COBOL Manual for TNS and TNS/R Programs

Source Program Organization and Format
HP COBOL Manual for TNS and TNS/R Programs—522555-006
2-5
Indicator Area
Debugging Line (D or d)
A debugging line has the letter D or d in the indicator area. If the program includes a
DEBUGGING MODE clause, the debugging line is part of the program; otherwise, it is
a comment. A debugging line cannot contain embedded SQL/MP or SQL/MX
statements. For information on DEBUGGING MODE, see SOURCE-COMPUTER
Paragraph.
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.
In an HP COBOL source program, you can put a blank line between a continued line
and its continuation line. Such a blank line has no effect on the continued line or its
continuation (see Text Line).
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 rules for continuing a nonnumeric literal in Tandem reference format are:
•
The nonnumeric literal does not contain the trailing spaces of the previous line.
•
The first nonblank character in area B of the continuation line must be a quotation
mark. The continuation begins with the character immediately following that
quotation mark.
The rules for continuing a national literal in Tandem reference format are:
•
The national literal does not contain the trailing spaces of the previous line.
•
The first nonblank character in area B of the continuation line must be the letter N
followed by a quotation mark. The continuation begins with the character
immediately following the quotation mark.
Text Line
The compiler handles any line that begins with a space character as a program text
line.
Example 2-1. Continuation Line in Tandem Reference Format
....+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....+....7....+....8
DISPLAY "THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF CONTINUING A LITERAL
- " IN TANDEM REFERENCE FORMAT."
Note. If the character in the indicator area is not a question mark, asterisk, slash, the letter D
(uppercase or lowercase), or a hyphen, the compiler issues a warning and handles the
character as if it were a space.