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Document:	DIBOL-83 Language Reference Manual
Order Number:	AA-U066A-TK
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Pages:	190
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DIBOL-83 Language
Reference Manual
Order No. AA-U066A-TK
Includes Update Notice: AD-U066A-T1
October 1983

Supersession/Update Information:

This manual incorporates Update Notice AD-U066A-T1.

Operating System and Version:

CTS-300 VS.O
RSTS/E DIBOL V5.0
VAXNMS DIBOL V2.0
Professional Host Tool Kit DIBOL V1.6
PRO/Tool Kit DIBOL V1.6
RSX-11 M V4.3
RSX-11 M-PLUS V2.1

First Printing, May 1983
First Update, October 1983
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and
should not be construed as a commitment by Digital Equipment
Corporation. Digital Equipment Corporation assumes no responsibility for
any errors that may appear in this document.

The software described in this document is furnished under a license and
may only be used or copied in accordance with the terms of such license.

No responsibility is assumed for the use or reliability of software on
equipment that is not supplied by DIGITAL or its affiliated companies.

The specifications and drawings, herein, are the property of Digital
Equipment Corporation and shall not be reproduced or copied or used in
whole or in part as the basis for the manufacture or sale of items without
written permission.
Copyright © 1983 by Digital Equipment Corporation. All Rights Reserved

The following are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation:

CTIBUS
DEC
DECmate
DECsystem-10
DECSYSTEM-20
DECUS
DECwriter
DIBOL

mamaama

MASSBUS
PDP
P/OS
PRO/BASIC
Professional
PRO/FMS
PRO/RMS
PROSE
Rainbow

RSTS
RSX
Tool Kit
UNIBUS
VAX
VMS
VT
Work Processor

CONTENTS
Page
PREFACE
CHAPTER

CHAPTER

vii

DIBOL-83 LANGUAGE ELEMENTS ........................ .

1-1

1.1
1.2
1.2.1
1.2.2
1.2.3
1.2.4
1.2.5
1.2.6
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9

DIBOL-83 CHARACTER SET. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
STATEMENT TyPES....................................
Compiler Directives And Declarations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Data Specification Statements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Data Manipulation Statements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Control Statements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Intertask Communications Statements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Input/Output Statements..............................
PROGRAM STRUCTURE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
STATEMENT LINE SyNTAX..............................
PROCEDURE DIVISION STATEMENT LABELS. . . ... . ........
ARRAY SUBSCRiPTING.................................
LITERALS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SUBSTRINGS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
DECIMAL EXPRESSIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1-1
1-1
1-2
1-3
1-3
1-3
1-4
1-4
1-5
1-5
1-8
1-9
1-11
1-13
1-15

DATA DIVISION ....................................... .

2-1

2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.6.1

INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
RECORD STATEMENT..................................
COMMON STATEMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FIELD DEFINITIONS....................................
ARRAY DEFINITIONS...................................
SUBROUTINE STATEMENT.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Subroutine Argument Definition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2-1
2-2
2-4
2-7
2-10
2-12
2-13

THE DIBOL-83 PROCEDURE DIVISION STATEMENTS ....... .

3-1

3.1
3.2
3.2.1
3.2.2
3.2.3
3.2.4
3.2.5
3.2.6
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8

INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
VALUE ASSIGNMENT STATEMENTS. ......................
Moving Alpha Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Moving Decimal Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Alpha-to-Decimal Conversion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Decimal-to-Alpha Conversion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Formatting Data.....................................
Clearing Variables...................................
ACCEPT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
BEGIN-END BLOCK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CALL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CLEAR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CLOSE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
DELETE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3-1
3-2
3-2
3-3
3-5
3-6
3-8
3-11
3-12
3-14
3-16
3-17
3-18
3-20

iii

CONTENTS (Cont.)

Page

CHAPTER

3.9
3.10
3.11
3.12
3.13
3.14
3.15
3.16
3.17
3.18
3.19
3.20
3.21
3.22
3.23
3.24
3.25
3.26
3.27
3.28
3.29
3.30
3.31
3.32
3.33
3.34
3.35
3.36
3.37
3.38
3.39
3.40
3.41

DETACH. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .
DISPLAY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
DO-UNTIL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FOR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FORMS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
GOTO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
GOTO (COMPUTED)....................................
IF.. . . . .. . .... ..... . ... .. .... ... . ..... . .. . . ......... . .
IF-THEN-ELSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
INCR.................................................
LOCASE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
LPQUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
OFFERROR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
ONERROR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
OPEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
PROC-END. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
READ (RELATIVE FILE). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
READ (INDEXED FILE). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
READS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
RECV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
RETURN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SEND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SLEEP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
STOP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
STORE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
UNLOCK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
UPCASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
USING. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
WHILE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
WRITE (RELATIVE FILE). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
WRITE (INDEXED FILE). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
WRITES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
XCALL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3-22
3-24
3-26
3-28
3-31
3-32
3-33
3-34
3-36
3-38
3-39
3-40
3-42
3-43
3-44
3-49
3-51
3-53
3-55
3-57
3-59
3-60
3-62
3-63
3-64
3-66
3-68
3-70
3-74
3-76
3-78
3-79
3-81

THE DIBOL-83 COMPILER DIRECTIVES ................... .

4-1

4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7
4.8

INTRODUCTION........................................
.IFDEF-.ENDC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.IFNDEF-.ENDC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.INCLUDE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.LlST. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.NOLIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.PAGE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.TITLE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4-1
4-2
4-3
4-4
4-6
4-8
4-9
4-11

CONTENTS (Cont.)
Page
CHAPTER

APPENDIX

UNIVERSAL EXTERNAL SUBROUTINES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5-1

5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
5.6
5.7
5.8
5.9
5.10
5.11
5.12
5.13
5.14
5.15
5.16
5.17
5.18
5.19
5.20
5.21

ASCii....................... ......... . ................
DATE. ... .. . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . .. . .. . . . . .. . . .. . . . .. . .
DECML....... ...................................... ..
DELET....... ..................................... .. . .
ERROR. . . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .
FATAL..... .................... ....... ................
FLAGS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
INSTR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
JBNO.................................................
MONEY. . .. . . . .. ... . . . .. . . .... . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
PAK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
RENAM. . . . . . . . . . . .• . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
RSTAT. . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . .
RUNJB .................. ...................... .......
SiZE..... ............. ................................
TIME... . ............. .......... .............. ........
TNMBR............... ............................ ....
TTSTS... ....................... ......................
UNPAK. . ............. ................................
VERSN . ............... ........................ .......
WAIT.................................................

5-2
5-3
5-5
5-6
5-7
5-8
5-10
5-13 .
5-15
5-16
5-17
5-19
5-22
5-24
5-25
5-27
5-28
5-29
5-31
5-33
5-35

DIBOL-83 CHARACTER SET... . .. . . . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . .

A-1

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

GLOSSARY

Glossary-1
Index-1

INDEX

FIGURES
FIGURES

1-1
5-1
5-2
5-3

DIBOL-83 Program Structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FLAGS Option Fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
RENAM Flowchart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
WAIT Option Fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1-5
5-11
5-20
5-35

TABLES
TABLES

1-1
1-2
1-3
1-4
1-5
3-1
5-1
5-2
5-3
A1

DIBOL-83 Delimiters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1-6
Table of Operator Precedence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1-17
Unary Operator Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1-17
Binary Operator Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1-17
Truth Table... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1-18
Format Control Characters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3-9
FLAGS Argument Assignments ........... ,. .. . . .. . . . ..... . .
5-11
VERSN Returned Formats .... '. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5-34
WAIT Argument Assignments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5-36
DIBOL-83 Character Set. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Appendix-2

PREFACE

The DIBOL-83 Language Reference Manual contains reference information on all aspects of the Standard
DIBOL-83 Language. It does not include information on any particular operating systems or their specific
effect on DIBOL-83.

AUDIENCE

This manual is written for:
The programmer who is new to DIBOL but is experienced in another high-level language.
The experienced DIBOL programmer.

MANUAL ORGANIZATION

The manual is organized as follows:
This Preface orients the reader to the format used throughout the manual, and to the terms and
symbols used within the text.
Chapter 1 contains information related to the language elements such as the character set,
statement types, program structure, syntax, labels, array subscripting, literals, substrings, and
expressions.
Chapter 2 references all Data Division statements including the COMMON, RECORD, and
SUBROUTINE statements, and describes field definitions.
Chapter 3 references all Procedure Division statements and explains the Value Assigment
Statements.
Chapter 4 contains information related to Compiler Directives such as .TITLE, .INCLUDE, . LIST,
.PAGE, and others.
Chapter 5 references all Universal External Subroutines.
The Appendix contains the DIBOL-83 Character Set.
The Glossary defines terms and phrases as used in this manual.

vii

MANUAL FORMAT
This manual provides the reader with fast information retrieval.
The major subject discussed on each page in chapters two through five is displayed in bold lettering in
the upper outer corner of each page. This bold lettering allows the reader to quickly find particular
information.
The majority of the pages contain five main sections:
The FUNCTION section briefly describes or defines the subject matter.
The FORMAT section describes the correct structure or make-up of a statement, subroutine, etc.,
and explains each portion of the structure.
The RULES section provides guidelines, parameters, advice, and limitations for the particular
subject matter. The rules are not necessarily presented in order of importance.
The ERROR CONDITIONS sections list compiler errors and run-time errors. The run-time errors will
also indicate their assigned error number and whether they are Trappable (T) or Non-trappable
(NT). All listed errors are particular to the subject matter, statement, or subroutine being discussed.
The EXAMPLES section illustrates the use of the particular subject matter.

DOCUMENT SYMBOLS

The symbols defined below are used throughout this manual.

Symbol

Definition

afield

is the name of an alpha field.

aliteral

is an alpha literal.

is a decimal expression that evaluates to an input/output channel number.

dexp

is a decimal expression that can be any valid combination of operands and operators. In
its simplest cases, dexp can be a dfield or a dliteral.

dfield

is the name of a decimal field.

dliteral

is a decimal literal.

field

is the name of either an alpha or a decimal field.

label

is a Procedure Division statement label.

literal

is either an alpha or a decimal literal.

viii

lowercase
(characters) mean elements of the language which are supplied by the programmer.
non-trappable error
is an error that causes program termination and cannot be trapped.
record
is the name of a record.
subroutine
is the name of a subroutine.
trappable error
is an error that can cause program termination but may be trapped using the ONERROR
statement.
UPPERCASE
(characters) mean elements of the language which must be used exactly as shown.

represent brackets and mean optional arguments.

represent vertical lines and mean a single choice must be made from a list or arguments

represent a horizontal ellipsis and mean the preceding item can be repeated as
indicated.

•
•
•

represents a vertical ellipsis and means that not all of the statements in a figure or
example are shown.

(

CHAPTER 1
DIBOL-83 LANGUAGE ELEMENTS

A DIBOL-83 program is a sequence of statements that describes a method for performing a task. These
statements are translated by the DIBOL-83 compiler for subsequent execution by the DIBOL-83 run-time
system under the control of the operating system.

1.1 DIBOL·83 CHARACTER SET
A DIBOL-83 program consists of symbolic characters that form the elements of the language. A subset of
the American Standard Code for Information Exchange (ASCII) characters comprise this set of symbolic
characters. Characters used as data are also selected from this character set.
Appendix A lists the ASCII characters and their associated numeric codes.

1.2 STATEMENT TYPES
A statement is the basic unit of expression in the DIBOL-83 language.
DIBOL-83 statements fall into six functional groups:
Compiler Directives and Declarations
Data Specification Statements
Data Manipulation Statements
Control Statements
Intertask Communications Statements
Input/Output Statements
A statement has one or more elements. The first element is usually an English language verb that
characterizes or symbolizes an action to be performed (such as READ, WRITE, SLEEP, OPEN, and
CALL).
The other elements of a statement may be arguments, expressions, or other statements. Arguments
consist of symbolic data names, references to statement labels, and expressions of data values or
relationships. Arguments specify the objects of the action being performed by the statement.

1-1

1.2.1 Compiler Directives and Declarations

• Compiler Directives and Declarations are instructions that provide information about the
program to the compiler.
• Compiler Directives and Declarations are not executable at run-time.
• Compiler Directives may appear anywhere in the program. They are discussed in Chapter 4.
• Declarations are limited to either the Data Division (SUBROUTINE) or Procedure Division
(BEGIN-END and PROC-END). They are discussed in the chapter devoted to those respective
program divisions.
• The Compiler Directives are:
.IFDEF-.ENDC

causes statements that follow to be compiled if a specified variable is defined
(.ENDC marks the end of the statements controlled by the .IFDEF and
.IFNDEF statements) .

.IFNDEF-.ENDC

causes statements that follow to be compiled if a specified variable is not
defined (.ENDC marks the end of the statements controlled by the .IFDEF and
.IFNDEF statements) .

.INCLUDE

causes the compiler to open a specified file and continue the compilation
using that file .

.LlST

enables the compiler to list source code .

.NOLIST

inhibits the listing of compiler source code.

.PAGE

causes a top-of-page command to occur.

.TITLE

causes a top-of-page command to occur and a new title to be placed in the
page header.

• The Declarations are:
BEGIN-END

indicates the start (BEGIN) or finish (END) of a sequence of blocked
statements.

PROC-END

separates Data Division Statements from Procedure Division Statements
(PROC) and indicates the last statement in a program (END).

SUBROUTINE

identifies a program as an external subroutine.

1-2 D180L·83 Language Elements

1.2.2 Data Specification Statements
• Data Specification Statements identify and define the characteristics (Le., whether it is alpha or
numeric decimal, its size, and its symbolic name) of the data processed by a DIBOL-83 program.
• The Data Specification Statements are:
COMMON

describes a record, whose fields can be accessed from external subroutines.

RECORD

describes a record.

field definition

describes the name, data type, and size of a field in a record.

1.2.3 Data Manipulation Statements
•

Data Manipulation Statements perform conversion and value assignment.

•

The Data Manipulation Statements are:
CLEAR

sets a variable to zero or spaces.

INCR

increments a variable by one.

LOCASE

converts UPPERCASE letters to lowercase.

UPCASE

converts lowercase letters to UPPERCASE.

value assignment statement
assigns the value in the source to the destination.

1.2.4 Control Statements
•

Control Statements modify the order of statement execution within a program.

•

The Control Statements are:
CALL

calls a subroutine within the program.

DETACH

disconnects the terminal from its associated program.

DO-UNTIL

causes repetitive execution of a statement until a condition is true.

FOR

causes repetitive execution of a statement.

GOTO

transfers control to another statement.

executes a statement if a condition is true.

D180L-83 Language Elements

1-3

IF-THEN-ELSE

allows conditional execution of one of two statements.

OFFERROR

disables trapping of run-time errors.

ON ERROR

enables trapping of run-time errors.

RETURN

causes control to return from a subroutine.

SLEEP

suspends program operation for a specified time interval.

STOP

terminates program execution.

USING

executes one statement out of a list of statements.

WHILE

causes a statement to be executed repetitively while a condition is true.

XCALL

calls an external subroutine.

1.2.5 Intertask Communications Statements
•

Intertask Communications Statements allow communication between programs.

•

The Intertask Communications Statements are:
RECV

receives a message from another program.

SEND

transmits a message to another program.

1.2.6 Input/Output Statements
• Input/Output Statements control the transmission and reception of data between memory and
input/output devices.
• The Input/Output Statements are:
ACCEPT

receives a character from a device.

terminates use of an input/output channel and closes the associated file.

DELETE

deletes a record from an indexed file.

DISPLAY

sends a character string to a device.

FORMS

sends special printer control codes.

LPQUE

requests a file to be printed.

OPEN

initializes a file in preparation for input/output operations.

READ

reads a record from a file (direct access).

READS

reads the next record in sequence from a file.

STORE

adds a record to an indexed file.

UNLOCK

releases a record for use by another program.

WRITE

writes a record to a file (direct access).

WRITES

writes the next record in sequence to a file.

1-4 0180L-83 Language Elements

1.3 PROGRAM STRUCTURE
A DIBOL program contains two major parts: a Data Division and a Procedure Division. The Data Division
contains statements that define and identify the data used by the program. The Procedure Division
contains statements that execute certain tasks.
Figure 1-1 shows a schematic drawing of a DIBOL-83 program structure.
Main Program
RECORD statement 1
field definitions
Data Division

RECORD statement n
field definitions

PROC
Procedure Division

END

External Subroutine
SUBROUTINE statement
argument definitions
RECORD statement n
field definitions

PROC
Procedure Division

END

Figure 1·1 DIBOL-83 Program Structure

1.4 STATEMENT LINE SYNTAX
GENERAL RULES
•

A statement line can contain 511 characters.

•

A program may contain no more than one statement per line.

•

A statement can begin anywhere on a line.

DIBOL-83 Language Elements

1-5

RULES FOR LINE CONTINUATION
• The ampersand symbol (&) specifies line continuation. This allows lengthy statements to be
continued onto additional physical lines.
• The ampersand symbol must be placed at the first character position in the continuation line.
• A statement can be continued for a maximum of 511 characters, including ampersand symbols,
spaces, horizontal tabs, Carriage Return, and Line Feed characters.
• Comments cannot be continued by an ampersand; they require a semicolon.
RULES FOR DELIMITERS
•

Delimiters separate the elements of the language (keywords, labels, symbols, literals).

•

Delimiters are listed in Table 1-1.

Table 1-1
DIBOL-83 Delimiters
Name
Addition
Colon
Comma
Division
Double Quotes
Equal
Left Parenthesis
Multiplication

Symbol

+
,
I

(
*

Name

Symbol

Percent
Period
Pound
Right Parenthesis
Single Quote
Space
Subtraction
Tabs

)

<TAB>

RULES FOR COMMENTS
• Comments are used to explain the source program.
• Comments are ignored by the compiler.
• Comments are preceded by a semicolon (;).
• Comments can follow a statement on a line.
• Comments can be placed on any statement line by preceding the comment with a semicolon (;).
• Comments can be placed on a line all by themselves (full line comments).
• Comments cannot be continued by an ampersand; they require a semicolon.

1-6 0180L-83 Language Elements

-~~

~---

-----

-----~--

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

•

Line too long

•

Extra characters at statement end

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

None
EXAMPLES

Statement Line Syntax
Lengthy statement lines can be continued onto additional lines. A comment cannot be placed on
the first of the two lines; a comment can only be placed at the logical end of the statement as shown.

TESTl,
&

IF (INVENT+ORDER .GT. SHIPPD
.AND.CASH.GT.MINIM) GOTO GETMOR ;Time to order?

The following examples illustrate comments. The first example shows a commented statement and
the second example shows a full line comment.

RECORD CUST

; Customer record

; This program prints the Accounts Past Due Report
Comments can be continued onto multiple lines by using a semicolon as follows:

READS (l,CUST,EOF)

; Read the sequentially next
; ••• customer master file

The basic elements of the language are separated by delimiters. In the following example, the
space used as a delimiter between the keyword GOTO and the label TEST1 is missing. This
statement will generate a compiler error.

GOTOTESTl
The following statement will also generate a compiler error because there is an extra space in the
middle of the label TEST1:
.

GOTO

STl

D180L-83

Language Elements

1-7

1.5 PROCEDURE DIVISION STATEMENT LABELS
• A statement label is a unique symbolic name that identifies a statement in the Procedure Division
of a DIBOL program.
• A label consists of up to 6 characters, the first of which must be alphabetic. The remaining
characters can be alphabetic, numeric, $, or _(underscore).
• Only the first 6 characters of a label are significant; remaining characters are ignored.
• A label may begin anywhere on a line as long as it immediately precedes and is separated from
its associated statement by a comma.
• A label cannot be used to identify more than 1 statement.
• Compiler Directives and Declarations (except for BEGIN-END) cannot have labels.
COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Duplicate label
RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
EXAMPLES

• The following labels (LOOP6, X_RTN, and BAD$) are all legal:

LOOP6, IF I.GT.MAX GOTO DONE
X_RTN, RETURN
BAD$,

WRITES (CH,'Bad Input')

• The following label (DO_PAYROLL) is legal but will be truncated to six characters (i.e.,
DO_PAY):

DO_PAYROLL, OPEN (CH,U,'PAYROL.DDF')
• The following labels (6X, _RTN, and $BAD) are not legal because they do not begin with a letter:

6X,

IF I.GT.MAX GOTO DONE

_RTN, RETURN
$BAD, WRITES (CH,'Bad Input')

1-8 DIBOL-83

Language Elements

1.6 ARRAY SUBSCRIPTING
DEFINITION

Array Subscripting references a specific variable within an array of variables (see section 2.5 for
information on array definitions).
FORMAT

array (subscript)
where:
array

is an alpha array, decimal array, or a record being referenced.

subscript

is a decimal expression that refers to a field in an array.

RULES

• Array subscripting can be used in any Procedure Division statement where a data field of the
same type is allowed.
• Subscript indicates the specific field to be referenced within the array.
• Subscript should be between 1 and the number of fields in the array as specified in the Data
Division.

