS and TNS/R Programs—522555-006
Glossary-21
numeric literal
numeric literal. A string of these characters:
•
One or more digits (required)
•
A decimal point in any character position except the rightmost (optional)
•
An algebraic sign in the leftmost character position (optional)
OBEY command file. An EDIT file that contains a series of commands and serves as a
source of command input.
OBJECT-COMPUTER. The name of an Environment Division paragraph that describes the
computer environment in which you can execute the object program.
object file. A file generated by a compiler, binder, or linker that contains machine
instructions and other information needed to construct the executable code spaces and
initial data for a process. The file can be a complete program that is ready for
immediate execution (an executable object file), or it can be incomplete and require
binding or linking with other object files before execution (a nonexecutable object file).
An object file can contain more than one object program.
object library. An object file to be used as a source of object programs for binding or
linking.
object of entry. A set of operands and reserved words that immediately follows the subject
of a Data Division entry.
object program. A set or group of executable machine language instructions and other
material designed to interact with data to provide problem solutions; the machine
language result of the operation of a COBOL compiler on a source program.
open mode. The state of a file after a process executes an OPEN statement for the file and
before the process executes a CLOSE statement (without the REEL or UNIT phrase)
for the file, governing the types of operations a process can perform on the file; one of
these modes, which you can specify in an OPEN statement:
•
INPUT mode
•
OUTPUT mode
•
I-O mode
•
EXTEND mode
OSS ASCII text file. See line sequential file.
Open System Services (OSS). An open system environment available for interactive or
programmatic use with the NonStop operating system. Processes that run in the OSS
environment use the OSS application program interface; interactive users of the OSS
environment use the OSS shell for their command interpreter. Compare to Guardian.