CODEWITHSUNDEEP
cobol
jl6
jl6

Reputation: 6394

What are the first 6 characters in a line of a COBOL program used for?

I am looking at a COBOL program that has the following line:

T41037*         SELECT  XX

This is part of a SQL statement. I believe the * indicates that it is commented out. But what does the T41037 mean?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 2981

Answers (2)

Cathy Sullivan
Cathy Sullivan

Reputation: 144

Also, the "T" in column 1 might indicate that this line is to be compiled and run when you are in test mode. I've seen that in some places but I think it was more like a "T" in column 7 instead of an "*".

All systems are different and different shops run different test software.

Upvotes: 0

Bruce Martin
Bruce Martin

Reputation: 10543

Originally the first 6 characters held the line number, this was quite important in the punch card days (try dropping a bunch of cards on the ground and then putting them back in the correct sequence with out line numbers).

These days it can be anything. Some sites use it for change numbers or some other special use. Try asking the people you work with, there is no generic Cobol meaning

Upvotes: 7

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