• If subscript exceeds the number of fields within the array, portions of other fields may be
referenced. A Subscript error occurs when subscript specifies a field which is outside the Data
Division.
• A reference to an array without subscript accesses the first field in the array.
COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

•

Invalid data type

•

Invalid array element count

•

Subscript too complex

•

Too many subscripts

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 7 T Subscript error

D180L-83 Language Elements

1-9

EXAMPLES

• The following examples all assume that the Data Division contains the following information:

RECORD
NAME,
CODE,

4A3, 'LAS', 'FIR', 'MID', 'ADD'
D4, 0617, 1739, 5173, 2480

PROC
• Using an array name without a subscript will access the first element of the array as shown in the
following examples:

Field

Data Accessed

NAME

LAS

CODE

0617

• The following examples illustrate the use of subscripts with array names:

•

Field

Data Accessed

NAME(1)

LAS

NAME(3)

MID

NAME(4)

ADD

CODE(1)

0617

CODE(4)

2480

Data beyond the end of the array can also be accessed as in the following examples:

Field

Data Accessed

NAME(S)

061

NAME(6)

717

• If the data to be accessed is beyond the end of the Data Division a Subscript error will occur. For
example:

1-10

Field

Data Accessed

CODE(S)

Subscript error

NAME(10)

Subscript error

0180L-83 Language Elements

1.7 LITERALS
DEFINITION

Literals are alpha or decimal values permanently defined in a program.

RULES

• A literal cannot be altered during program execution.
• Alpha literals are specified by enclosing a character string within a pair of either single (') or
double quote (") characters.
• Double or single quotes can appear within literals following these guidelines:
- A single quote can appear in a literal that is enclosed in single quotes by immediately following
the quote character with a second quote character ('O"Hare') within the literal.
-A single quote can appear in a literal that is enclosed in double quotes ("O'Hare").
- A double quote can appear in a literal that is enclosed in double quotes by immediately
following the double quote character with a second double quote character within the literal
(" " "END of FILE" " ").
- A double quote can appear in a literal that is enclosed in single quotes (' "END OF FILE" ').
• Literals cannot be subscripted.
•

Decimal literals can be any valid DlBOL number.

• The value for a literal can be whatever is possible for that data type.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• End quote missing
• Decimal literal too big, truncated to -

***

• Invalid numeric literal

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• None

DIBOL~83 Language Elements

1-11

EXAMPLES

The following numbers are all legal decimal literals:

-99234780113
+000431
10000000000
--1 (same as +1)
The following numbers are not legal decimal literals because they contain characters other than the
plus sign (+), the minus sign (-), and the decimal digits (0 through 9).

$10
1,000,000
10.00
The following are legal alpha literals:

"PAYROLL NUMBER"

'Invalid customer number'
'$10'
"1,000,000"
The apostrophe character (') can be used in the literal by inserting two apostrophes for each one
desired, or by using the quote character (") to start and end the literal. Both of the following literals
puts a single apostrophe character in O'Hare.

'0' 'Hare'
"O'Hare"

1-12 0180L-83 Language Elements

1.8 SUBSTRINGS
DEFINITION
Substrings reference a portion of a variable.
FORMAT
field (start,end)
where:
field

is an alpha field, decimal field, or record being referenced.

start

is a decimal expression that specifies the position of the first character of the
data.

end

is a decimal expression that specifies the position of the last character of the
data.

RULES
• Substrings can be specified in any Procedure Division statement where a data field of the same
type is allowed.
• The starting position must be greater than or equal to 1.
• The starting pOSition must be less than or equal to the ending position.
• The ending position should not exceed the field size as specified in the Data Division.
• If the ending position exceeds the field size, portions of other fields may be referenced. A
Subscript error occurs when a subscript specifies data which is outside the Data Division.
• If the length of a decimal substring is greater than 18 characters a Number too long error is
generated.
COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS
• Invalid array element count
• Stack overflow
• Subscript too complex
• Too many subscripts
RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS
•

7 T Subscript error

• 15 T Number too long

DIBOL-83 Language Elements

1-13

EXAMPLES

All of the following examples assume that the Data Division contains the following information:

RECORD

REC
AM,
NZ,
NUM,

A13, 'abcdefghijk1m'
A13, 'nopqrstuvwxyz'
010, 1234567890

PROC
The following examples illustrate the use of substrings:

Field

Data Accessed

AM(2,3)

AM'( 4,4)

AM(10,13)

jk1m

REC(l,lO)

abcdefghij

REC(27,28)

NUM(4,8)

45678

NUM(lO,lO)

NZ(12,13)

AM(NUM(5,5),9) efghi

(
\
\

Any data that is beyond the end of the named field can be accessed as illustrated in the following
examples:

Field

Da ta Accessed

AM(12,15)

1mno

NZ(13,15)

zl2

If the data to be accessed is beyond the end of the Data Division a Subscript error will occur. For
example:

Field

Data Accessed

NUM(lO,ll)

Subscript error

NZ(30,30)

Subscript error

1-14 DIBOL-83

Language ELements

1.9 DECIMAL EXPRESSIONS

DEFINITION
Decimal expressions are valid combinations of operands and operators.

GENERAL RULES
• If X and Yare operands, the following are decimal expressions:
• X binary operator Y
• unary operator X
• (X)

• Operators in a decimal expression represent various arithmetic, relational, or Boolean functions
of the DIBOL-83 language (see Table 1-2).
• Decimal expressions are allowed on the right side of the equal sign (=) in value assignment
statements and in any Procedure Division Statement (except XCALL) where a decimal literal can
be used.
• Unary operators require 1 operand.
• Binary operators require 2 operands.
• Operators require operands to be the correct data type.
• Decimal expressions are evaluated according to the order of precedence shown in Table 1-2.
Operators with equal precedence are evaluated from left to right in a decimal expression.
• The order of expression evaluation can be altered by using parentheses. Expressions enclosed
in parentheses are evaluated before other elements of the decimal expression in which they
appear. Additional levels of precedence are achieved by nesting; the innermost expressions are
evaluated first.
RULES FOR +, -, ., AND 1
• Decimal expressions deal with integers only. So output data can be correctly formatted for
printing (see section 3.2.5), the position of an implied decimal point in a decimal value must be
determined by the program.
• Decimal expressions that produce intermediate results exceeding 18 digits generate the error
Number too long.
• The unary plus ( + ) operator has no effect on a value since unsigned values are assumed to be
positive. This operator is useful only to facilitate reading a program listing.

D180L-83

Language Elements

1-15

• The unary minus (-) operator is used to negate its operand. Successive minuses are combined
algebraically.
• The addition (+ ), subtraction (-), multiplication (*) and division (I) operators perform standard
signed integer arithmetic.
• Division by zero is illegal.
•

Any fraction resulting from division is truncated.

RULES FOR #

• The rounding number operator (#) specifies numeric rounding.
• The first operand specifies the numeric value to be rounded.
• The second operand is a decimal expression that evaluates to a number between 0 and 15 which
specifies the number of rightmost digits to truncate after rounding takes place.
• The least significant digit of the truncated value is rounded upward by 1 if the digit to its right is
greater than or equal to 5.

RULES FOR RELATIONAL OPERATORS

• Relational expressions produce decimal results (either true (non-zero) or false (zero». These
expressions can be used as operands with Boolean operators.
• In comparisons using relational operators, only like data types are allowed as operands, i.e.,
decimal/decimal or alpha/alpha.
• In an alpha relational comparison, the operand values are compared on a character by character
basis from left to right. The comparison is limited to the size of the shortest operand.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
RUN·TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 15 T Number too long
• 30 T Divide by zero

1-16 DIBOL-83 Language Elements

Table 1-2
Table of Operator Precedence
(from highest to lowest)
Operator

Description

()

parentheses
unary plus and unary minus
rounding
multiplication and division
addition and subtraction
relational comparison
unary logical operator which changes true to false and false to
true
Boolean AND
Boolean OR and exclusive OR

+ and#
* and I

+ and.EO .. NE .. GT.. LT .. GE .. LE.
.NOT.
.AND.
.OR. and .xOR.

Table 1-3
Unary Operator Table
The following table indicates the legal data type(s) which can be used as an operand for a particular
unary operator. The data type result is also shown.
UNARY OPERATORS
NOT

+
Operand Data Type
Result Data Type

Table 1-4
Binary Operator Table
The following table indicates the legal data type(s) that can be used as an operand for a particular
unary operator. The data type result is also shown.
BINARY
Data Types of:

Operands

Result

OPERATORS

LE OR

XOR AND

AID AID AID AID AID AID D

D180L-83

Language Elements

1-17

Table 1-5
Truth Table

Boolean AND

Boolean OR

Boolean XOR

Boolean NOT

exp .AND. exp Result

exp .OR. exp Result

exp .XOR. exp Result

.NOT. exp Result

true
true
false
false

true
false
true
false

true
false
false
false

true
false
true
false

true
true
true
false

true false
false true
true true
false false

true
false

false
true

EXAMPLES

The following examples all assume that the Data Division contains the following information:

RECORO
MONEY,
Y,
A,
B,
C,

06,
03,
01,
02,
02,
01,

127654
-326
4
10
20
5

PROC
The following examples illustrate the use of arithmetic operators:

Expression

Resul t

A+B-C

-6

A*O

C/O

B/A

2 (The remainder is discarded)

The order of evaluation of the subexpressions can be modified by using parentheses, as in the
following examples:

Expression

Resul t

B+C/O*A

B+C/(O*A)

(B+C)/(O*A)

1 (The remainder is discarded)

((B+C)/O)*A

1-18 DIBOL-83 Language Elements

The following examples illustrate the use of the rounding operator (#):

Expression

Result

MONEY:!tA

Y:!t2

-3

Y:!tA

(MONEY+Y):!tl

12733

Y:!tl

-33

The Relational and Boolean operators produce true (non-zero) or false (zero) results. These
operators are most commonly used in the IF, IF-THEN-ELSE, DO-UNTIL, and WHILE statements.
They can be used anywhere that a decimal expression is allowed. The following examples illustrate
the use of these operators:

Expression

Result

A.EQ.4

1 (true)

A.NE.4

( false)

• ABC • • EQ. • DEF'

( false)

A.EQ.4.AND.B.EQ.IO

1 (true)

A.AND.B

1 ( true)

A.AND.O

(false)

DIBOL-83

Language Elements

1-19

CHAPTER 2
OAT A DIVISION
2.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter contains information on Data Division Statements.
The Data Division is the first division of a DIBOL-83 program. It contains RECORD and COMMON
statements and associated field definitions that define all program variables. Variables used in the
Procedure Division of a program must be defined in the Data Division. The Data Division also contains a
SUBROUTINE statement if the program is an external subroutine. These statements are separated from
the Procedure Division by the PROC statement.

2-1

RECORD STATEMENT
2.2 RECORD STATEMENT
FUNCTION
RECORD defines the areas of memory where variable data is stored.

FORMAT
RECORD [name][,xJ
where:
name

is the record name.

is the redefinition indicator.

GENERAL RULES
• Storage is allocated contiguously in memory in the order the RECORD statements appear in the
program.
• RECORD must be followed by at least 1 field definition.
• The total size of the fields within a named record cannot exceed 16,383 characters.
RULES FOR RECORD NAME
• A RECORD name consists of up to 6 characters, the first of which must be alphabetic. Remaining
characters can be alphabetic, numeric, $, or --':,(underscore).
• Only the first 6 characters of a RECORD name are significant; remaining characters are ignored.
• A name cannot be used to identify more than 1 RECORD area, COMMON area, or field.
• If a RECORD name is not specified, only named fields within that record can be referenced.
RULES FOR REDEFINITION INDICATOR
• The redefinition indicator permits redefinition of fields within the record being redefined.
• An redefining RECORD references the same memory area as the record being redefined.
• The new field definitions are specified following the redefining RECORD statement.
• The size of the redefining RECORD (the sum of the sizes of all its fields) must not be greater than
the size of the record being redefined.

2-2 Data Division

• In a main program, RECORD can redefine RECORD or COMMON.
• In an external subroutine RECORD cannot redefine COMMON and vice versa. RECORD can
redefine RECORD.
• Fields in a redefining RECORD cannot be assigned initial values.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Overlay error

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

•

None

EXAMPLES

The following record names (6X and _PAY) are not legal because they do not begin with an
alphabetic character:

RECORD

PAY

The following example shows a record (OUTPUT) used to format printed output data. The values for
MN, DAY, and YR are obtained from Procedure Division Statements. The unnamed fields contain
initial values used for formatting the output record.

RECORD OUTPUT

,
,

MN,
DAY,

YR,

A8, 'Date is
D2
AI, I /1
D2
AI, 1/1
D2

; Month goes here
;

Day goes here

;

Year goes here

In the following example, the record (OUTPUT) has been redefined so that the date (in the format
mm/dd/yy) can be more easily accessed. A statement that accesses the DATE field will receive the
contents of the MN, DAY, and YR fields separated by the slash character (I).

RECORD OUTPUT

MN,

,
DAY,
,
YR,

A8, 'Date is
D2
AI, 1/1
D2
AI, 1/1
D2

;

Month goes here

;

Day goes here

;

Year goes here

;
;

Redefines 'Date is I
Redefines MN / DAY / YR

RECORD ,X

DATE,

A8
A8

Data Division

2-3

COMMON STATEMENT
2.3 COMMON STATEMENT
FUNCTION
COMMON defines the areas in memory where variable data is stored. This data is to be shared
between the main program and external subroutines.
FORMAT
COMMON [name][,x]
where:

name

is the COMMON name.

is the redefinition indicator.

GENERAL RULES
• COMMON must be followed by at least 1 field definition.
• The total size of the fields within a named COMMON area cannot exceed 16,383 characters.
• COMMON is similar toRECORD except that fields defined within a COMMON area are available
for use by the main program or by any external subroutine.
• If COMMON appears in a main program, space is allocated in memory just as it is done for a
RECORD statement.
• If COMMON appears in an external subroutine, memory is not allocated. All fields that appear in
the subroutine's COMMON area must reference the main program's COMMON area.
• Data cannot be shared between two external subroutines via the COMMON statement unless the
data is defined in the main program.
• COMMON and RECORD areas may be intermixed in the Data Division.
• When the main program is linked with its external subroutines, a correlation is made between the
field names defined in the COMMON areas of the subroutine and those of the main program.
• If a field is named in a COMMON area of an external subroutine but there is no corresponding
field name in the main program, an error message is generated when the program is linked.
• It is not necessary for the COMMON area of an external subroutine to contain all the COMMON
fields defined in the main program unless all are needed. For those that are needed it is
necessary that fields of the same types, names, and sizes be defined in the Data Division of the
main program and external subroutine. It is important that the sizes and types correspond.
Otherwise the operation will be incorrect and unpredictable problems may occur.

2-4

Data Division

• Fields in COMMON areas in subroutines cannot be assigned an initial value.
• The fields in the COMMON area of the subroutine do not need to be defined in the same order as
they are in the main program. The data is stored according to the order of the main program's
field definitions.

RULES FOR COMMON NAMES

• A COMMON name consists of up to 5 characters, the first of which must be alphabetic.
Remaining characters can be alphabetic, numeric, $, or _(underscore).
• Only the first 5 characters of a COMMON name are significant; remaining characters are
ignored.
• A name cannot be used to identify more than 1 RECORD area, COMMON area, or field.
• If a COMMON name is not specified, only named fields within that COMMON area can be
referenced.
• For each COMMON name and field name within COMMON, the compiler appends a dollar sign
($). This sign ($) ensures that COMMON names are unique and do not conflict with other global
names.
RULES FOR REDEFINITION INDICATOR

• The redefinition indicator permits redefinition of fields within the record being redefined.
• A redefining COMMON references the same memory area as the record being redefined.
• The new field definitions are specified following the redefining COMMON statement.
• The size of the redefining COMMON (the sum of the sizes of all its fields) must not be greater
than the size of the record being redefined.
• In a main program, COMMON can redefine RECORD or COMMON and vice versa.
• In an external subroutine COMMON cannot redefine RECORD and vice versa.
• Fields in a redefining COMMON cannot be assigned initial values.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• None

Data Division

2-5

EXAMPLES

The following COMMON names (REC6, A_REC, and BAD$) are all legal:

COMMON REC6
COMMON A REC
COMMON BAD$
The following COMMON name (PAYROLL_RECORD) is legal but it will be truncated to 5
characters (i.e.,PAYRO):

COMMON PAYROLL RECORD
The following example contains a main program which has two COMMON areas and two external
subroutines. One subroutine (XSUB2) uses both COMMON areas, while the other subroutine
(XSUB1) uses only one. Neither of the two subroutines allocates memory storage area for the
COMMON areas; instead, the subroutines' COMMON areas point to the main program's memory
storage area.

Main Program
COMMON

EMP
NAME,
SAL,

A20
D5

Employee record
Employee name
Salary

DATE,

Current date

;

COMMON

Subroutine XSUBl
COMMON
DATE,

Current date

Subroutine XSUB2
COMMON
COMMON

2-6

Data Division

DATE,
EMP
NAME,
SAL,

D5
A20
D5

Current date
Employee record
Employee name
Salary

FIELD DEFINITIONS
2.4 FIELD DEFINITIONS
FUNCTION

Field definitions define variables within a RECORD or COMMON area.
FORMAT

[name],

[,literal]

where:
name

is the field name.

declares the field to be alpha.

declares the field to be zoned decimal.

is the size of the field.

literal

is an alpha literal or a decimal literal (initial value).

GENERAL RULES

• The field size in an alpha field cannot exceed 16,383.
• The field size in a zoned decimal field cannot exceed 18.
RULES FOR FIELD NAME

• A field name in a RECORD consists of up to 6 characters, the first of which must be alphabetic.
Remaining characters can be alphabetic, numeric, $, or _(underscore).
• Only the first 6 characters of a field name in a RECORD are significant; remaining characters are
ignored.
• A field name in a COMMON area consists of up to 5 characters, the first of which must be
alphabetic. Remaining characters can be alphabetic, numeric, $, or _(underscore).
• Only the first 5 characters of a field name in a COMMON area are significant; remaining
characters are ignored.
• A name cannot be used to identify more than 1 RECORD area, COMMON area, or field.
• If no name is used, the field can be accessed either as part of the entire record by using the
record name, or by subscripting down from a previous record or field.

Data Division

2-7

RULES FOR SETTING INITIAL VALUES

• The initial value of a field is set by inserting a literal after the type and size specification.
• A comma must be used to separate the literal from the preceding type and size specification.
• The literal must be the same data type and should contain the same number of characters or
digits as specified for the field,.
• If the literal is longer than the field size, a warning is generated during program compilation.
• If the literal is shorter than the field size the initial value will be left-justified (for alpha literals), or
right-justified (for decimal literals).
• Leading signs (+ and-) in decimal literals, as well as delimiting apostrophes in alpha literals,
are not counted when calculating the size of a literal .
• If no initial value is specified, the field is initialized to all spaces if it is an alpha field, or to all
zeros, if it is a decimal field.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Overlay error

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
EXAMPLES

The following field names (DATE, ER_1, and CTR$) are all legal:

RECORD
DATE,
ER 1,
CTR$,

All
Dl

; Date (dd-mmm-yyyy)
; Error indicator
; Counter

The following field name (EMPLOYEE_NAME is legal but will be truncated to 6 characters (i.e.,
EMPLOY). The same field name will be truncated to 5 characters when used in a COMMON area
(Le., EMPLO).

RECORD
EMPLOYEE_NAME,

2-8

Data Division

A20

; Employee name

The following record contains both named and unnamed fields. The 3 unnamed fields all have initial
values (named fields can also have initial values). The third field is a 2 character alpha field;
however, the initial value for the field contains only a single right parenthesis character ()). The
initial value will be left justified in the A2 field and the rightmost character will be cleared to a space.

RECORD

,
,

AREA,
EXCH,

NMBR,

AI, ' ( ,
D3
A2, I ) I
D3 I _ I
AI,
D4

;

Area code

;

Telephone exchange

;

Telephone number

The following example shows 2 decimal fields which have initial values. The first field (LINE) is a 2
digit decimal field; however, the initial value is only a single digit. The initial value will be right
justified in LINE and the leftmost digit in LINE will be cleared to a zero.

RECORD
LINE,
D2, 1
COLUMN, D2, 80

; Line number
; Column number

Data Division

2-9

ARRAY DEFINITIONS
2.5 ARRAY DEFINITIONS
FUNCTION

An array is a group of fields which share the same data type, field size, and symbolic name (array
name).
FORMAT

[name], m

I~ I

[,literal]

where:
name

is the field name.

is the array field count.

declares the field to be alpha.

declares the field to be zoned decimal.

is the size of each field in the array.

literal

is an alpha literal or a decimal literal (initial value).

