Pathway/iTS SCREEN COBOL Reference Manual (G06.24+, H06.03+, Pathway/iTS 1.0+)

Data Division
Compaq NonStop™ Pathway/iTS SCREEN COBOL Reference Manual—426750-001
5-61
FILLER Restrictions
field-clause
defines the characteristics of the field item. Allowable clauses are:
FIELD STATUS
OCCURS
OCCURS DEPENDING ON
PICTURE
PRESENT IF
RESULTING COUNT
TO/FROM/USING
USER CONVERSION
FILLER Restrictions
The use of FILLER is permitted at any level. However, you must observe the following
restrictions:
•
When FILLER appears at the 01 level, that message cannot be the object of
Procedure Division statements capable of Message Section access.
•
When FILLER appears at any level, the FILLER item cannot have a
FROM/TO/USING clause associated with it. A field defined as FILLER
acts only as a place holder. This field cannot cause a reference to Working-Storage
for reading or storing data.
FILLER Usage
To match the incoming data stream or create the desired output data stream, you can
define the necessary FILLER fields in the Message Section.
1. On input, fields declared as FILLER are not processed. The TCP ignores a FILLER
field and processes the next field.
2. On output, fields declared as FILLER are replaced with fill. Nonnumeric fields are
filled with blanks.
3. Numeric fields are filled with zeros (binary if COMP, otherwise ASCII).
PIC 1 fields are filled with zero bits.
The FILLER fields in the Message Section define the format of the data. FILLER fields
in the paired Working-Storage Section data structure are optional.
A FILLER item in the Message Section acts only as a place holder. A FILLER item in
the Working-Storage Section sets aside an area of real storage.
You might want to include FILLER items in Working-Storage to set aside storage for
future use, or for documentation purposes.
FILLER items in Working-Storage cannot be referenced individually. However, the
group item that includes the FILLER items can be referenced.