GENERAL RULES

• The field size in an alpha field cannot exceed 16,383.
• The field size in a zoned decimal field cannot exceed 18.
RULES FOR FIELD NAME

• An array name in a RECORD consists of up to 6 characters, the first of which must be alphabetic.
Remaining characters can be alphabetic, numeric, $, or _(underscore).
• Only the first 6 characters of an array name in a RECORD are significant; remaining characters
are ignored.
• An array name in a COMMON area consists of up to 5 characters, the first of which must be
alphabetic. Remaining characters can be alphabetic, numeric, $, or _(underscore).
• Only the first 5 characters of an array name in a COMMON area are significant; remaining
characters are ignored.
• A name cannot be used to identify more than 1 RECORD area, COMMON area, or field.
• If no name is used, the fields within the array can be accessed either as part of the entire record
by using the record name, or by subscripting down from a previous record or field.

2-10

Data Division

RULES FOR ARRAY FIELD COUNT

• The array field count (m) may be any positive decimal value up to 8191.
• If no array field count is specified, it is assumed to be 1.
• Array data is referenced by using the array variable name with a subscript.
RULES FOR SETTING INITIAL VALUES

• The initial value of a field is set by inserting a literal after the type and size specification.
• A comma must be used to separate the literal from the preceding type and size specification.
• The literal must be the same data type and should contain the same number of characters or
digits as specified for the field.
• If the literal is longer than the field size, a warning is generated during program compilation.
• If the literal is shorter than the field size the initial value will be left-justified (for alpha literals), or
right-justified (for decimal literals).
• Leading signs (+ and -) in decimal literals, as well as delimiting apostrophes in alpha literals,
are not counted when calculating the size of a literal.
• If no initial value is specified, an alpha field is initialized to all spaces and a decimal field is
initialized to all zeros.
• Fields within an array may be initialized by specifying a series of initial values separated from
each other by commas.
• It is not necessary to initialize all fields of an array, but array fields that are to be initialized must
reside at the beginning of the array and must be contiguous.
COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Invalid array field count
RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

•

None

EXAMPLES

The arrays (DAYS and MONTHS) in the following example have initial values for all of their fields:

RECORD
&

DAYS,
1202, 31,28,31,30,31,30,31,31,30,31,30,31
MONTHS, 12A3, 'Jan', 'Feb', 'Mar', 'Apr', 'May', 'Jun'
, 'Ju1', 'Aug', 'Sep', 'Oct', 'Nov', 'Dec'

Data Division

2-11

SUBROUTINE STATEMENT
2.6 SUBROUTINE STATEMENT

FUNCTION

SUBROUTINE identifies a program as an external subroutine.

FORMAT

SUBROUTINE name
where:
name

is the subroutine name.

RULES

• SUBROUTINE must be the first statement (excluding Compiler Directives and/or comments) in
the Data Division of an external subroutine.
• SUBROUTINE is used to establish a logical connection between the subroutine and the calling
program.
• SUBROUTINE may be followed by 1 or more argument definitions.

RULES FOR SUBROUTINE NAME

• A subroutine name consists of up to 6 characters, the first of which must be alphabetic.
Remaining characters can be alphabetic, numeric, $, or _ (underscore).
• Only the first 6 characters of a subroutine name are significant; remaining characters are
ignored.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• None

2-12

Data Division

2.6.1 Subroutine Argument Definition

FUNCTION

Subroutine argument definitions specify the data linkages between an external subroutine and the
program that called the external subroutine.

FORMAT

A
[name),

D
where:
name

is the subroutine's internal name for the subroutine argument.

declares the field to be alpha.

declares the field to be zoned decimal.

RULES

• If a record is passed as an argument, references cannot be made to its fields; the entire record
can only be referred to in a subroutine as a single alpha field.
• The size of the argument is the size of the data as specified in the calling program.
• Argument definitions should correspond in number and data type with the arguments specified in
the XCALL statement in the calling program.
• The first argument definition specified refers to the data item referenced in the first argument in
the XCALL statement. The second argument definition refers to the second XCALL argument,
etc.

RULES FOR SUBROUTINE ARGUMENT NAME

• An argument name consists of up to 6 characters, the first of which must be alphabetic.
Remaining characters can be alphabetiC, numeric, $, or _(underscore).
• Only the first 6 characters of a subroutine argument name are significant; remaining characters
are ignored.
• A name cannot be used to identify more than 1 RECORD area, COMMON area, or field.

Data Division

2-13

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Subroutine dummy argument not zero
RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
EXAMPLES

In the following example, the main program calls the external subroutine (CNVRT) to change the format
of the date. It passes the arguments DATE and XDATE. These arguments are represented in the
subroutine as OLD and NEW.

Main Program
RECORD
DATE,
D6, 010750
XDATE, All
PROC
XCALL CNVRT (DATE,XDATE)
Convert the date
OPEN (1,0,' TT: ' )
; Open the terminal
WRITES (l,XDATE)
; Display the date
CLOSE 1
Close the terminal
STOP
External Subroutine
SUBROUTINE CNVRT
OLD,
D
NEW, A

;
;

RECORD

ODATE
MM,
D2
DD,
D2
D2
'i'i,

Old date format
Month
; Day
; Year

RECORD

NDATE
DAY, A2
,
AI, ' ,
MONTH,A3
,
AI, , - ,
YEAR, D2

Convert the date format
Date (mmddyy)
Date (dd-mmm-yy)

New date format
Day

;

Month
Year

RECORD
&

MNAME,12A3,'Jan' ,'Feb' ,'Mar' ,'Apr' ,'May' ,'Jun'
,'Jul' ,'Aug' ,'Sept ,'Oct' ,'Nov' ,'Dec'

PROC
ODATE=OLD
DA'i=DD
YEAR=YY
MONTH=MNAME(MM)
NEW=NDATE
RETURN
2-14

Data Division

Move day to new format
; Move year to new format
; Move month to new format
; Return new date

CHAPTER 3
THE DISOl-S3 PROCEDURE
DIVISION STATEMENTS

3.1 INTRODUCTION
The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division statements process data and control program execution. These
statements are verbs containing arguments and expressions.
This chapter contains information on value assignment statements, data conversion, and data
formatting. The Procedure Division statements are arranged alphabetically for easy reference.

3-1

VALUE ASSIGNMENT STATEMENTS
3.2 VALUE ASSIGNMENT STATEMENTS
FUNCTION

Value Assignment statements:
• Move data.
• Store the results of arithmetic expressions.
• Convert and format data.
• Clear variables.
FORMAT

destination = source

where:
destination

is a record or field which contains the data to be stored.
is a record, field, literal, or expression which contains the data to be stored.

source
RULES

• The contents of the source are moved to the destination.
• The source data is not altered unless the destination location is one of the source elements (for
example, A =A + 1).
• The destination is the field or record defined in a Data Division statement and can be either alpha
or decimal.
• The source data is always converted to the data type defined for the destination.

3.2.1 Moving Alpha Data
FUNCTION

Value assignment statements move alpha data.
FORMAT

afield =

afield
aliteral

where:

3-2

afield

is an alpha field or record which is the destination.

afield
aliteral

is an alpha field, alpha literal, or record which is the source.

The 0180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

RULES
• The source is moved to the destination and is left-justified.
• If the source is smaller than the destination, the unused rightmost character positions in the
destination are cleared to spaces.
• If the source data is larger than the destination, the rightmost characters that cause overflow are
truncated.
COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS
• None
RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS
• 8 NT Writing into a literal
EXAMPLES
In the following example, the value of NAME2 (which contains 'Johnson') is moved to NAME1. Since
NAME1 is only 4 characters long, only the first 4 characters of 'Johnson' are moved. NAME1 will contain
'John' and the entire record will contain 'JohnJohnson'.

RECORD
NAMEl,
NAME2,

A4, 'Fred'
A7, 'Johnson'

PROC
NAMEl=NAME2
In the following example, the value of B (which contains 'FGH') is moved to A. 'FGH' will be left-justified
in A and the rightmost characters in A will be cleared to spaces. A will contain 'FGH ' and the entire
record will contain 'FGH FGH'.

RECORD
A,

AS,' ABCDE '

A3,

'FGH'

PROC
A=B
3.2.2 Moving Decimal Data
FUNCTION
Value assignment statements move decimal data.
FORMAT

dfield = dexp
where:

dfield

is a decimal field which is the destination.

dexp

is a decimal expression which is the source.

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-3

RULES
• The sign of the source data is preserved in the destination field.
• The source is moved to the destination and is right-justified.
• If the source is smaller than the destination, the unused leftmost digit positions in the destination
are cleared to zeros .
• If the source is larger than the destination, the leftmost digits that cause overflow are truncated.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS
• None

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS
• 8 NT Writing into a literal

EXAMPLES
In the following example, the value of A (which contains 1234) is moved to B. Since B is shorter than A,
1234 is right-justified in B and the digits that cause overflow (12) are truncated. B will contain 34.

RECORD
A,
B,

D4, 1234
D2

PROC
B=A
In the following example, the value of A (which contains 1234) is moved to C. Since C is longer than A,
1234 is right-justified in C and the leftmost digits are cleared to zero. C will contain 0000001234.

RECORD
A,
B,

D4, 1234
D2,

PROC
C=A
In the following example the result of A *B (1234*34= 41956) is moved to C. Since C is only 4 digits long,
4196 is right-justified in C and the leftmost digit is truncated. C will contain 1956.

RECORD
A,
B,
C,

D4, 1234
D2, 34
D4

PROC
C=AB

3-4

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3.2.3 Alpha-to-Decimal Conversion

FUNCTION
Value assignment statements convert alpha data to its decimal equivalent.
FORMAT

dfield =

afield
aliteral

where:
dfield

is a decimal field which is the destination.

afield ,
aliteral

is an alpha field, alpha literal, or record which is the source.

RULES
• The source may contain up to 18 digits with any number of plus ( + ) or minus (-) characters.
Plus and minus characters are treated as unary operators and are combined algebraically.
• Spaces in the source are ignored.
• The source is moved to the destination and is right-justified.
• If the source is smaller than the destination, the unused leftmost digit positions in the destination
are cleared to zeros.
• If more than 18 digits are moved, or, if the source is larger than the destination, the leftmost digits
that cause overflow are truncated.
COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS
• None
RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS
• 20 T Bad digit

• 8 NT Writing into a literal
EXAMPLES
In the following example, the value of A (which contains '910111213141 ') is moved to B.
Since B is shorter than A, '910111213141' is right-justified in B and the digits that cause overflow
(91) are truncated. B will contain 011213141.

RECORD
A,
B,

A12,
010

'910111213141'

PROC

B=A

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-5

In the following example, the value of A (which contains '65444321 ') is moved to C. Since C is
longer than A, '65444321' is right-justified in C and the leftmost digits are cleared to zero. C will
contain 0065444321.

RECORD

A,
C,

A8,'65444321'
010

PROC
C=A
In the following example, the value of A (which contains '-0065432178') is moved to C. C will contain
006543217x. The 'x' is the internal representation for -8 (see Appendix A).

RECORD

A,
C,

All, '-0065432178'
D10

PROC
C=A
3.2.4 Decimal-to-Alpha Conversion
FUNCTION
Value assignment statements convert decimal data to its alpha equivalent.
FORMAT

afield = dexp
where:

afield

is an alpha field or record which is the destination.

dexp

is a decimal expression which is the source.

RULES
• The source is moved to the destination and is right-justified.
• If the source is negative, an additional character should be allocated in the destination for the
minus sign. A leading minus sign is inserted to the left of the leftmost nonspace character in the
d~stination.

• If the source is smaller than the destination, the unused leftmost character positions in the
destination are cleared to spaces.
• If the source is larger than the destination, the leftmost characters that cause overflow are
truncated.
• Leading zeros are cleared to spaces.
• If the source is zero, a Single right-justified zero is moved to the destination; remaining character
pOSitions to the left are cleared to spaces.

3-6

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS
• 8 NT Writing into a literal
EXAMPLES

In the following example, the value of A (which contains 87654321) is moved to B. Since B is shorter
than A, 87654321 is right-justified in B and the digits that cause overflow (8765) are truncated. B will
contain '4321'.

RECORD

08, 87654321

PROC
B=A
In the following example, the value of A (which contains 1234) is moved to C. Since C is longer than
A, 1234 is right-justified in C and the leftmost characters are cleared to spaces. C will contain
'1234'.

RECORD

04, 1234

PROC
C=A

In the following example, the value of A (which contains Ox, the internal representation for -08 (see
Appendix A)) is moved to C. C will contain '-8'.

RECORD

02, -08

PROC
C=A
In the following example, the value of A (which contains 000) is moved to C. C will contain '0'.

RECORD
A,
C,

03, 000
A3

PROC
C=A

The DI80L-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-7

In the following example, the value of A (which contains 123t, the internal representation for -1234
(see Appendix A)) is moved to C. C will contain '234'.

RECORD

D4, -1234

PROC
C=A
If a decimal field can have a negative value, space must be made for the sign in the alpha field. In
the following example, the value of A (which contains -1234) is moved to C. C will contain '1234'
with no minus sign.

RECORD

A,
C,

D4, -1234
A4

PROC
C=A
3.2.5 Formatting Data

FUNCTION
Value assignment statements permit decimal data to be converted to its alpha equivalent and
formatted.

FORMAT
afield = dexp, formatstring

where
afield

is an alpha field or record which is the destination.

dexp

is a decimal expression which is the source.

formatstring

is an alpha field, alpha literal, or record which contains format control characters.

RULES
• The source is formatted according to the format string, moved to the destination, and rightjustified.
• If the formatted data is smaller than the destination, the unused leftmost character positions in
the destination are cleared to spaces.
• If the formatted data is larger than the destination, the leftmost characters that cause overflow
are truncated.
• The format string forms a picture or specification of what the converted data is to look like. It is
composed of one or more format control characters (see Table 3-1).
• The format string may also contain other DIBOL-83 characters (except for the format control
characters themselves) that are to be inserted in the formatted data.
• The format string should be large enough to represent the entire source, since only those digits
that are specified by the format string are moved.

3-8

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

Table 3-1
FORMAT CONTROL CHARACTERS

Character

Description

Each X represents a digit position. An X causes a digit in the source to be placed in the
corresponding position in the destination. If there are more Xs than source digits, a
leading zero is inserted for each additional X.

Each Z represents a digit position. A Z suppresses a leading zero in this character
position if Z is to the left of the decimal point (see below). When placed to the right of the
decimal point, zeros are suppressed only if all digits are zeros.

Each asterisk (*) represents a digit position. It replaces a leading zero with an * symbol
in this position.

money
sign

Each money sign (for example, $) represents a digit position. It replaces leading zeros
beginning at this character position with leading spaces and a single money sign. Format
characters to the left of the money sign are ignored. Any character can be used for the
money sign by calling the MONEY external subroutine, although it is initially set to $. Any
character with an established format meaning should not be used, for example, ,Z,X, -.

When used as the first or last character in a format string, the minus sign (-) causes the
sign of the number being formatted to be placed in that position. If the number is
negative, a minus appears, otherwise a space is inserted. When used elsewhere in a
format string, this will cause a minus to be placed in that position in the formatted data. A
minus cannot be used to the left of a money sign format character.

NOTE

The following descriptions on the decimal point (.)
and comma (,) are reversed when international
data formatting is selected via the FLAGS external
subroutine.
A decimal point (.) causes a decimal point to be inserted in the corresponding position in
the formatted data and causes zeros to the right of it to become significant.
,

The comma (,) causes a comma to be inserted in the corresponding position in the
formatted data if there are significant digits to the left.

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-9

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• None

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 8 NT Writing into a literal

EXAMPLES

The following examples assume that the Data Division contains the following fields:

RECORD
F,

The following examples illustrate data formatting:

Statement

Result

F= 123, 'xxxxxxxx'

'00000123'

'zzzzzzzz'

123'

F= 123, '********'

'*****123'

F= 123, '$$$$$$$$'

$123'

F= 123,

F= -1123, '-XXX,XXX'
F= 123, '$$$$$.XX'

3-10

'-001,123'
$1. 23'

F= -123, '$***. **-'

'$**1.23-'

F= 12345678,'X,XXX.XX'

'3,456.78'

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3.2.6 Clearing Variables
FUNCTION

Value assignment statements clear variables.
FORMAT

field =

where:
field

is an alpha field, decimal field, or record which is to be cleared.

RULES

• If the destination is an alpha field, it is cleared to spaces.
• If the destination is a decimal field, it is cleared to zeros.
• If the destination is a record containing decimal fields, the entire record, including the decimal
fields, is cleared to spaces.
• If the equal sign (= ) is followed by anything on the same line (other than a comment) it is treated
as an assignment statement.
NOTE

Whenever possible use the CLEAR statement to
clear fields.
COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 8 NT Writing into a literal
EXAMPLES

When clearing a field, the equal sign (=) cannot be followed by anything on the same line (other
than a comment). If anything follows the equal sign, the statement is interpreted as a value
assignment statement. In the following example, the statement is not legal. It is interpreted as
A=ELSE.

IF A.EQ.B THEN A= ELSE STOP
See CLEAR for examples on clearing fields. Whenever possible use the CLEAR statement to clear
fields.

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-11

ACCEPT
3.3 ACCEPT
FUNCTION

ACCEPT inputs a character from a terminal.

FORMAT

ACCEPT (ch, field[,labe/))
where:
ch

is a decimal expression that evaluates to a channel number as specified in a previous
OPEN statement.

field

is an alpha field, decimal field, or record which will contain the character input from the
terminal.

label

is a statement label where control is to be transferred when a (CTRUZ) is detected.

GENERAL RULES

• ACCEPT is used in I or 0 mode with a terminal.
• If the RETURN key on a terminal is used, a carriage return character and line feed character are
generated.

RULES FOR ACCEPTING INTO AN ALPHA FIELD OR RECORD

• The character is moved to the leftmost character position of the field according to the rules for
moving alpha data (see section 3.2.1).
• If a CTRUZ is detected, it is interpreted as a logical end-of-file and no character is input.

RULES FOR ACCEPTING INTO A DECIMAL FIELD

• Field should be a 3 digit field.

• The decimal character code is moved to field according to the rules for moving decimal data (see
section 3.2.2).
• All characters are input. CTRUZ is input like other characters and does not terminate input.

3-12

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 1 T End of file
• 8 NT Writing into a literal
• 10 NT Illegal channel number
• 11 NT Channel not open
• 21 T Bad OPEN

EXAMPLES

The following examples assume that the Data Division contains the following fields:

RECORD
ACHR,
DCHR,

Al
03

In the following example ACCEPT reads a character into ACHR. When a CTRLlZ is detected,
control is transferred to the statement labeled END. If 'A' is typed at the terminal, ACHR will contain

'A'.

ACCEPT (3,DCHR,END)

In the next example ACCEPT puts the decimal character code for the next character into DCGHR.
When accepting into a decimal field, CTRLlZ is treated the same as all other characters. If 'A' is
typed at the terminal, DCHR will contain 065 which is the decimal character code for 'A'.

ACCEPT (3,DCHR)

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-13

BEGIN-END
3.4 BEGIN-END BLOCK
FUNCTION

The BEGIN-END block is a sequence of statements preceded by BEGIN and followed by END.

FORMAT

BEGIN
statement

END
where:
statement is a DIBOL Procedure Division statement.

RULES

• The BEGIN-END block may be used wherever a single executable statement is valid.
• Control can be transferred from inside a BEGIN-END block to outside the BEGIN-END block.
• BEGIN may begin on a new line.
• END may begin on a new line.
• BEGIN and END cannot be followed on the same line by any statement.
• The label on BEGIN, if present, is outside the block.
• The label on END, if present, is inside the block.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• No END for BEGIN
• Stack overflow

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• None

3-14

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

EXAMPLES

The BEGIN-END block is particularly useful with the IF, IF-THEN-ELSE, DO-UNTIL, FOR, USING,
and WHILE statements. In the following example all of the statements within the BEGIN-END block
will be executed if LNECTR is greater than MAXCTR.

Time for a new pag e?
Yes-Output a form feed
Increment the page numbe r
; Output title
Reset line counter

IF LNECTR.GT.MAXCTR
BEGIN
FORMS (6,0)
INCR PAGE
WRITES (6,TITLE)
CLEAR LNECTR
END

;

In the following example the statements within the BEGIN-END block (the READS and the IF) will be
repetitively executed until CUSNAM equals SPACES. The IF statement also contains a BEGINEND block. The statements within this inner BEGIN-END block will be executed if the BALANC is
greater than 100.

DO
BEGIN
READS (l,CUST,EOF)
IF BALANC.GT.100
BEGIN
NAME=CUSNAM
AMT=BALANC
WRITES (6,PLINE)
END
END
UNTIL CUSNAM.EQ.SPACES

Read a customer record
Owe more than $100?
Yes-Save customer name
Save the balance
Print name and balance

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-15

CALL
3.5 CALL
FUNCTION

CALL transfers program control to an internal subroutine.
FORMAT

CALL label
where:
label

is the statement label of the first , statement in the subroutine.

RULES

• Each CALL statement must be matched by a RETURN statement.
• The matching RETURN statement causes control to return to the statement logically following
the CALL.
COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Label out of context block:

< label name>

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 66 NT R6 Stack overflow
EXAMPLES

This example shows how program control branches from one subroutine to the next and returns.
The solid lines show the control path upon execution of RETURN statements.

CALL PROFIT
WRITES (6,PROFIT)
CLOSE 6
STOP

; Output the profit
Close the file

; Subroutine to calculate profit
PROFIT, PBT=PRICE-COST
CALL TAX
PAT=PBT-TAX
profit
RETURN

; Compute pre-tax profit
; Get the tax
; Compute post-tax

; Subroutine to calculate tax
TAX,
TAX=PBT8
; Compute the tax
IF TAX.GT.MAX TAX=MAX
RETURN
3-16

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

CLEAR
3.6 CLEAR
FUNCTION
CLEAR sets variables to zeros or spaces.
FORMAT
CLEAR field[, ... ]
where:

field

is an alpha field, decimal field, or record.

RULES
• If field is an alpha field it is cleared to spaces.
• If field is a decimal field, it is cleared to zeros.
• If field is a record containing decimal fields, the entire record, including the decimal fields, is
cleared to spaces.
COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS
• None
RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS
• 8 NT Writing into a literal
EXAMPLES
The following examples assume that the Data Division contains the following fields:

RECORD

REC
AFLD, AIO
DFLD, D5

The following statement will clear AFLD to all spaces:

CLEAR AFLD
The following statement will clear DFLD to all zeros:

CLEAR DFLD
The following statement will clear AFLD to all spaces and will clear DFLD to all zeros:

CLEAR AFLD,DFLD
When a record is cleared, all fields including decimal fields within the record, are cleared to spaces.
The following statement will clear AFLD and DFLD to spaces.

CLEAR REC

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-17

CLOSE
3.7 CLOSE
FUNCTION

CLOSE terminates the use of a channel by closing the associated file and releasing both the I/O
channel and the file buffer.

FORMAT
CLOSE ch
where:

is a decimal expression that evaluates to a channel number as specified in a previous
OPEN statement.

RULES
• CLOSE is necessary for channels opened in 0 and U modes to assure that records remaining in
the I/O buffer are output to the file.
• If the channel is open in 0 mode, CLOSE writes records remaining in the I/O buffer into the file.
The end-of-file mark is placed after the last record in the file.
• If the channel is open in U mode, CLOSE writes records remaining in the I/O buffer into the file.
The records are automatically unlocked.
• No error is generated if the channel is not opened.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS
• None

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 10 NT Illegal channel number
• 22 T 1-0 error
• 25 T Output file full

• 40 T Record locked

3-18 The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

EXAMPLES
There are three parts to the following example. First, a new file is created and a single record is
written into it. Second, the newly created file is opened for input and the record is read. Finally, the
record that was read is displayed on the screen. All I/O operations use the same channel. The
channel number can be reused following the CLOSE statement.

RECORD
DAT,

A80

PROC
;

; Create a new file (TEST.DDF)
;

OPEN (3,O,'TEST.DDF')
Create file
WRITES (3,'This is a test')
Output a record
CLOSE 3
; Close TEST.DDF
;

; Read the record written into newly created file
;

OPEN (3,I,'TEST.DDF')
READS (3,DAT)
CLOSE 3

; Open TEST.DDF for input
Read a record
; Close the input file

;

; Display the record that was read
;

OPEN ( 3 , 0, , TT: I )
WRITES (3,DAT)
CLOSE 3
STOP

; Open the terminal
; Display the data
; Close the terminal

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-19

DELETE
3.8 DELETE
FUNCTION
DELETE eliminates a record from an indexed file.

FORMAT
DELETE (ch ,keytld)
where:
ch

is a decimal expression that evaluates to a channel number as specified in a previous
OPEN statement.

keyfld

is an alpha field or record which identifies the record to be deleted.

RULES
• DELETE is used in U:I mode.
• The record to be deleted is the record most recently read on the specified channel and must still
be locked.
• DELETE serves as a signal to the file system that the record is no longer valid. The action taken
is system dependent.
• Keyfld must match the key field of the last record read.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS
• None

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS
• 10 NT Illegal channel number
• 11 NT Channel not open

3-20

• 21

T Bad OPEN

• 22

T 1-0 error

• 40

T Record locked

• 52

T Illegal key

• 53

T Key not same

• 61

T No current record

The DIBOl Procedure Division Statements

EXAMPLES

In the following example all of the customer records in the indexed file are read. When a customer
with a balance of less than $20 is found, that customer's record is deleted.

RECORD REC
NAME,
AIO
BAL,
D6
PROC
OPEN (l,U:I,'CUSBAL.ISM')
LOOP,
READS (I, REC , OUT)
IF BAL.LT.20
DELETE (I, NAME)
GOTO LOOP
OUT,
CLOSE 1
STOP

;

Customer name
Customer balance

Open the indexed file
Read the next record
; Balance less than $20?
; YES--Delete the record
;

Close the file

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-21

DETACH
3.9 DETACH
FUNCTION

DETACH disconnects the program from its associated terminal.

FORMAT

DETACH

RULES

• When DETACH is executed, the message DETACHING is displayed at the terminal and the
program continues its execution.
• Attempting to perform I/O to the terminal suspends the program's execution until a terminal is
reassigned to the detached program.
• DETACH has no effect on a program executing in a non-multi-tasking or detached environment.
• The terminal number associated with a detached program is -1, regardless of the number of the
terminal from which the program detaches.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• None

3-22

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

EXAMPLES

The following program allows the operator to enter the name of a file to print. Once the file name is
entered, the terminal is no longer required by the program. Therefore, the DETACH statement is
used so that another program may be run at the terminal.

RECORD
FILE,
LINE,

A20
Al32

; File name to print
; Line to print

PROC
OPEN (I, I, , TT: ' )
; Open the terminal
WRITES (1,'Enter file name') ; Display prompt
Accept the file name
• READS (l,FILE)
CLOSE 1
; Close the terminal
DETACH
; Release the terminal
;

The remainder of the program runs detached
;

LOOP,
EOF,

OPEN (l,I,FILE)
OPEN (6,O:P,'LP: ')
READS (1, LINE, EOF)
WRITES (6,LINE)
GOTO LOOP
CLOSE 1
CLOSE 6
STOP

;
;
;
;

Open the print file
Open the printer
Read the next line
Print the line

;
;

Close the print line
Close the printer

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-23

DISPLAY
3.1 0 DISPLAY
FUNCTION

DISPLAY outputs characters to a device or file.

FORMAT

DISPLAY (ch,

I I
afield
aliteral
dexp

[, ... ])

where:
ch

is a decimal expression that evaluates to a channel number as specified in a previous
OPEN statement.

afield
aliteral
dexp

is an alpha field, alpha literal, record, or decimal expression which contains the
characters to output.

RULES

• DISPLAY is used in O:P mode with a sequential file; in I and 0 modes with a terminal; and in 0
mode with a printer.
• DISPLAY uses the ASCII decimal character code (see Appendix A).
• If the data is alpha, the characters are output to the device as presented.
• If the data is decimal, the number is treated as a single character code.
• A number that exceeds the character code range (0 through 255) is converted by dividing the
number by 256 and taking the remainder as a character code (e.g., 257 is interpreted as 001).
• A negative number produces unpredictable results.

3-24

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• None

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

•

10 NT Illegal channel number

•

11 NT Channel not open

•

T Bad OPEN

• 104 NT Out of range

EXAMPLES

The following example outputs the message HELLO followed by a Carriage Return (decimal
character code 13) and a Line Feed (decimal character code 10):

DISPLAY (1, 'HELLO' ,13,10)
DISPLAY is especially useful for outputting terminal control sequences. The terminal user guide
lists control code sequences for cursor positioning, clearing the screen, and many other operations.
Assuming that channel 1 is associated with a VT100 terminal, the following example will position
the cursor to line 3, column 5:

DISPLAY (1,27,' [3;5H')

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-25

DO-UNTIL
3.11 DO-UNTIL
FUNCTION

DO-UNTIL repetitively executes a statement until a condition is true.
FORMAT

DO statement UNTIL condition
where:
statement is a DIBOL Procedure Division statement.
condition is a decimal expression.
RULES

• Statement is always executed at least once.

• The condition is evaluated following each execution of the statement.
• The condition is either true (non-zero) or false (zero).
• If the condition is false, the statement is executed again.
• UNTIL may be on a separate line.
• Statement may be on a separate line.
DO-UNTIL

execute
statement

false

test
condition

true

3-26

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• No UNTIL in DO-UNTIL statement
• Stack overflow
RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
EXAMPLES

In the following example customer records (CUST) will be read until one is found with a balance
(BAL) of less than $20:
DO
READS (l,CUST,EOF)
UNTIL BAL.LT.20
The following program segment reads customer records (CUST) and creates a list of those
customers with a balance over $100:
DO
BEGIN
READS (l,CUST,EOF)
IF BALANC.GT.100
BEGIN
NAME=CUSNAM
AMT=BALANC
WRITES (6,PLINE)
END
END
UNTIL CUSNAM.EQ.SPACES

;

;
;

Read a customer record
Owe more than $100?
Yes-Save customer name
Save the balance
Print name and balance

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-27

FOR
3.12 FOR
FUNCTION

FOR repetitively executes a statement.

FORMAT

FOR dfield FROM initial THRU final [BY step] statement
where:
dfield

is a decimal field to be incremented.

initial

is a decimal expression which specifies the initial value to be assigned to dfield.

final

is a decimal expression which specifies the final value for dfield.

step

is a decimal expression which specifies the value to add to dfield each time through the
loop.

statement is a DIBOL Procedure Division statement.
FOR

FOR

(positive step value)

(negative step value)

t-final = final
t -step = step
dfield = initial

t-final = final
t-step = step
dfield = initial

yes

3-28

execute
statement

dfield = dfield + t-step

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

RULES

• Dfield cannot be a subscripted decimal field.
• FOR generates internal temporary fields to hold step (t-step) and final (t-final).
• T-final is a temporary field set to the final value and t-step is a temporary field set to the step
value, prior to executing the loop.
• If no step value is specified, it is assumed to be 1.
• Prior to entering the loop, the sign of t-step is checked to insure that the step direction is
correct. For the step direction to be correct, dfield must be less than or equal to t-final if t-step
is positive, and dfield must be greater than or equal to t-final if t-step is negative. If the step
direction is incorrect, the loop is not entered.
• Prior to each execution of statement, dfield is tested to determine if it has reached its limit. If
dfield has not reached is limit, statement is executed.
• If dfield is not large enough to hold final plus the step value without truncation, an infinite loop
may occur.
• T-step is added to dfield following each statement execution.
• If the loop is not executed, dfield is equal to the initial value.
• If the loop is exited normally, dfield will equal the previous value of dfield plus step.
• Modifying the initial value, final value, or step value in the FOR loop has no effect on the
execution of the FOR loop.
• The statement may be on a separate line.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Invalid data type
• No FROM in FOR statement
• No THRU in FOR statement
• Stack overflow

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 15 T Number too long (only on initial, final, or step)
• 87 T Argument missing

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-29

EXAMPLES
In the following example customer records 100 through 200 (inclusive) will be read and displayed:
FOR RECNO FROM 100 THRU 200
BEGIN
READ (l,CUST,RECNO)
WRITES (8,CUST)
END

; Read customer record
; Display the record

The FOR in the following program segment trims trailing spaces from a print line:
NEXT,

FOUND,

READS (1, LINE)
FOR I FROM 132 THRU 1 BY -1
IF LINE(I,I).NE.SPACE
GOTO FOUND
FORMS (6,1)
GOTO NEXT
WRITES' (6,LINE(1,I»
GOTO NEXT

;

Read line to print

; Is this a space?
; No--found last character
; Completely blank line
Output the line

In the following example the ~ndex field (I) is not large enough to hold the limit value plus the step
(limit (99) + step (1) = 100). When the index reaches 99 it will be incremented to 100, but since the
index field is only a 2 digit field, 00 will be stored in I. Therefore, the FOR statement will loop
continuously.
RECORD

WORK
I,

;

Loop index

;

Open terminal

;

Display index

PROC
OPEN (1 , 0, I TT: I )
FOR I FROM 1 THRU 99
WRITES (l,WORK)
STOP

(

3-30

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

FORMS
3.13 FORMS
FUNCTION
FORMS outputs device-dependent codes to effect forms control. These codes are normally used by
printers.
FORMAT
FORMS (ch,dexp)
where:

is a decimal expression that evaluates to a channel number as specified in a previous
OPEN statement.

dexp

is a decimal expression that results in a printer control code.

RULES
• FORMS is used in 0 mode with a sequential file, in I and 0 modes with a terminal, and in 0 mode
with a printer.
• Acceptable control code values are:

Transmits a Form Feed character (ASCII code 12).

1-255

Sends this many Line Feed characters (ASCII code 10) preceded by a
Carriage Return character (ASCII code 13).

-1

Transmits a Vertical Tab character (ASCII code 11).

-3

Transmits a Carriage Return (ASCII code 13).

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS
• None
RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS
•

10 NT Illegal channel number

•

11 NT Channel not open

•

T 1-0 error

• 104 NT Value out of range
EXAMPLES
The following FORMS statement will skip 3 lines:

FORMS

(6,3)

The following FORMS statement will cause the printer to start a new page:

FORMS

(6,0)

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-31

GOTO
3.14 GOTO
FUNCTION

An unconditional GOTO transfers program control.

FORMAT

GOTOlabel

where:
label

is the statement label where control is to be transferred.

RULES

• The statement may be written as GOTO or GO TO.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Label out of context block: < label name>

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• None

EXAMPLES

In the following example the GOTO will transfer control to the label NEXT:

NEXT,

3-32

READS (l,CUST,EOF)
NAME=CUSNAM
AMT=BALANC
WRITES (6,PLINE)
GOTO NEXT

; Read a customer record
Save customer name
; Save the balanc
; Print name and balance

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

~~~~~~---~--

GOTO(COMPUTED)
3.15 GOTO (COMPUTED)
FUNCTION

A computed GOTO transfers program control based on the evaluation of an expression.

FORMAT

GOTO (/abel(, ... ]),dexp
where:
label

is one or more statement labels where control is to be transferred.

dexp

is a decimal expression which determines to which statement label control is transferred.

RULES

• The statement may be written as GOTO or GO TO.
• Control is transferred to the statement identified by the first label if dexp is 1, to the statement
identified by the second label if dexp is 2, etc.
• If dexp is negative, zero, or greater than the number of labels, control is transferred to the next
logical statement in sequence.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Label out of context block: < label name>

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
EXAMPLES

In the following statement control will be transferred to the label LOOP if the value of KEY is 1; to the
label LIST if the value of KEY is 2; and to the label TOTAL if the value of KEY is 3. If the value of KEY
is less than 1 or greater than 3, control will be transferred to the statement following the GOTO.

GOTO (LOOP,LIST,TOTAL), KEY

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-33

IF
3.16 IF
FUNCTION

IF executes a statement if a condition is true.

FORMAT

IF condition statement
where:
condition is a decimal expression which determines whether or not the statement is executed.
statement is a DIBOL Procedure Division statement.

true

false
execute
statement

3-34

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

RULES

• The condition is either true (non-zero) or false (zero).
• If the condition is true, statement is executed.
• If the condition is false, statement is not executed.
• Statement may be on a separate line.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
EXAMPLES

In an alpha relatronal comparison, the operands are compared on a character basis from left to right
according to their value in the collating sequence specified by their character codes (see Appendix
A). The comparison is limited to the size of the shorter alpha field. For example, the following
statement compares a 3 character alpha field to a 5 character alpha field. Since only the first 3
characters are compared, the result of the following statement is true:

IF 'ABC' .EQ.'ABCDE' STOP
The following IF statements are all valid:

The following IF statements are all valid:
IF A.EQ.B GOTO LABEL3
IF (SLOT.NE.202) READS (CH,RECNAM,EOF)
IF SALES.LT.PROFIT+TAX-RENT
STOP
IF DONE STOP
IF LNECTR.GE.MAXCTR
BEGIN
FORMS (6,0)
WRITES (6,TITLE)
CLEAR LNECTR
END

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-35

IF-THEN-ELSE
3.17 IF-THEN-ELSE
FUNCTION
IF-THEN-ELSE executes 1 of 2 statements based on a condition.

FORMAT
IF condition THEN statement1 ELSE statement2

where:
condition

is a decimal expression that determines which statement is executed.

statement 1

is a DIBOL Procedure Division statement.

statement2

is a DIBOL Procedure Division statement.

IF-THEN-ELSE

true

false

execute
statement 1
execute
statement 2

3-36

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

RULES

• The condition is either true (non-zero) or false (zero).
• If the condition is true, statement1 is executed.
• If the condition IS false, statement2 is executed.
• THEN may be on a separate line.
• ELSE may be on a separate line.
• Statement1 may be on a separate line.
• Statement2 may be on a separate line.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• IF statement error - THEN without ELSE

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
EXAMPLES

In the following statement, the cost of an item is calculated differently, depending upon whether it is
discountable:

IF DISCNT.EQ.'Y'
THEN
COST=PRICE-DIS+TAX
ELSE
COST=PRICE+TAX

; Is item discountable?
; Yes-; Get cost w/ discount·
; Get cost w/o discount

The following example performs the same type of operation except the TAX and DIS calculations
are performed within the IF statement:

IF DISCNT.EQ.'Y'
;
THEN
;
BEGIN
DIS=PRICE/IO
;
TAX= (PRICE-DIS)I* 5/100) ;
COST=PRICE-DIS+TAX
;
END
ELSE
BEGIN
;
TAX=PRICE.* 5/1 00
;
COST=PRICE+TAX
END

Is item discountable?
Yes-Calculate the discount
Calculate the tax
Get cost w/ discount

Calculate the tax
Get cost w/o the discount

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-37

INCR
3.181NCR
FUNCTION

INCR increases a decimal field by 1.

FORMAT

INCR dfield
where:
dfield

is a decimal field to be incremented.

RULES

• The field to be incremented (dfie/d) can contain positive numbers, negative numbers, and
spaces.
• Spaces are treated as zeros.
• If the size of the resulting value is larger than dfield, the leftmost digits that cause overflow are
truncated.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• None

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 8 NT Writing into a literal

EXAMPLES

The following INCR statements are all valid (assuming that the fields being incremented are all
decimal).

INCR CNTR
INCR A( 3)
INCR C(H,6)
IF LNECTR.LT.MAXCTR INCR LNECTR
3-38

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

LOCASE
3.19 LOCASE
FUNCTION

LOCASE converts uppercase characters to corresponding lowercase characters.
FORMAT

LOCASE afield
where:
afield

is an alpha field or record that contains the characters to be converted.

RULES

• The following non-alphabetic symbols are converted:
Uppercase
@
(064)
[
(133)
"'- (134)
(135)
]
(136)

Lowercase
(140)
(
(173)
I (174)
)
(175)
(176)

• Other non-alphabetic characters are unaffected.
COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 8 NT Writing into a literal
EXAMPLES

In the following example the first LOCASE statement changes the characters 'THIS IS A TEST' to
lowercase. After the first LOCASE statement is executed, the contents of REC are 'This is a test [OF
LOCASE], to lowercase. After the second LOCASE statement is executed, the contents of REC are
'this is a test { of locase } '.

RECORD

REC
A,
B,

A14, 'THIS IS A TEST'
A12,' [OF LOCASE]'

PROC
LSCASE A(2,14)
LOCASE REC
STOP
The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-39

LPQUE
3.20 LPQUE
FUNCTION

LPQUE queues a file to be printed by the printer spooler.

FORMAT

LPQUE (filespec[,LPNUM:dexp)[,COPIES:dexp]
[,FORM:

I I
afield
aliteral

)[,DELETE])

where:
filespec

is an alpha field, alpha literal, or record which contains the file specification of the file to
be printed.

LPNUM:dexp
is a decimal expression that specifies the printer.
COPIES:dexp
is a decimal expression which specifies the number of copies to print.
FORM:afield
aliteral
is an alpha field, alpha literal, or record which specifies the type or name of the form to be
inserted into the printer before the file is printed.
DELETE

deletes the file after all copies have been printed.

RULES

• Optional qualifiers prefaced by a keyword can occur in any order.
• LPQUE sends a request to the printer spooler to print the file.
• Multiple LPQUE statements cause the print requests to be queued.
• If no printer identification is specified, the system's default printer(s) are used.
• If no copy count is specified, or if it is less than 1, it is assumed to be 1.
• If a form is specified, a system specific forms request is issued.

3-40

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Invalid LPQUE keyword

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

•

10 NT Illegal channel number

•

11 NT Channel not open

•

T File not found

• 120 T Queue not available or invalid queue name

EXAMPLES

In the following example the LPQUE statement requests the printing of one copy (NBR = 1) of the
file CHECK. LIS. Before printing begins, the form CHECKS should be placed in the printer.

RECORD
NBR,
FILE,

D2, 01

A9, 'CHECK.LIS'

PROC
LPQUE (FILE,COPIES:NBR,FORM:'CHECKS')
STOP

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-41

OFFERROR

3.21 OFFERROR
FUNCTION

OFFERROR disables trapping of run-time errors.

FORMAT

OFFERROR

RULES

• This statement may be written as OFFERROR or OFF ERROR.
• When OFFERROR is executed, run-time errors normally detected by the ONERROR statement
are treated as non-trappable.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• None

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• None

EXAMPLES

In the following example the ONERROR statement is used to trap the Division by 0 error and the
OFFERROR is used to disable error trapping after the division is performed:

ONERROR DIVa

Check for Division by a

C=A/B

OFFERROR

3-42

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

Turn off error check

ONERROR
3.22 ONERROR
FUNCTION

ON ERROR enables trapping of run-time errors which would otherwise cause program termination.
FORMAT

ONERROR label
where:
label is a statement label where control is to be transferred when an error occurs.
RULES

• This statement may be written as ONERROR or ON ERROR.
• ONERROR remains in effect until one of the following occurs:
• An ONERROR is executed which specifies a different label.
• An XCALL is executed. ONERROR is suspended until control returns from the external
subroutine.
• An OFFERROR is executed.
• The program terminates.
• The error detected by ON ERROR may be determined either by using the ERROR external
subroutine, or by knowing the nature of the statements executed after ONERROR was executed.
• ONERROR is disabled by OFFERROR.
COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Label out of context block: < label name>
RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
EXAMPLES

In the following example the ONERROR statement is used to trap errors. If a trappable error occurs
after the ONERROR has been executed, control will be transferred to the label IOERR:

NEXT,

ON ERROR IOERR
READS (l,CUST,EOF)
NAME=CUSNAM
AMT=BALANC
WRITES (6,PLINE)
GOTO NEXT

; Read a customer record
Save customer name
; Save the balance
Print name and balance

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-43

OPEN
3.23 OPEN
FUNCTION

OPEN associates a channel number with a device or with a file on a device.
FORMAT

OPEN (ch,mode[:submode),filespec[,ALLOC:dexpll,BKTSIZ:dexp)
[, BLKSIZ:dexp II, BU FSIZ:dexp II, RECSIZ:dexp))
where:
ch

is a decimal expression that evaluates to a channel number.

mode

designates the data transfer method (Input, Output, or Update).

submode further defines, qualifies, or restricts mode.
filespec

is an alpha field, alpha literal, or record that contains the file specification.

ALLOC:dexp
is a decimal expression that specifies the initial file allocation.
BKTSIZ:dexp
is a decimal expression that specifies the bucketsize in blocks.

BLKSIZ:dexp
is a decimal expression that specifies the block size (bytes) of magnetic tape.
BUFSIZ:dexp
is a decimal expression that specifies the size of the transfer buffer in blocks for this
channel.
RECSIZ:dexp
is a decimal expression that specifies the length (bytes) of the records in the file.
GENERAL RULES

• A unique OPEN statement must be executed for each unique combination of device, file, and
mode of operation.
• OPEN must be executed prior to any I/O operation and remains in effect until a corresponding
CLOSE is executed.
• The maximum number of channels opened simultaneously is system dependent.
• The maximum channel number is equal to the maximum number of channels which can be
opened simultaneously.
• Optional qualifiers prefaced by a keyword can occur in any order.
• The transfer of program control to an external subroutine does not affect the status of a channel.

3-44

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

RULES FOR MODE

• OPEN uses three data access methods: sequential, relative, and indexed.
• If a file is being opened, the modes of operation and file 1/0 statements are:
INPUT (I) used to obtain input from an existing sequential, relative, or indexed file. Input
mode is a read only mode.
OUTPUT (0) used to create a file.
UPDATE (U) used for input and output from an existing relative or indexed file.
• If a terminal is being opened, only the Input and Output modes of operation are used.

RULES FOR SUBMODE

• Submodes are Sequential (S), Print (P), Relative (R) or Indexed (I).

• Sequential submode is used with 0 mode and indicates that the file being created is a sequential
file. Sequential submode is assumed if no submode is specified with 0 mode.
• Print submode is used with 0 mode and indicates that the file being created is a print file.
• Relative submode is used with the 0 mode and indicates that the file being created is a relative
file. O:R is required when creating an RMS relative file.
• Indexed submode is used with I and U modes and indicates that the file being opened is an
indexed file. All file volumes must be on-line simultaneously. SI is equivalent to 1:1 and SU is
equivalent to U:I.

RULES FOR ALLOC

• ALLOe overrides any filesize specified with the filespec. The value specified is system
dependent.
• ALLOe is used in 0 mode. It is ignored for other modes.

RULES FOR BKTSIZ

• BKTSIZ is used when creating an RMS relative file. Any other use of BKTSIZ is ignored.
• The value is system dependent.

RULES FOR BLKSIZ

• BLKSIZ is used when creating a file on magtape. Any other use of BLKSIZ is ignored.

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-45

RULES FOR BUFSIZ

• BUFSIZ overrides the buffer size designated by PROC for this OPEN.
• The value must be between 1 and 15.

RULES FOR RECSIZ

• RECSIZ is required when creating an RMS relative file.
• RECSIZ implies the records are fixed length.
• The range for RECSIZ is 1 to 16,383.
The following chart shows which statements are legal for a file organization, mode, and character device.

File Organization
Sequential
I
READS

WRITES

Relative
I

STORE

FORMS
* O:P ONLY

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Invalid OPEN keyword: < keyword name>
• Invalid OPEN mode
• Invalid OPEN submode

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

X
X

DELETE

DISPLAY

Printer

3-46

Terminal

WRITE

Indexed

READ

Character Device

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

•
•

10 NT Illegal channel number

•

11 NT Channel not open

•
•
•

T Bad file specification

•

T File not found

•
•

T Device handler not available

T 1-0 error

T Not enough memory

T Input from write-only device

16 NT DIBOL channel in use

•
•

T No space for file

T Cannot supersede existing file

•

T Device in use

•
•

T File in use

T Output to read-only device

•

43 NT ?M-Dir 10 error

•

T Not ISAM file

•

T Protection violation

•

T Argument missing

• 103

T Invalid file organization

• 107

T Device not ready

• 108

T Invalid OPEN mode value

• 112

T Error during file open

• 113

T Invalid ALLOC value in OPEN

• 114

T Invalid BKTSIZ value in OPEN

• 115

T Invalid BLKSIZ value in OPEN

• 116

T Invalid BUFSIZ value in OPEN

• 117

T Invalid RECSIZ value in OPEN

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-47

EXAMPLES

The following statement creates a new sequential file named RENEW.DDF and associates it with
channelS:

OPEN (S,O,'RENEW.DDF')
The following statement creates a new relative file named ARMAS.DDF and associates it with
channel 2. All the records in the file will be 100 characters in length:

OPEN (2,O:R. ' ARMAS.DDF ' ,RECSIZ:100)
The following statement opens the terminal for both input and output and associates the terminal
with channel 15:

OPEN (lS,O,'TT:')
The following statement opens the relative file ARMAS.DDF for modification using channel 3. It also
specifies an internal buffer size of 2 blocks. This buffer size overrides the size specified by PROe
for this OPEN only:

OPEN (3,U,'ARMAS.DDF ' ,BUFSIZ:2)
The following statement creates a new sequential file named AR.LlS and associates it with channel
5. Since the new file will eventually be printed, it is created with the P submode:

OPEN (S,O:P, 'AR.LIS ' )

3-48

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

PROC-END
3.24 PROC-END

FUNCTION
PROC-END identifies the beginning and ending of the Procedure Division.

FORMAT
PROC [(dlitera/)]
statement

[END]
where:
dliteral

is a decimal literal that specifies the size of the I/O buffer allocated to every opened
sequential file.

statement is a DIBOL Procedure Division statement.

RULES
• Only 1 PROC may be used in a program.
• PROC cannot have a statement label.
• The dliteral value is ignored in external subroutines .
• The dliteral value must be between 1 and 15 blocks (1 block = 512 bytes).
• If no dliteral is specified, it is assumed to be 1.
• The dliteral is meaningful only with sequential files. For relative and indexed files, the buffer sizes
are determined by the bucket size specified when defining the file.
• The BUFSIZ used in an OPEN statement overrides the buffer size established by PROC just for
that OPEN.
• END is not mandatory.
• Termination of the PROC-END block, either explicitly (END) or implicitly (end-of-file) causes an
implicit STOP statement to be inserted into the compiled program.
• END can be used anywhere in a program except as the statement to be executed in an IF, IFTHEN-ELSE, FOR, WHILE, DO-UNTIL, or USING statement.
• Source lines following END are not compiled.

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-49

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Invalid PROe statement
• No PROe statement

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
EXAMPLES

The following example copies 100 character records from INFILE.DDF to OUTFIL.DDF. The PROe
statement specifies that a 3 block buffer is to be allocated for each opened channel. After the 2
OPEN statements are executed, 6 blocks will have been allocated for internal buffers.

RECORD

REC

Alaa

EOF,

01, a

RECORD
PROC 3

OPEN (l,I,'INFILE.DDF')
OPEN (2,0,'OUTFIL.DDF')
DO
BEGIN
READS (l,REC,EOF)
WRITES (2, REC)
END
UNTIL EOF

; Open input file
Open output file

CLOSE 1
CLOSE 2
STOP

; Close input file
; Close output file

; Read input record
; Write output record

EOF,

END

3-50

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

READ (RELATIVE FILE)
3.25 READ (RELATIVE FILE)
FUNCTION

READ inputs a record from a relative file.

FORMAT

READ (ch,record,dexp)
where:
ch

is a decimal expression that evaluates to a channel number as specified in a previous
OPEN statement.

record

is an alpha field or record which will contain the data.

dexp

is a decimal expression that specifies the sequence number of the record to be read.

RULES

• READ is used in I and U modes.
• Dexp must be between 1 and the total number of records in the file.

• The record is read into record according to the rules for moving alpha data (see section 3.2.1).
• If the record is larger than record, a Line too long error is generated.
• When READ is executed in U mode, the blocks which contain the record are locked; other
records that lie wholly or partially within these blocks are also locked. The lock remains in effect
until one of the following occurs:
•

A WRITE or WRITES using the channel is executed.

•

A READ or READS using the channel is executed.

•

An UNLOCK using the channel is executed.

•

A CLOSE using the channel is executed.

•

The program terminates.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Invalid data type

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-51

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

•

1 T End of file

•

8 NT Writing into a literal

• 10 NT Illegal channel number
• 11 NT Channel not open
• 21

T Bad OPEN

• 22

T 1-0 error

• 23

T Line too long

• 28

T Illegal record number

• 40

T Record locked

• 64

T Record not found

• 84

T Illegal block 1/0 record size

EXAMPLES

The following statement reads the 88th record of the relative file associated with channel 5 and
places the record in the variable REX:

READ (S,REX,88)
The following statement reads the record specified by the value stored in the variable COUNT from
the relative file associated with channel 6 and places the record in the variable BLT:

READ (6,BLT,CQUNT)

3-52

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

READ (INDEXED FILE)
3.26 READ (INDEXED FILE)
FUNCTION
READ inputs a record from an indexed file.
FORMAT
READ (ch,record,keyfld)
where:

is a decimal expression that evaluates to a channel number as specified in a previous
OPEN statement.

record

is an alpha field or record which will contain the data.

keyfld

is an alpha field or record which identifies the record to be read.

RULES
• READ is used in I and U modes.
• If keyfld is less than the size of the key field defined for the indexed file, it is assumed to be a
partial key. The system returns the first record whose initial characters match the specified key.
• If duplicate keys exist, READ retrieves the first occurrence of the key. READS is used to retrieve
each additional occurrence of the key.

• Keyfld must occupy the same position within the record as does a key field defined for the
indexed file. If it is a multi key file, any key may be used.
• If a record containing the specified key is not found, the record with the next higher key is
returned and a Key not same error is generated.
• The record is read into record according to the rules for moving alpha data (see section 3.2.1).
• If the record is larger than record, a Line too long error is error generated.
• When a READ is executed in U mode, the blocks which contain the record are locked; other
records that lie wholly or partially within these blocks are also locked. The lock remains in effect
until one of the following occurs:
•

A WRITE using the channel is executed.

•

A READ or READS using the channel is executed.

•

A STORE using the channel is executed.

•

A DELETE using the channel is executed.

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-53

•

An UNLOCK using the channel is executed.

•

A CLOSE using the channel is executed.

•

The program terminates.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Invalid data type
RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

•

T End of file

•

8 NT Writing into a literal

• 10 NT Illegal channel number
• 11 NT Channel not open
• 21

T Bad OPEN

• 22 T 1-0 error
• 23 T Line too long
• 40 T Record locked
• 52 T Illegal key
• 53 T Key not same
EXAMPLES

Assuming that the indexed file has been defined with a key length of 5 characters and a key position
of 16 and the Data Division contains:

RECORD

ADDR

,
,
KEY,
,

D10
AS,

'SMITH'

D20

then the following statement will return the record with the key SMITH from the indexed file opened
on channel 1. The READ will place that record in ADDR. If more than one SMITH record exists, the
first one is obtained and the remaining SMITH records can be read using the READS statement. If
SMITH does not exist, the next higher keyed record will be retrieved, and a Key not same error will
be generated. This error can be trapped by an ONERROR statement.

READ (l,ADDR,KEY)

3-54

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

READS
3.27 READS
FUNCTION

READS inputs the next available record in sequence from a file.
FORMAT

READS (ch,record[,/abe/])
where:
ch

is a decimal expression that evaluates to a channel number as specified in a previous
OPEN statement.

record

is an alpha field or record which will contain the data.

label

is a statement label where control is to be transferred when the logical end-of-file is
detected.

GENERAL RULES

• READS is used in I mode with a sequential file; in I and U modes with a relative file and with an
indexed file; and in I and 0 modes with a terminal.
• The record is read into record according to the rules for moving alpha data (see section 3.2.1).
• If the record is larger than record, a Line too long error is generated.
• When a READS is executed in U mode, record locking occurs in the same manner as when a
READ is executed.
RULES FOR READS FROM AN INDEXED FILE

• When an indexed file is opened and the first I/O statement for that file is a READS, the record
with the lowest primary key value is returned.
RULES FOR READS FROM A TERMINAL

• READS from a terminal may be affected by the FLAGS subroutine.
• All terminating characters except ESCAPE position the cursor or carriage at the beginning of the
next line. ESCAPE terminates input but does not move the cursor or carriage.
• When record is full, additional characters are ignored and the terminal alarm sounds for each
additional character typed.

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-55

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Invalid data type

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

•

T End of file

•

8 NT Writing into a literal

• 10 NT Illegal channel number
• 11 NT Channel not open
• 21

T Bad OPEN

• 22

T 1-0 error

• 23

T Line too long

• 40

T Record locked

EXAMPLES

The following statement transfers a record from the file associated with channel 3 to the variable
INV. If the end of the file is reached, control branches to a statement labeled END.

READS (3,INV,END)
The next example is the same as the previous one, except that if the end of file is reached, an End
of file error will be generated since no end of file label was specified. This error can be trapped by
an ON ERROR statement.

READS (3,INV)

3-56

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

RECV
3.28 RECV
FUNCTION

RECV accepts a message which was sent by another program.

FORMAT

RECV (message,/abe/[,sizeJ)
where:
message is an alpha field or record which will contain the message.
label

is a statement label where control is to be transferred if no message is pending.

size

is a decimal field which will contain the size of the message received.

RULES

• The message is moved into message according to the rules for moving alpha data (see section
3.2.1).
• The message size is moved into size according to the rules for moving decimal data (see section
3.2.2).

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Invalid data type
• Label out of context block: <label name>

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

•

8 T Writing into a literal

•

23 T Line too long

• 118 T Unable to open message manager mailbox

The DIBOL·83 Procedure Division Statements

3·57

EXAMPLES
The following program segments show how one program might pass the name of a data file to
another program using the SEND and RECV statements. The PAYROL program sends the file
name (TFIL.DDF) to the program BAT. The RECV statement in BAT accepts the file name. If the
RECV statement is executed prior to the message having been sent, control is transferred to the
statement labeled LOOP. At LOOP the program delays for 10 seconds and then attempts to receive
the message again.

Program PAYROL
RECORD
MSG,
A8, 'TFIL.DDF'
PRONAM, A3, 'BAT"
PROC
•

SEND (MSG,PRONAM)

; Send file name

STOP
Program BAT
RECORD
FILE,
PROC
GETM,

LOOP,

3-58

RECV (FILE,LOOP)
•
STOP
SLEEP 10
GOTO GETM

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

; Receive file name

; Wait for 10 seconds

RETURN
3.29 RETURN
FUNCTION

RETURN transfers program control to the statement logically following the most recently executed
CALL or XCALL statement.
FORMAT

RETURN
RULES

• RETURN must be placed at the logical exit of each internal and external subroutine.
COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 2 NT RETURN but no CALL or XCALL
EXAMPLES

The following example shows how program control branches when using external and internal
subroutines. The solid lines show the control path upon execution of CALL and XCALL statements
and the broken lines show the control path upon execution of RETURN statements:

Main Program
XCALL PROF
; Output the profit
WRITES (6, PROFIT)-41
CLOSE 6
I
; Close the file
STOP
:
External ~broutine PROF
SUBROUTINE PROF

•

PROC

I
I
I
I
I

!
PBT=PRICE-COST
I
; Compute pre-tax profit
r------cALL TAX
I ; Get the tax
Compute post-tax profit
PAT=PBT-TAX ...
RETURN- ________ J
I

---.1_--. ;
I
I

; Subroutine to calculate taxI
TAX,

I
I
I

TAX=PBT8
IF TAX.GT.MAX TAX=MAX I
RETURN-------------J

; Compute the tax

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-59

SEND

3.30 SEND
FUNCTION

SEND transmits a message to another program.

FORMAT

SEND (message,program[,termina/])
where:
message is an alpha field, alpha literal, or record which contains the message to be sent.
program

is an alpha field, alpha literal, or record which contains the name of the program that is to
receive the message.

terminal

is a decimal expression which specifies the terminal number associated with the
receiving program.

RULES

• Message is stored for a subsequent RECV.

• Multiple messages can be stored.
• FIFO (First-In-First-Out) message processing ensures that the first message sent to a prQgram is
the first to be received by that program.
• Messages may be sent from one program in a chain to a program further along the chain.
• System resources (memory, disk, ...) can affect sending a message.
• Programs with the same name can be identified by specifying the terminal to which the program
is attached.
• If the terminal number is not used, the first program with the correct name that executes a RECV
will receive the message.
• Messages may be sent to a detached program by specifying a terminal number of -1.
• If two or more detached programs have the same name, the first to execute a RECV will receive
the message.

3-60

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

•

9 T Not enough memory

• 118 T Unable to open message manager mailbox

EXAMPLES

The following statement sends a message to the program CNCRNT which may be running
concurrently or at some later time on any terminal or detached:

SEND (MSG,'CNCRNT')
The following example sends a message to the program NEXT which is designated as running on
the same terminal as the current program:

RECORD
TNUM,

Terminal number

PROC
XCALL TNMBR (TNUM)
SEND (MSG,'NEXT' ,TNUM)
STOP 'NEXT'

Get terminal number
Send message

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-61

SLEEP
3.31 SLEEP
FUNCTION
SLEEP suspends program execution for a specified period of time.

FORMAT
SLEEP seconds

where:
seconds

is a decimal expression that specifies the number of seconds to suspend program
execution.

RULES

• Program execution resumes only when the specified time has elapsed
• Specifying a negative number of seconds will generate a Value out of range error.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Invalid data type

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 104 NT Value out of range

EXAMPLES

The following program sounds the terminal's alarm once every minute:
PROC
BEEP,

3-62

OPEN ( 3 , 0, I TT: I )
DISPLAY (3,7)
SLEEP 60
GOTO BEEP

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

; Open terminal
Sound terminal alarm
; Delay for 60 seconds

STOP
3.32 STOP
FUNCTION

STOP terminates program execution.
FORMAT

STOP [filespec]
where:
filespec

is an alpha field, alpha literal, or record which contains a program or command file
specification.

RULES

• STOP can appear as often as needed in a program, but the first STOP executed terminates the
program.
• If filespec is used, the system automatically chains to the specified program.
• If filespec begins with a '@', it indicates that the filespec is for a command file.
• If no filespec is specified for a detached program, the program is logged out.
• When a detached program stops, no terminal output is generated (traceback, STOP message,
etc.).
• If a filespec is specified by a detached program, the new program also runs detached.
COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Invalid data type
RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 18 T File not found
EXAMPLES

The following statement will stop execution of the current program and begin execution of the
PROG2 program:

STOP 'PROG 2'
The following statement will stop execution of the current program and begin execution of the
CMDFIL command file:

STOP '@CMDFIL'

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-63

STORE
3.33 STORE
FUNCTION

STORE adds a record to an indexed file.

FORMAT

STORE (ch ,record ,keyf/d)
where:
ch

is a decimal expression that evaluates to a channel number as specified in a previous
OPEN statement.

record

is an alpha field or record which contains the data to be stored.

keyf/d

is an alpha field or record which identifies the record in which the data will be stored.

RULES

• STORE is used in U:I mode.
• Keyf/d must occupy the same position within the record as does a key field defined for the
indexed file. If it is a multi-key file, any key may be used.

• STORE locks the record which is being stored. The record is unlocked when STORE is
completed.
• If duplicate key values are not allowed and a record with the specified key already exists, a No
duplicates error is generated.

3-64

The D/BOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS
• Invalid data type

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS
• 10 NT Illegal channel number
• 11 NT Channel not open

• 21

T Bad OPEN

• 25

T Output file full

• 26

T Field or record too long

• 40

T Record locked

• 52

T Illegal key

• 54

T No duplicates

EXAMPLES
The following example illustrates the use of STORE. On each iteration of the loop, this program
stores an employee record with the key value contained in the field BADGE.

RECORD

NEWREC
NAME,
BADGE,

A20
AS

DONE,

; Employee record
; Employee name
; Employee badge number

RECORD
PROC
OPEN (1,0,' TT: ' )
Open terminal
OPEN (2,U:I,'EMPFIL')
; Open employee file
DO
BEGIN
WRITES (l,'Name?')
; Prompt for name
READS (1, NAME)
; Get employee name
WRITES (l,'Badge?')
; Prompt for badge number
READS (l,BADGE)
Get badge number
STORE (2,NEWREC,BADGE) ; Create employee record
WRITES (l,'Done?')
Ask if finished
READS (l,DONE)
; Get response
END
UNTIL DONE.EQ.'Y'
CLOSE 1
Close terminal
CLOSE 2
Close employee file
STOP
The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-65

UNLOCK
3.34 UNLOCK
FUNCTION

UNLOCK clears the lock condition on a specified channel.

FORMAT

UNLOCK ch
where:
ch

is a decimal expression that evaluates to a channel number as specified in a previous
OPEN statement.

RULES

• Records in the locked blocks will become available for access by other programs.
• The specified channel is the one associated with the file containing the locked blocks.
• UNLOCK is ignored if no records are locked on the channel or if the channel is not opened.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Invalid data type

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 10 NT Illegal channel number

3-66

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

EXAMPLES

The following program will delete employee records from an indexed file. On each iteration of the
loop, this program prompts for an employee badge number (the key field for the indexed record),
reads the employee record (which locks the record), displays the associated name, and asks if the
employee record should be deleted. If the record is not to be deleted, the UNLOCK statement
makes the record available for other programs to read.

RECORD

EMPREC
NAME,
BADGE,

; Employee record
Employee name
; Employee badge number

A20
AS

RECORD
DELETE, Al
DONE,
Al
PROC
OPEN (l, 0, ' TT; , )
OPEN (2, U: I , ' EMPF I L ' )
DO
BEGIN
WRITES (l,'Badge?')
READS (l, BADGE)
READ (2,EMPREC,BADGE)
WRITES (l,NAME)
WRITES (l,'Delete?')
WRITES (l,DELETE)
IF DELETE.EQ.'Y'
THEN
DELETE (2,BADGE)
ELSE
UNLOCK 2
WRITES (l,'Done?')
READS (l,DONE)
END
UNTIL DONE.EQ.'Y'
CLOSE 1
CLOSE 2
STOP

Open terminal
Open employee file
Prompt for badge number
Get badge number
Read employee record
Display employee name
Prompt for deletion
Get response
Delete the record
; Yes-Delete the record
; Unlock the record
; Ask if finished
Get response
; Close terminal
Close employee file

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-67

UPCASE
3.35 UPCASE
FUNCTION

upeASE converts lowercase characters to corresponding uppercase characters.

FORMAT

u peASE afield
where:
afield

is an alpha field or record which contains the characters to be converted.

RULES

• The following non-alphabetic characters are converted by upeASE:
Lowercase

Uppercase

(

[

roI

)

• Other non-alphabetic characters are unaffected.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Invalid data type

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 8 NT Writing into a literal

3-68

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

EXAMPLES

In the following example the first UPCASE statement changes the first character in field A. After the
first UPCASE statement is executed the contents of REC are 'This is a test { of upcase } '. The
second UPCASE statement changes the characters 'This is a test { of upcase} 'to uppercase.
After the second UPCASE statement is executed the contents of REC are 'THIS IS A TEST [OF
UPCASE],.

RECORD

REC
A,
B,

A14, 'this is a test'
, {o f upcase} ,
A12,

PROC
UPCASE A(l,l)
UPCASE REC
STOP

The following example allows an operator to answer 'YES' without regard to uppercase or
lowercase. The operator could type any of the following: yes, yeS, yEs, yES, Yes, YeS, YEs, or
YES.

RECORD
DONE, A3
PROC

WRITES (l,'Done?')
READS (l,DONE)
UPCASE DONE
IF DONE.EQ.'YES'
STOP

; Prompt user
Get response
; Make it uppercase
; Did operator type 'YES'?
Yes--

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-69

USING
3.36 USING
FUNCTION

USING conditionally executes one statement from a list of statements based on the evaluation of an
expression.

FORMAT

USING selection-value SELECT
([mexp[, ... )]), statement

ENDUSING
where:
selection-value
is an alpha field, alpha literal, decimal expression, or record.
mexp

is one or more match expressions in the following format:

value
value THRU value

statement is a DIBOL Procedure Division statement.

3-70

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

USING

yes

execute
statement 1

yes

execute
statement 2

yes

execute
statement n

••
•

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-71

RULES

• Selection-value is evaluated and compared with the match expressions ([mexp[, ... ]j).
• Selection-value cannot be an alpha double-subscripted variable.
• Selection-value cannot be an alpha substring because USING creates a temporary field for the
value. The length of the alpha substring is not known at compile time, thus the compiler does not
know how big to make the temporary field.
• The match expression list ([mexp[, ... ]]) is referred to as a case-label.
• An empty case-label (empty parentheses) is referred to as a null case-label.
• A null case-label matches any selection-value.
• The statement associated with the first matching case-label is executed and USING is exited.
• If no match is found, no statement within USING is executed.

• Each case-label must begin on a newline.

• Statement may be on a separate line.
• No match is found if the value to the left of THRU is greater than the value to the right of THRU.
• The data types of the values in the match expressions (mexp) must match.
• The data type of selection-value must match the data type of the match expression (mexp).

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Invalid data type
• No SELECT in USING statement
• No ENDUSING in USING statement
• Stack overflow

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• None

EXAMPLES

In the following example, the USING statement is used to check for the decimal character codes for
CTRUU and DELETE.

3-72

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

USING DCHAR SELECT
(21) ,
BEGIN
COL=STOOL
CALL POSTN
CALL CLEAR
END
(127) ,
BEGIN
IF COL.GT.STOOL
BEGIN
COL=COL-l
CALL POSTN
DISPLAY (1,'
CALL POSTN
END
END
ENDUSING

CTRL!U
Reset cursor position to
••• start of field
; Clear field
DELETE

; At beginning of field?
No-; Backup column number
Reset cursor position
Erase the character
; Reset cursor position

The following program displays the message indicating which case of USING was selected.

RECORD
CHARS,

; Characters entered

PROC
AGAIN,

EOF,

OPE N ( I , I , , TT: ' )
Op en term ina 1
WRITES (1,'Enter 3 characters') ; Display prompt
READS (l,CHARS,EOF)
; Get response
USING CHARS SELECT
; Branch based on CHARS
( 'AAA ' ) ,
WRITES (I, '1st case selected')
('AAB' THRU 'AZZ')
WRITES (1, '2nd case selected')
('BAA' THRU 'WZZ')
WRITES (1,'3rd case selected')
('XXX', 'YYY', 'ZZZ'),
WRITES (1,'4th case selected')

(),
WRITES (l,'Null case selected')
ENDUSING
GOTO AGAIN
CLOSE 1
; Close terminal
STOP

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-73

WHILE
3.37 WHILE
FUNCTION
WHILE repetitively executes a statement as long as a condition is true.
FORMAT
WHILE condition statement
where:

condition is a decimal expression.
statement is a DIBOL Procedure Division statement.
RULES
• The condition is evaluated prior to each possible execution of statement.
• The condition is either true (non-zero) or false (zero).
• If the condition is true, statement is executed.

• Statement may be on a separate line.
WHILE

false

execute
statement

3-74

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Invalid data type
• Stack overflow

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
EXAMPLES

The following program segment accepts a line from the terminal. The WHILE statement is used to
trim trailing spaces from the input line.

RECORD

INLINE
CHR,

80Al

; Characters input

RECORD
SIZE, 02

; Number of characters

PROC
OPEN (l, I, I TT: I )
READS (l,INLINE)
SIZE=80
WHILE CHR(SIZE).EQ.'
SIZE=SIZE-l

; Open term inal
; Accept terminal input
; Set size of line
.AND. SIZE.GT.l ; Trim line

The 0/80L-83 Procedure Division Statements 3-75

WRITE (RELATIVE FILE)
3.38 WRITE (RELATIVE FILE)

FUNCTION

WRITE outputs a record into a specified position in a relative file.

FORMAT

WRITE (ch ,record ,dexp)
where:
ch

is a decimal expression that evaluates to a channel number as specified in a previous
OPEN statement.

record

is an alpha field, alpha literal, or record which contains the data to be written.

dexp

is a decimal expression that specifies the sequence number of the record to be written.

RULES

• WRITE is used in 0 and U modes.
• WRITE updates the record if it exists. If no record exists, WRITE creates one.
• WRITE locks the record it is writing and unlocks the record when the WRITE is completed.

3-76

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

---~----------

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Invalid data type

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

•

1 T End of file

• 10 NT Illegal channel number
• 11 NT Channel not open
• 21

T Bad OPEN

• 22

T I-a error

• 26

T Field or record too long

• 28

T Illegal record number

• 40

T Record locked

• 84

T Illegal block I/O record size

EXAMPLES

The following statement writes the data in the variable REX into the 88th record of the relative file
associated with channel 5.

WRITE (S,REX,88)
The following statement writes the data in the variable BLT into the relative file associated with
channel 6. The record number is specified by the value stored in the variable COUNT.

WRITE (6,BLT,COUNT)

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-77

WRITE (INDEXED FILE)
3.39 WRITE (INDEXED FILE)
FUNCTION

WRITE updates a record in an indexed file.
FORMAT

WRITE (ch ,record ,keyf/d)
where:
ch

is a decimal expression that evaluates to a channel number as specified in a previous
OPEN statement.

record

is an alpha field or record which contains the data to be written.

keyf/d

is an alpha field or record which identifies the record into which the data will be written.

RULES

• WRITE is used in U:I mode.
• Keyf/d must occupy the same position within the record as does a key field defined for the

indexed file. If it is a multikey file, any key field may be used.
• WRITE updates the record if the record to be replaced was the last record read and its key field
has the same value as the last record read.
• The record to be written is the record most recently read on the specified channel and the record
must still be locked. WRITE unlocks the record when the WRITE is completed.
COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Invalid data type
RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

•

T End of file

• 10 NT Illegal channel number
• 11 NT Channel not open
• 21

T Bad OPEN

• 22

T 1-0 Error

• 26

T Field or record too long

• 52

T Illegal key

• 53

T Key not same

• 61

T No current record

EXAMPLES

The following statement will update a record in the indexed file opened on channel 1. The data for
the record is in ADDR and the key field is in KEY.

WRITE (l,ADDR,KEY)

3-78

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

WRITES
3.40 WRITES

FUNCTION

WRITES outputs a record to the next available position in a file.

FORMAT

WRITES (ch ,record)
where:
ch

is a decimal expression that evaluates to a channel number as specified in a previous
OPEN statement.

record

is an alpha field, alpha literal, or record which contains the data to be written.

RULES

• WRITES is used in 0 mode with a sequential file; in 0 and U modes with a relative file; in I and 0
modes with a terminal; and in 0 mode with a printer.
• In U mode, WRITES locks the record it is writing and unlocks the record when the WRITES is
completed.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Invalid data type

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 10 NT Illegal channel number
• 11 NT Channel not open
• 21

T Bad OPEN

• 22

T 1-0 error

• 25

T Output file full

• 26

T Field or record too long

The D180L-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-79

EXAMPLES

The following statement transfers the data in the array field PAY(EMPLNO) to the next sequential
record in the file associated with channel 4. PAY(EMPLNO) must be an alpha field.

WRITES (4,PAY(EMPLNO»
Assuming that LPT contains the channel number associated with the printer, the following
statement transfers the 2nd through the 9th characters in the variable MESSAG to the printer.

WRITES (LPT,MESSAG(2,9»

3-80

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

---

XCALL
3.41 XCALL
FUNCTION

XCALL transfers program control to an external program.
FORMAT

XCALL name (arg[, ... ])
where:
name

is the name of the external subroutine being called.

arg

is an alpha field, alpha literal, decimal field, decimal literal, expression, or record which
contains the subroutine arguments.

RULES

• Each argument is linked to a corresponding argument definition in the called subroutine to
provide the logical connections necessary to pass data. The first XCALL argument is linked to
the first argument in the subroutine, the second is linked to the second, etc.
• Arguments in the argument list are separated by commas.
• A given argument may be omitted from the argument list. If more arguments are needed, their
place must be held by putting in the commas, e.g., XCALL SUB (A"C).
• For decimal fields, the returned value is moved to the field according to the rules for moving
decimal data (see section 3.2.2).
• For alpha fields and records, the returned value is moved to the field according to the rules for
moving alpha data (see section 3.2.1).
• If the number of arguments passed exceeds the number expected by the subroutine, an error is
generated.
• If the number of arguments is fewer than expected, no error is generated; it is the responsibility
of the subroutine to check for the existence of each argument.
• XCALL causes information to be stored in an internal stack. This stack is of finite size; if too many
XCALL statements are executed without an intervening RETURN, the stack will overflow. The
exact size of the stack is system dependent and the exact number of XCALL statements which
can be nested will vary. In general, programmers should limit subroutine nesting to 15 levels.
• Following the execution of the subroutine, execution of the calling routine begins with the
statement which logically follows the XCALL.
• The size of a missing external subroutine argument is -1.
• An external subroutine cannot call itself.

The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-81

RULES FOR SUBROUTINE NAME

• A subroutine name consists of up to 6 characters, the first of which must be alphabetic.
Remaining characters can be alphabetic, numeric, or _(underscore).
• Only the first 6 characters of a subroutine name are significant; remaining characters are
ignored.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

•

4 NT DIBOL stack overflow

• 60 NT R6 stack overflow

EXAMPLES

In the following example, the main program calls the external subroutine (CNVRT) to change the
format of the date. It passes the arguments DATE and X-DATE. These arguments are represented
in the subroutine as OLD and NEW.

Main Program
RECORD
DATE,
D6, 010750
XDATE, All
PROC
XCALL CNVRT (DATE,XDATE)
OPEN (1,0,' TT: ' )
WRITES (l,XDATE)
CLOSE 1
STOP

3·82

The DIBOL·83 Procedure Division Statements

Convert the date
; Open the terminal
Display the date
Close the terminal

SUBROUTINE CNVRT
OLD,
D
NEW,
A
RECORD

RECORD

ODATE
MM,
DD,
YY,
NDATE
DAY,

,
,

MONTH,
YEAR,

External Subroutine
; Convert the date format
Date (mmddyy)
Da te (dd-mmm-yy)
; Old date format
; Month
; Day
Year

D2
D2
D2
A2
Al, ' -'
A3
Al, ' -'
D2

;

New date format
Day

;

Month

;

Year

RECORD
MNAME,

l2A3, 'Jan', 'Feb', 'Mar', 'Apr', 'May', 'Jun'
, 'Jul', 'Aug', 'Sept, 'Oct', 'Nov', 'Dec'

PROC
ODATE=OLD
DAY=DD
YEAR=YY
MONTH=MNAME(MM)
NEW=NDATE
RETURN

;
;
;
;

Move day to new format
Move year to new format
Move month to new format
Return new date

Arguments can also be made optional. This requires some coordination between the calling
program and the external subroutine. The external subroutine must determine whether a given
optional argument was passed. This is done by using the SIZE subroutine. If the SIZE subroutine
returns a negative value, then the subroutine argument was not passed. The following external
subroutine accepts up to 3 file names to delete.

SUBROUTINE DEL3
; Subroutine to delete 3 files
FILE1, A
; First file
FILE2, A
; Second file
FILE3, A
; Thi rd file
RECORD
SIZE, 03
PROC
; Get size of first name
XCALL SIZE (FILE1,SIZE)
; Was argument passed?
IF SIZE.GT.O
XCALL DELET (1,FILE1)
Yes--Delete file
XCALL SIZE (FILE2,SIZE)
; Get size of second name
IF SIZE.GT.O
Was argument passed?
XCALL DELET (1,FILE2)
; Yes--Delete file
XCALL SIZE (FILE3,SIZE)
; Get size of third name
IF SIZE.GT.O
; Was argument passed?
XCALL DELET (1,FILE3)
; Yes--Delete file
RETURN
The DIBOL-83 Procedure Division Statements

3-83

The DEL3 external subroutine can be called using many different types of argument lists. Some of
the possible argument lists are shown below. F1, F2, and F3 are assumed to be valid file
specifications.

XCALL DEL3 (FI)
XCALL DEL3 (FI,F2)
XCALL DEL3 (FI,F2,)
XCALL DEL3 (FI, ,F3)
XCALL DEL3 ("F3)
XCALL DEL3 ()
XCALL DEL3

3-84

The D180L-83 Procedure Dividion Statements

CHAPTER 4
THE DIBOL-83 COMPILER DIRECTIVES

4.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter contains information about all the Compiler Directives. For easy reference, the Compiler
Directives are arranged alphabetically.

Compiler Directives can be used anywhere in a program except as the statement to be executed in an IF,
IF-THEN-ELSE, FOR,WHILE, DO-UNTIL, or USING statement.

Compiler Directives cannot have labels.

4-1

.IFDEF-.ENDC
4.2 .lFDEF-.ENDC
FUNCTION

.IFDEF specifies conditional compilation based on the definition of a variable.
FORMAT

.IFDEF field
statement

.ENDC
where:

field

is an alpha field, decimal field, or record that must be defined if the statements
that follow are to be compiled.

statement

is a DI BOL statement.

RULES

• The statements between .IFDEF and .ENDC are compiled only if the field is defined in the
Data Division before .IFDEF.
• Conditional compilation directives may be nested.
• Compiler Directives have no effect when they are within conditionally uncompiled code.
COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Directive error
EXAMPLES

In the following example the INCR statement is not compiled because the variable RT11 is not
defined:

RECORD

B,
PROC
.IFDEF RT11
INCR B
.ENDC
STOP

4-2

The DIBOL-83 Compiler Directives

.IFNDEF-.ENDC
4.3 .IFNDEF-.ENDC
FUNCTION

.IFNDEF specifies conditional compilation based on the non-definition of a variable.
FORMAT

.IFNDEF field
statement

.ENDC
where:
field

is an alpha field, decimal field, or record that must not be defined if the
statements that follow are to be compiled.

statement

is a DIBOL statement.

RULES

• The statements between .IFNDEF and .ENDC are compiled only if the field is not defined in
the Data Division before .lFNDEF.
• Conditional compilation directives may be nested.
• Compiler Directives have no effect when they are within conditionally uncompiled code.
COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Directive error
EXAMPLES

In the following example the INCR statement is compiled because the variable RSTS. is not
defined:

RECORD
B,
PROC
.IFNDEF RSTS
INCR B
.ENDC
STOP

The DIBOL-83 Compiler Directives

4-3

.INCLUDE
4.4

.INCLUDE

FUNCTION

.INCLUDE directs the compiler to read source code from a specified file.
FORMAT

.INCLUDE filespec
where:
filespec

is an alpha literal that contains the file specification of the file to be included.

RULES

• When the compiler encounters .INCLUDE, the compiler stops reading statements from the
current file and reads the statements in the included file. When it reaches the end of the
included file, the compiler resumes compilation with the next logical line after .INCLUDE.
• The filespec may contain only one specification.
• The default extension for the file is the same as the default extension for DIBOL program
source files. Other system dependent information in the specification follows the system
defaults.
• .INCLUDE may be nested to 3 levels.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Cannot open .INCLUDE file

• .INCLUDE nested too deeply - file ignored

< filespec>

EXAMPLES

.INCLUDE is particularly useful for including standard record descriptions. Assume the file
EMPREC.DBL contains the following information:

RECORD

4-4

EMPREC
NAME,
BADGE,

The DIBOL Compiler Directives

A20
AS

; Employee record
; Employee name
; Employee badge number

The .INCLUDE in the following program will include the employee record description (stored in
the file EMPREC.DBL):

.INCLUDE 'EMPREC.DBL'
RECORD
DONE, Al
PROC
OPEN (l,O,'TT:')
OPEN (2,U;I,'EMPFIL')
DO
BEGIN
WRITES (1, 'Name?')
READS (l,NAME)
WRITES (1, 'Badge?')
READS (l,BADGE)
STORE (2,EMPREC,BADGE)
WRITES (l,'Done?')
READS (l,DONE)
END
UNTIL DONE.EQ.'Y'
CLOSE 1
CLOSE 2
STOP

Open terminal
Open employee file
; Prompt for name
; Get employee name
; prompt for badge number
Get badge number
; Create employee record
; Ask if finished
; Get response
; Close terminal
; Close employee file

The resulting program listing will contain:

• INCLUDE 'EMPREC. DBL'
1 RECORD EMPREC
NAME,
A20
2
BADGE, AS
3
4 RECORD
Al
DONE,
S
6 PROC
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22

Employee record
Employee name
Employee badge number

OPEN (1 , 0, ' TT: ' )
OPEN (2, U; I , ' EMPF I L ' )
DO
BEGIN
WRITES (1, 'Name?')
READS (1, NAME)
WRITES (l,'Badge?')
READS (1, BADGE)
STORE (2,EMPREC,BADGE)
WRITES (1, 'Done?')
READS (1, DONE)
END
UNTIL DONE.EQ.'Y'
CLOSE 1
CLOSE 2
STOP

;
;

Open terminal
Open employee file

Prompt for name
Get employee name
Prompt for badge number
Get badge number
; Create employee record
; Ask if finished
; Get response

;

Close terminal
Close employee file

The DIBOL-83 Compiler Directives

4-5

LIST
4.5 .LlST
FUNCTION

.LlST enables the source code listing.
FORMAT

.LIST
RULES

• .LlST is the default condition when beginning a compilation.
• .LlST and all subsequent source file input is listed.
• Normal listing continues until the end of the program or until a .NOLIST directive is
encou ntered.
• .LlST always enables the listing regardless of the number of .NOLIST directives that
preceded the .LlST.. LlST/.NOLIST cannot be nested.
• .LlST does not affect the content of the listing beyond the last line of the source code.
COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
EXAMPLES

The .LlST and .NOLIST directives in the following program will affect the listing of the
program. The .NOLIST disables listing the EMPREC record description and the .LlST enables
listing the remainder of the program .

• NOLIST
RECORD EMPREC
NAME,
A20
BADGE, AS
.LIST
RECORD
DONE, Al
PROC
OPEN (1,0,' TT: ' )
OPEN (2,U;I,'EMPFIL')
DO

4-6

The DIBOL Compiler Directives

Employee record
Employee name
; Employee badge number

; Open terminal
Open employee file

BEGIN
; Prompt for name
WRITES (l,'Name?')
READS (l,NAME)
; Get employee name
WRITES (l,'Badge?')
; Prompt for badge number
READS (l,BADGE)
; Get badge number
STORE (2,EMPREC,BADGE) ; Create employee record
WRITES (l,'Done?')
; Ask if finished
READS (l,DONE)
; Get response
END
UNTIL DONE.EQ.'Y'
CLOSE 1
; Close terminal
CLOSE 2
Close employee file
STOP

The resulting program listing will contain:

.LIST
4 RECORD
5

DONE,

6 PROC

7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

17
18
19
20
21
22

OPEN (1 , 0, ' TT: ' )
OPEN (2, U; I , ' EMPF I L ' )
DO
BEGIN
WRITES (l,'Name?')
READS (1, NAME)
WRITES (1, 'Badge?')
READS (1, BADGE)
STORE (2,EMPREC,BADGE)
WRITES (1, 'Done?')
READS (1,DONE)
END
UNTIL DONE.EQ.'Y'
CLOSE 1
CLOSE 2
STOP

;
;

Open terminal
Open employee file

;
;
;
;
;
;
;

Prompt for name
Get employee name
Prompt for badge number
Get badge number
Create employee record
Ask if finished
Get response

;
;

Close terminal
Close employee file

The DIBOL-83 Compiler Directives

4-7

.NOLIST
4.6.NOLIST
FUNCTION

.NOLIST disables the source code listing.

FORMAT

.NOLIST

RULES

• .NOLIST and all subsequent source file input is not listed.
• If an error is detected while the listing is disabled, the statement containing the error and
the error message is listed.
• Normal listing continues only when a .LlST directive is encountered.
• .NOLIST ALWAYS inhibits the listing regardless of the number of .LlST directives that
preceded the .NOLIST.. LlST/.NOLIST cannot be nested.
• . NOLIST does not affect the content of the listing beyond the last line of the source code.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
EXAMPLES

See .LIST for example.

4-8

The DIBOL-83 Compiler Directives

.PAGE
4.7.PAGE
FUNCTION

.PAGE ends the current listing page and begins a new listing page.

FORMAT

.PAGE

RULES

• .PAGE is the last line listed on the page being completed.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• None
EXAMPLES

The .PAGE directive in the following program will place the EMPREC record description on a page
by itself:

RECORD

EMPREC
NAME,
BADGE,

A20
AS

DONE,

; Employee record
Employee name
i Employee badge number

RECORD
PROC
OPEN (I,O,ITT: I)
OPEN (2,UiI,IEMPFIL')
DO
BEGIN
WRITES (1,'Name?')
READS (I,NAME)
WRITES (l,'Badge?')
READS (l,BADGE)
STORE (2,EMPREC,BADGE)
WRITES (l,'Done?')
READS (l,DONE)
END
UNTIL DONE.EQ.'Y'
CLOSE I
CLOSE 2
STOP

Open terminal
Open employee file

Prompt for name
Get employee name
Prompt for badge number
Get badge number
Create employee record
Ask if finished
Get response
Close terminal
Close employee file

The DIBOL-83 Compiler Directives

4-9

The resulting program listing will contain:

1 RECORD EMPREC
NAME, A20
2
BADGE, AS
3
• PAGE

4-10

;
;
;

Employee record
Employee name
Employee badge number

4 RECORD
5

DONE,

6 PROC
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22

, Open terminal
OPEN (1 ,0, , TT: ' )
OPEN (2,U;I,'EMPFIL')
; Open employee file
DO
BEGIN
WRITES (l,'Name?')
; Prompt for name
READS (1, NAME)
; Get employee name
WRITES (l,'Badge?')
; Prompt for badge number
READS (I,BADGE)
; Get badge number
STORE (2, EMPREC ,BADGE) ; Create employee record
, Ask if finished
WRITES (l,'Done?')
READS (1, DONE)
; Get response
END
UNTIL DONE.EQ.'Y'
Close terminal
CLOSE 1
, Close employee file
CLOSE 2
STOP

The D180L-83 Compiler Directives

·TITLE
4.8.TITLE
FUNCTION

.TITLE changes the listing page header.

FORMAT

.TITLE

[text-string)

where:
text-string is an alpha literal which is the page header text.

RULES

• .TITLE is the first source line listed on a new page.
• If the listing is already at the beginning of a page when .TITLE is encountered, no new page is
generated.
• The text-string set by .TITLE is used in the page header of all pages until a new .TITLE directive
is encountered.
• The text-string is moved to the page header area according to the rules for moving alpha data
(see section 3.2.1).
• If no text-string is specified, the page header area is filled with spaces.

COMPILER ERROR CONDITIONS

• Directive error

EXAMPLES

The following .TITLE directive will set the title to 'Employee Update Program'. This title will appear
at the top of all pages until another .TITLE is encountered .

• TITLE

'Employee Update program'

The following .TITLE directive will clear the title for all pages that follow until another .TITLE is
encountered .

• TITLE
The DIBOL-83 Compiler Directives

4-11

CHAPTER 5
UNIVERSAL EXTERNAL SUBROUTINES

This chapter contains information on the DIBOL-83 Universal External Subroutines. Each subroutine is
described and an example of its use is given. Some subroutines may differ when used under a particular
operating system.
The appropriate operating system User's Guide should be referred to when using any of the subroutines
contained in this document.

5-1

ASCII
5.1 ASCII
FUNCTION

ASCII returns the ASCII character for a decimal character code.
FORMAT

XCALL ASCII (dfield, afield)
where:
dfield

is a decimal field or decimal literal that contains the decimal character code.

afield

is an alpha field or record that is to contain the ASCII character.

RULES

• Afield should be a 1 character field.
• The ASCII character is moved to afield according to the rules for moving alpha data (see section

3.2.1).
• Dfield is treated as a single character code.
• If dfield exceeds the range of character codes, dfield is automatically converted by dividing the

number by 256 and taking the remainder as the character code (258 becomes 2, 259 becomes 3,
etc).
RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 6 NT Incorrect number of arguments
• 8 NT Writing into a literal
EXAMPLES

Since 87 is the decimal character code for 'W', CHAR will contain 'W' after executing the following
example:

RECORD
NUM,
CHAR,

D2, 87
Al

;
;

Decimal character code
ASCII character

PROC
XCALL ASCII
STOP

5-2

Universal External Subroutines

(NUM, CHAR)

Get ASCII character

DATE
5.2 DATE
FUNCTION

DATE returns the current system date.

FORMAT

XCALL DATE (afield)
where:
afield

is an alpha field or record that is to contain the date.

RULES

• Afield should be a 9 character field.

• The date is moved to the alpha field according to the rules for moving alpha data (see section
3.2.1).
• The date is returned in the form:
dd-mmm-yy
where:
dd

is the day of the month (01-31).

mmm

is the first three characters for the name of the month (JAN, FEB, MAR, JUN,
JUL, AUG, SEP, OCT, NOV, and DEC).

is the last two digits of the year (00-99).

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 6 NT Incorrect number of arguments
• 8 NT Writing into a literal

Universal External Subroutines

5-3

EXAMPLES
Assuming the current system date is May 13,1983, OAT will contain '13-MAY-83' upon execution of
the following program:

RECORD
OAT,

; System date

PROC
XCALL DATE (OAT)
STOP

5-4

Universal External Subroutines

; Get system date

DECML
5.30eCML
FUNCTION

DECML returns the decimal character code for an ASCII character.

FORMAT

XCALL DECML (afield, dfield)
where:
afield

is an alpha field, alpha literal, or record that contains the ASCII character.

dfield

is a decimal field that is to contain the decimal character code.

RULES

• If afield is longer than one character, only the first (leftmost) character is used.
• The dfield should be a three digit field.
• The decimal character code is moved to dfield according to the rules for moving decimal data
(see section 3.2.2).

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 6 NT Incorrect number of arguments
• 8 NT Writing into a literal

EXAMPLES

After executing the following example NUM will contain 087, which is the decimal character code
for 'W'.

RECORD
NUM, 03
CHAR, Ai,

I WI

Decimal character code
ASCII character

PROC
XCALL DECML (CHAR,NUM)
STOP

; Get character code

Universal External Subroutines

5-5

DELET
5.4DELET
FUNCTION

DELET removes one or more versions of a file from a directory.
FORMAT

XCALL DELET ([ch,] filespec)
where:
ch

is a decimal field or decimal literal that specifies a channel number.

filespec

is an alpha field, alpha literal, or record that contains a file specification.

GENERAL RULES

• If the specified file does not exist, no error is given.
• The file is deleted unless it is protected by the system.
RULES FOR MULTI-VERSION FILE SYSTEMS

• The file specification may contain wildcards.
• If the file specification does not specify a version number, all versions are deleted.
• DELET will attempt to delete all the files before generating an error.
RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 6 NT Incorrect number of arguments
EXAMPLES

The following program will delete the file ARMAST.DDF:

RECORD
NAME,

AlO, 'ARMAST.DDF'

PROC
XCALL DELET (NAME)
STOP

5-6

Universal External Subroutines

; Delete ARMAST.DDF

ERROR
5.5 ERROR
FUNCTION

ERROR returns the error number and the line number at which the last trappable error occurred.
FORMAT

XCALL ERROR (errnum, line)
where:
errnum

is a decimal field that is to contain the error number.

line

is a decimal field that is to contain the line number.

RULES

• Errnum should be a 3 digit field.

• The error number is moved to errnum according to the rules for moving decimal data (see section
3.2.2).
• The line field should be large enough to hold the largest line number in the program.
• The line number is moved to line according to the rules for moving decimal data (see section
3.2.2).
RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 6 NT Incorrect number of arguments
• 8 NT Writing into a literal
EXAMPLES

Assuming that the statement C = 5/0 is on line 7, LINE will contain 0007 and ERR will contain 0030,
which is the Divide by 0 error number.

RECORD
LINE,
ERR,
C,

D4
D4
D4

PROC
ONERROR BAD
C=5/0

BAD,

XCALL ERROR (ERR,LINE)

Get error and line.

Universal External Subroutines

5-7

FATAL
5.6 FATAL
FUNCTION

FATAL specifies the action to be taken when a non-trappable error is detected by the run-time
system.
FORMAT

XCALL FATAL (action[,fi/espec])
where:
action

is a decimal field or decimal literal that directs the run-time system what to do in the
event of a fatal error.

filespec

is an alpha field, alpha literal or record which contains the file specification of a program
to be run in place of this program if an untrapped error occurs. It may also be a record or
alpha field that will receive the name of the default user-designated program.

RULES

• When an untrapped error occurs, the user-designated program is sent a message which
contains error information. The format of the message is:
ERR1, D3
ERR2, D10
ERLN, D10
MODUL, A31
PRGNM, A31

;DIBOL fatal error number
;Additional system information
;Line number of statement causing the error
;Name of module which caused the error
;Name of the 'root' module

• If the program that encounters the error is running detached, the user-designated program is
started detached.
• If the program that encounters the fatal error is running at a terminal, the user-designated
program is started at the terminal.
• Acceptable action values are:

5-8

Return to system level on untrapped error.

Use the default user-designated program on an untrapped error. If there is no
default user-designated program, return to the system level.

Use the user-designated program specified by the filespec on the untrapped error.
This filespec designation remains in effect while the current program is running.

Return, in the filespec field, the name of the default user-designated program. If
none is defined, return spaces.

Universal External Subroutines

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS
•

6 NT Incorrect number of arguments

•

8 NT Writing into a literal

•

T Argument missing

• 104 NT Value out of range

EXAMPLES
The following statement designates the program BADERR as the program to execute when an
untrapped error occurs:

XCALL FATAL (2,'BADERR')
The following statement specifies that no program is to be loaded when an untrapped error occurs.
Instead, control will be returned to the system level.

XCALL FATAL (0)

Universal External Subroutines 5-9

FLAGS
5.7 FLAGS
FUNCTION

FLAGS alters operating parameters of the run-time system.

FORMAT

XCALL FLAGS (parameters [,action])
where:
parameters
is a decimal field or decimal literal which contains the FLAGS parameters.
action

is a decimal field or decimal literal which alters the action of the subroutine to provide for
flexibility.

RULES

The digits in the parameters field are right-justified.
• Each digit corresponds to a parameter.
• The digits are numbered from right to left.
• Acceptable action values are:
Not specified
Parameters where a non-zero appears are enabled and remaining parameters are
disabled.

Parameters where a non-zero appears are disabled and remaining parameters are
unchanged.
Parameters where a non-zero appears are enabled and remaining parameters are
unchanged.

The current value for the parameters is moved into the parameters field and is rightjustified.
.

RULES WHEN ACTION IS 2
• Parameters must be a decimal field; it cannot be a literal.
• Parameters should be a 10 digit field.

• The parameters are moved to the parameters field according to the rules for moving decimal data
(see section 3.2.2).

5-10

Universal External Subroutines

---~-

... -

.-----------~----

..- - - - -

----_._----

Suppress TermLtor

I 7

EC~

Data Formatting

Explicit Terminator Unrequired

Upper/Lower Case Character

Ignore Interrupt Sequences--

File Protection
RUBOUT for Video Displays

Suppress STOP MessageDisable Multi-Volume OMS Files-

Suppress Character Echo

Figure 5-1 FLAGS Option Fields
Table 5-1 FLAGS Argument Assignments
Digit
Position

Meaning When Digit is a Non-Zero Value

Do not echo the terminator of terminal input.

Do not require an explicit terminator for terminal input using READS. Entry into the field
is terminated implicitly when it is· filled. Entry may be terminated prior to the field being
filled by use of a terminator character.

Ignore interrupt sequences input from the terminal. This prevents an operator from
terminating a program by typing an interrupt sequence (CTRUC).

Suppress STOP message which is displayed on the screen at the end of each program.

Do not recognize OMS multi volume files. This means that an input file returns an EOF at
the end of the last block, even if a CTRLlZ is not present. This allows you to read files that
are not terminated by a CTRL/Z, such as a single volume of multi volume file, files written
with an editor, or files produced by the DIBOL compiler.
Output files are closed with the unused portion of the final block set to nulls, but no
CTRUZ is added. For OMS DIBOL the Output file full error is generated when the file is
full.

Do not echo characters input from a terminal.

Backspace the video terminal's cursor one character position in response to each
operation of the DELETE key, and delete the character instead of displaying a backslash
('\.).

Detect an attempt to open an output file when a file of the same name and version
already exists on the device. When this condition occurs, the error message
Superseding existing file is generated, or, if the Superseding existing file ONERROR
trap is enabled, the error is trapped to ensure that no files are accidentally deleted and
replaced.

Do not convert lowercase characters entered from a terminal to the uppercase
equivalents.

Enable international data formatting by deleting leading periods rather than leading
commas.

Universal External Subroutines

5-11

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS
•

6 NT Incorrect number of arguments

•

8 NT Writing into a literal

•

T Argument missing

• 104 NT Value out of range

EXAMPLES
Disabling character echo is particularly useful when accepting passwords as in the following
example. FLAGS digit 5 is used to control character echo.

RECORD
PASS,

A10

; Password

PROC
OPEN (1, I , , TT: ' )
DISPLAY (l,'Enter password:
XCALL FLAGS (0000010000,1)
READS (l,PASS)
XCALL FLAGS (0000010000,0)
•

5-12

Universal External Subroutines

Open terminal
Display password prompt
; Disable character echo
; Accept password
Re-enab1e character echo

INSTR
5.8INSTR
FUNCTION

INSTR searches a string of data for another string.

FORMAT

XCALL INSTR (start,string1,string2,position)
where:
start

is a decimal field or decimal literal which specifies the character position within string1
where the search begins.

string 1

is an alpha field, alpha literal, or record to be searched.

string2

is an alpha field, alpha literal, or record to be searched for in string1.

position

is a decimal field that is to contain the starting character position of string2 within string 1 .

RULES

• The starting position specifies the position within string1 where the search begins. The starting
position indicates the leftmost boundary for string1.
• If the starting position is less than 1 or is greater than the length of string 1, no search takes place
and the position field is set to zero.
• The position field is set to a decimal value indicating the leftmost position of string2 within string1.
The complete string2 (all characters in the order specified) must be found within string1.
• If the search is unsuccessful, the position field is set to zero.
• The value indicating the leftmost position of string2 within string1 is moved to the position field
according to the rules for moving decimal data (see section 3.2.2).

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 6 NT Incorrect number of arguments
• 8 NT Writing into a literal

Universal External Subroutines

5-13

EXAMPLES

The following program reads in a file nameand, if the file name contains '.ISM', opens the file in 1:1
(indexed) mode. Otherwise, the file is opened in I mode.

RECORD
POS,
NAME,

D3
A80

; Where .ISM was found
; File name

PROC
OPEN (1, I , , TT: ' )
DISPLAY (1,' Enter file name: ')
READS (l,NAME)
XCALL INSTR (l,NAME,' .ISM' ,POS)
IF POS.NE.O
THEN
OPEN (3, I : I , NAME)
ELSE
OPEN (3, I ,NAME)

5-14

Universal External Subroutines

Open terminal
Display file name promp'
Get file name
Check for indexed file
Indexed file?
Yes-Open indexed file
Open non-indexed file

JBNO
5.9 JBNO
FUNCTION

JBNO returns the job number.

FORMAT

XCALL JBNO (dfield)
where:
dfield

is a decimal field that is to contain the job number.

RULES

• The job number is moved to dfield according to the rules for moving decimal data (see section
3.2.2).

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 6 NT Incorrect number of arguments
• 8 NT Writing into a literal

EXAMPLES

The following program will display the job number:

RECORD

MSG

JOB,

All, 'Job number'
D3

Job number

PROC
OPEN ( 1 , 0, , TT: ' )
XCALL JBNO (JOB)
WRITES (l,MSG)
CLOSE 1
STOP

Open terminal
; Get job number
Display 'Job number 000'
Close terminal

Universal External Subroutines

5-15

MONEY
5.10 MONEY
FUNCTION

MONEY specifies a currency symbol as either the dollar symbol ($) or some other symbol.

FORMAT

XCALL MONEY (afield)
where:
afield

is an alpha field, alpha literal, or record which contains the currency symbol.

RULES

• The currency symbol may be any ASCII character except comma (,), period (.), asterisk (*),
hyphen (-), or the letters X and Z.
• If afield is longer than one character, only the first (leftmost) character is used.

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 6 NT Incorrect number of arguments
• 87 T Argument missing

EXAMPLES

In the following example the MONEY subroutine is used to change the currency symbol to '#'. The
example will display '#1234567.89'.

RECORD

A,
B,

010, 0123456789
A15

PROC
OPEN (l,O,ITT:I)
XCALL MONEY (1#1)
B=A,I############.XXI
WRITES (l,B)
CLOSE 1
STOP

5-16

Universal External Subroutines

; Open terminal
Change currency symbol
Format value
; Display formatted value
Close terminal

PAK
5.11 PAK
FUNCTION

PAK converts zoned decimal fields to packed decimal.

FORMAT

XCALL PAK (record,size,dfield[, ... ])
where:
record

is an alpha field or record which contains the unpacked source data. This also
identifies the destination of the packed result.

size

is a decimal field where the size of the packed record is returned.

dfield

is one or more decimal fields to be packed.

RULES

• In packed form there are 2 digits per byte plus an extra byte for the sign.
• The size of a packed field (in terms of bytes) is equal to the number of digits in the zoned decimal
field divided by 2 plus 1. If the result is not an integer, round down to the next lower integer. The
formula for calculating the packed decimal field size is the following:
packed decimal field size == (number of digits/2) + 1
Using this formula a zoned decimal field of 16 bytes requires a packed decimal field of 9 bytes or
9 = (16/2) + 1.
• Fields to be packed must be listed in ascending order by position within the record.
• Fields between the packed fields are shifted forward in the resulting packed record.

Universal External Subroutines

5-17

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

•

8 NT Writing into a literal

• 20 T Bad digit
• 77 T Arguments out of order
• 78

T Argument not defined in the record

• 79

T Incorrect argument count

• 80 T Field not packed

EXAMPLES

In the following example the employee record (EMPREC) is packed using the PAK subroutine and
is then written to a file. The WRITES statement specifies the substring of EMPREC which contains
the packed record.

RECORD
RECORD

SIZE,
EMPREC
NAME,
BGN,
SAL,
TITLE,
DEP,

;

A20
06
010
AlO
02

;
;
;
;
;

Size of packed field
Employee record
Employee name
Beginning date
Current salary
Current title
Number of dependents

PROC

XCALL PAK (EMPREC,SIZE,BGN,SAL,DEP) ; Pack employee record
WRITES (l,EMPREC(l,SIZE»
; Output packed record

5-18

Universal External Subroutines

RENAM
5.12 RENAM
FUNCTION
RENAM changes the name of an existing file.

FORMAT
XCALL RENAM ([ch,] newfile, oldfile)
where:

is a decimal field or decimal literal that specifies a channel number.

newfile

is an alpha field, alpha literal, or record that contains the new file specification.

oldfile

is an alpha field, alpha literal, or record that contains the current file specification.

RULES
• The rename operation follows the flowchart in Figure 5-2.
• A file can be renamed from one directory to another, but not from one device to another.
• If oldfile does not exist, a File not found error is generated and the rename operation is
terminated.
• If newfile exists and specifies a file different from oldfile, but digit position 3 in the FLAGS
subroutine is set to prevent the superseding of an existing file, a Cannot supersede existing file
error is generated and the rename operation is terminated.
• If newfile specifies the same file as oldfile, the results are system dependent.
On RSTS/E, if digit position 3 in the FLAGS subroutine is clear, the file is deleted and a File not
found error is generated. If FLAG 3 is set, the file will not be deleted and no error occurs.
On VAX and PRO, the file will not be deleted and no error occurs. If FLAG 3 is clear, old versions
of the specified file may be deleted.

RULES FOR MULTI-VERSION FILE SYSTEMS
• If an error occurs during the processing of multiple versions of a file (such as a file protection
error), processing continues if possible and an error is generated upon completion.
• If the version number of newfile is omitted or the version number is a wildcard (specified with an
asterisk (*)), all versions of newfile will be deleted prior to the actual rename operation.

Universal External Subroutines

5-19

• If the version number of oldfile is omitted or the version number is wild, all versions of oldfile wil
be renamed.
• If the version number of oldfile is 0 or blank, the latest version of oldfile will be renamed.
• If the version number of oldfile is explicit, that version of oldfile will be renamed.
• If the version number of oldfile is omitted or the version number is wild, and the version number 01
newfile is explicitly specified, unpredictable results may occur.
• The order of the versions of oldfile will be retained when the fields are renamed to newfile.

no
Does 0 dfile exist?

.. FILE NOT FOUND
error

yes
no
Does n wfile exist?

IY~

yes

Is FLAG 3 set?

.. Supersede
error

Is newflle same
file as oldfile?

•

no
... Delete newiile

yes

Renam oldfile

to neT

Exit

Figure 5-2 RENAM Flowchart

5-20

Universal External Subroutines

.. Exit

... Exit

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

•

6 NT Incorrect number of arguments

• 18 T File not found
• 32

T Cannot supersede existing file

• 62

T Protection violation

• Various other file-related errors may also occur which are not specific to RENAM.

EXAMPLES

The following statement will rename the file OLDFIL.DDF to NEWFIL.DDF:

XCALL RENAM ('NEWFIL.DDF' ,'OLDFIL.DDF')

Universal External Subroutines

5-21

RSTAT
5.13 RSTAT
FUNCTION

RSTAT returns the size and terminating character for the last record read by a READ or READS
statement.

FORMAT

XCALL RSTAT (size[,char])
where:
size

is a decimal field that is to contain the record size.

char

is an alpha field or record that is to contain the terminating character.

RULES

• The record size is moved to size according to the rules for moving decimal data (see section
3.2.2).
• Char should be a 1 character field.

• The terminating character is moved to char according to the rules for moving alpha data (see
section 3.2.1).

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

•

6 NT Incorrect number of arguments

•

8 NT Writing into a literal

• 87 T Argument missing

5-22

Universal External Subroutines

EXAMPLES

The program that follows creates a sequential file called NEWFIL.DDF and fills the file with records
from the file called OLDFIL.DDF (Le., a copy operation). Since the size of the input records may
vary, RSTAT is used to obtain the record size following each READS. The WRITES is then done by
specifying a substring.

RECORD
IN,
SIZE,

A256
03

; Input record
Input record size

PROC
LOOP,

OPEN (l,I,'OLDFIL.DDF')
OPEN (2,O,'NEWFIL.DDF')
READS (l,IN,DONE)
XCALL RSTAT (SIZE)
WRITES (2,IN(l,SIZE))
GOTO LOOP

Open old file
; Create new file
; Read a record
; ••• and get its size
Copy record to new file

DONE,
CLOSE 1
CLOSE 2
STOP

Universal External Subroutines

5-23

RUNJB
5.14 RUNJB
FUNCTION

RUNJB starts another program without terminating the current program.

FORMAT

XCALL RUNJB (filespec, terminal)
where:
filespec

is an alpha field, alpha literal, or record which contains the file specification of the
program to be executed.

terminal

is a decimal field or decimal which specifies the terminal number.

RULES

• The terminal number specifies the terminal to which the program is to be attached.
• If the terminal number is -1, no terminal is attached to the job.
• RUNJB cannot be used in a non multi tasking environment.

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

•

6 NT Incorrect number of arguments

• 58

T Job startup error

EXAMPLES

The following program starts a program called MENU on terminals 1 and 2 and starts a detached
program called UPDT:
PROC

XCALL RUNJB ('MENU', 1)
; Start program on terminal 1
XCALL RUNJB ('MENU',2)
; Start program on terminal 2
XCALL RUNJB ('UPDT' ,-1) ; Start detached program
STOP

5-24

Universal External Subroutines

SIZE
5.15 SIZE
FUNCTION

SIZE returns the size of a field.

FORMAT

XCALL SIZE (field,size)
where:
field

is an alpha field, alpha literal, decimal field, decimal literal, or record whose size is to
be returned.

size

is a decimal field which is to contain the size.

RULES

• The size of a subroutine argument which is not passed is -1.
• The size of an alpha field or decimal field is the number of characters as specified in the Data
Division.
• The size of a record is the sum of the size of the fields which are part of the record.
• The size of an alpha literal is the number of characters required to store it,
• The size of a decimal literal is equal to the actual number of digits in the literal. Plus and minus
signs are not counted.
• The size is moved to size according to the rules for moving decimal data (see section 3.2.2).

RUN·TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

•

6 NT Incorrect number of arguments

•

8 NT Writing into a literal

• 87

T Argument missing

Universal External Subroutines

5-25

EXAMPLES

Creating a relative file requires that the size of the records that will be placed in the file be specified
in the OPEN. This can be done by counting the characters and hard-coding the value in the OPEN.
This can also cause maintenance problems when new fields are added to the record. A better
method is to use the SIZE subroutine to determine the size of the records as in the following
example:

RECORD
RECORD

SIZE,
EMPREC
NAME,
BGN,
SAL,
TITLE,
DEP,

D3
A20
D6
DlO
AlO
D2

; Si ze of packed field
; Employee record
; Employee name
; Beginning date
; Current salary
; Current title
; Number of dependents

PROC
XCALL SIZE (EMPREC,SIZE)
; Get employee record size
OPEN (l,O;R,'EMPFIL.DDF',RECSIZ:SIZE) ; Create file

5-26

Universal External Subroutines

TIME
5.16 TIME
FUNCTION

TIME returns the current system time of day.
FORMAT

XCALL TIME (dfield)
where:
dfield

is a decimal field that is to contain the time.

RULES

• Dfield should be a 6 digit field.

• The time is moved to dfield according to the rules for moving decimal data (see section 3.2.2).
• The time is returned in a 24-hour notation in the format:
hhmmss
where:
hh is the number of hours elapsed since midnight.
mm is the number of minutes elapsed since the last hour.
ss is the number of seconds elapsed since the last minute.
RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 6 NT Incorrect number of arguments
• 8 NT Writing into a literal
EXAMPLES

Assuming that the current time is 2:45:57 P.M., CURTIM will contain 144557 in the following
example:

RECORD
CURTIM, D6

Current time

XCALL TIME (CURTIM)
STOP

Get current time

PROC

Universal External Subroutines

5-27

TNMBR
5.17 TNMBR
FUNCTION

TNMBR returns the number of the terminal to which the program is attached.

FORMAT

XCALL TNMBR (terminal)
where:
terminal

is a decimal field which is to contain the terminal number.

RULES

• The terminal number is moved to terminal according to the rules for moving decimal data (see
section 3.2.2) .
• If the program is running detached, TNMBR returns -1.

RUN· TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 6 NT Incorrect number of arguments
• 8 NT Writing into a literal

EXAMPLES

The following program calls TNMBR to determine if it is running detached. If it is not detached, the
program displays the terminal number.

RECORD MSG

TT,

A9, 'Terminal'
D3

PROC
XCALL TNMBR (TT)
IF TT.GE.O
BEGIN
OPEN (l,O,'TT:')
WRITES (l,MSG)
CLOSE 1
END
STOP

5-28

Universal External Subroutines

;
;
;
;
;

Get terminal number
Is program detached?
No-Open terminal
Display terminal #
Close terminal

TTSTS
5.18 TTSTS
FUNCTION

nSTS returns an indication of waiting terminal input.

FORMAT

XCALL nSTS (dfield[,ch])
where:
dfield

is a decimal field which is to contain the number of characters waiting to be input.

is a decimal field or decimal literal that evaluates to a channel number as specified in a
previous OPEN statement.

RULES

• nSTS indicates the status by returning one of the following in dfield:
zero (0) if no characters are waiting
non-zero if one or more characters are waiting.
• The status is moved to dfield according to the rules for moving decimal data (see section 3.2.2).
• If there is at least one character in the buffer, execution of an ACCEPT will not cause an 1/0 wait.
• If there is nothing in the buffer and an ACCEPT is done, the program will wait for keyboard input.

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

•

6 NT Incorrect number of arguments

•

8 NT Writing into a literal

• 21

T Bad OPEN

Universal External Subroutines

5-29

EXAMPLES
The following example continuously displays a counter at the terminal. However, the program is
designed to stop if a carriage return is entered.

RECORD

NUMBER

CTR,

AlS, 'Loop counter =
D5

ARG,
CHAR,

Dl
D3

RECORD
PROC
OPEN ( 1 , I , I TT: I )
DO
BEGIN
INCR CTR
WRITES (l,NUMBER)
XCALL TTSTS (ARG,l)
IF ARG
ACCEPT (l,CHAR)
END
UNTIL CHAR.EQ.13
CLOSE 1
STOP

5-30

Universal External Subroutines

; Open terminal
; Increment loop counter
; Display loop counter
; See if a key was typed
; Was a character entered?
; Yes--Get the character
; Carriage return?
; Close terminal

UNPAK
5.19 UNPAK
FUNCTION

UNPAK converts packed decimal fields to zoned decimal.

FORMAT

XCALL UNPAK (record,dfield(, ... ])
where:
record

is an alpha field or record that contains the packed data. This also identifies the
destination of the unpacked result.

dfield

is one or more decimal fields to receive the unpacked data.

RULES

• The packed record base address is used as the reference pOint and the unpacked record
overlays the packed record.
• Fields to be unpacked must be listed in ascending order by position within the record.
• If all the fields are unpacked, the fields between the packed fields are shifted back to their
original positions.

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• BAD DIGIT
• ARGUMENTS OUT OF ORDER
• ARGUMENT OUT OF RECORD LIMIT
• ARGUMENT COUNT
• FIELD NOT PACKED

Universal External Subroutines

5-31

EXAMPLES
In the following example the employee record (EMPREC), which contains packed data, is read from
a file and is unpacked using the UNPAK subroutine. The READS statement specifies the substring
of EMPREC which contains the packed record. This size was returned by the PAK subroutine when
the record was written.

RECORD
RECORD

SIZE,
EMPREC
NAME,
BGN,
SAL,
TITLE,
DEP,

D3
A20
D6
DIO
AIO
D2

; Si ze of packed field
; Employee record
; Employee name
; Beginning date
; Current salary
; Current title
; Number of dependents

PROC

XCALL PAK (EMPREC,SIZE,BGN,SAL,DEP) ; Pack employee record
WRITES (l,EMPREC(l,SIZE»
Output packed record

READS (l,EMPREC(l,SIZE»
XCALL UNPAK (EMPREC,BGN,SAL,DEP)

5-32

Universal External Subroutines

Read packed record
; Unpack record

VERSN
5.20 VERSN
FUNCTION
VERSN returns the DIBOL version number.

FORMAT·
XCALL VERSN (afield)
where:

afield

is an alpha field or record which is to contain the version number.

RULES
• The version number is returned in the following format:
vvvvvvvsssstmm.nnpp
where:
vvvvvvv

is the operating system.

ssss

is the operating system subsystem.
is the release status of the product.

v = Released Version
Y = Field Test Version
X = Internal Version
mm

is the major version number.

is the minor version number.

is the patch level.

Table 5-2 contains the returned character string for each system.
• The version number is moved to afield according to the rules for moving alpha data (see section
3.2.1).

Universal External Subroutines

5-33

Table 5-2 VERSN Returned Formats

Operating Sub-System

Returned Format

CTS-300 Single User OIBOL

RT11

SU~ VOS.OOOO

CTS-300 Timeshare OIBOL

RT11

TSO VOS.OOOO

CTS-300 Extended Memory Timeshare

RT11

XMT VOS.OOOO

RSTS/E OMS

RSTS/E OMS VOS.OO

RSTS/E RMS

RSTS/E RMS VOS.OO

VAXIVMS OIBOL

VAX/VMS V02.00

Professional OIBOL

Pro-OIBOL V01.00

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS

• 6 NT Incorrect number of arguments
• S NT Writing into a literal

EXAMPLES

The following program displays the OIBOL version number:
RECORD

REPLY
OPSYS,
SUB,
VERSN,

A7
A4

Operating system
Subsystem
tmm.nnpp

PROC
OPEN (l,O,'TT:')
Open terminal
XCALL VERSN (REPLY)
Get version number
WRITES (l,REPLY)
; Display response
DISPLAY (1, 'Operating system is ',OPSYS,13,lO)
DISPLAY (1, 'Subsystem is ',SUB,13,lO)
DISPLAY (l,'DIBOL version is ',VERSN,13,lO)
CLOSE 1
; Close terminal
STOP

5-34

Universal External Subroutines

WAIT
5.21 WAIT
FUNCTION
WAIT suspends program execution pending the occurrence of an event.

FORMAT
XCALL WAIT ([seconds I,parameters[,event])
where:
seconds

is a decimal field or decimal literal that specifies the number of seconds to suspend
program execution.

parameters
is a decimal field or decimal literal which specifies the events to wait for.
event

is a decimal field which is to contain the digit corresponding to the event that occurred.

RULES
• The digits in parameters are right-justified.
• Each digit corresponds to a specific event; a non·zero digit enables the event.
• If more than one event is specified, the first event to occur will cause the program to resume

execution.
• The digits are numbered from right to left.
• The event number that occurred is moved to event according to the rules for moving decimal data
(see section 3.2.2).
• The seconds argument is required only when digit 1 in parameters is used.

Mess.{e /
Terminator

~nput

\
Time

Figure 5-3 WAIT Option Fields

Universal External Subroutines

5-35

Table 5-3
WAIT Argument Assignments
Digit Position

Meaning When Digit is Non-zero

Wait for a message.

Wait for a terminator (CR, LF,FF, VT, ESC) to be typed at any of the
keyboards opened by the program.

Wait for terminal input at anyone of the keyboards opened by the
program.

Wait for specified time to expire.

RUN-TIME ERROR CONDITIONS
•

87 T Argument missing

• 118 T Unable to open message manager mailbox

EXAMPLES
The following example waits for a message to be sent to the program. If a message hasn't been
received within 30 seconds, the program stops.

RECORD
MSG,
AS12
SIZE,
D3
REASON, D1
PROC
AGN,

5-36

; Message
Message size
; WAIT expiration reason

XCALL WAIT (30,1001,REASON) ; Wait for message
IF REASON.NE.4
; Is there a message?
STOP
No-RECV (MSG,AGN,SIZE)
Yes--Get the message
•

Universal External Subroutines

APPENDIX A
DIBOL-83 CHARACTER SET
Table A-1 shows the 128-character ASCII character set and the corresponding decimal codes used by
DIBOL-83 for data and program statements. The order of the character set, as shown, establishes the
collating sequence.
All characters may be used for data input from the terminal and output to the terminal and printer.
DIBOL-83 stores both alpha and decimal data in character code form. To distinguish between positive
and negative numbers, the negative numbers are stored with a character in the place of the least
significant digit. The characters p through yare used to represent the least significant digit (0-9) in a
negative number. Thus, the negative value -1234 (or 1234-) is stored internally as 123t. This means that
any program that neglects to perform decimal-to-alpha conversion before output to a device may
produce numeric values that contain an alphabetic character as the least significant digit.

A-1

Table A-1
DISOL-S3 Character Set
DEC

!-EX

OCT

ASC

DEC

!-EX

OCT

000
001
002
003
004
005
006
007
008
009
010
011
012
013
014
015
016
017
018
019
020
021
022
023
024
025
026
027
028
029
030
031

00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09

000
001
002
003
004
005
006
007
010
011
012
013
014
015
016
017
020
021
022
023
024
025
026
027
030
031
032
033
034
035
036
037

NUL

032
033
034
035
036
037
038
039
040
041
042
043
044
045
046
047
048
049
050
051
052
053
054
055
056
057
058
059
060
061
062
063

20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29

040
041
042
043
044
045
046
047
050
051
052
053
054
055
056
057
060
061
062
063
064
065
066
067
070
071
072
073
074
075
076
077

A-2

OA
06

OC
00

OE
OF
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
1A
16
1C
10
1E
1F

AG(6EL)
AH(6S)
AI(HT)
AJ(LF)
AK(VT)
AL(FF)
AM(CR)

<ESC>

26
2C
20
2E

2F
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
3A

36
3C
3D
3E

ASC

DEC

<SPACE> 064
065
066
#
067
$
068
%
069
&
070
071
072
073
074
+
075
076
077
078
079
o
080
1
081
2
082
3
083
4
084
5
085
6
086
7
087
8
088
9
089
090
091
092
093
094
095

<
>

!-EX

OCT

40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49

100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137

46
4C
40
4E
4F

50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59

5A
56
5C

50
5E
5F

ASC

DEC

!-EX

OCT

096
097
098
099
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127

60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
6A
66
6C
60
6E
6F
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79

140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177

6
C

o
E
F
G
H

J
K
L
M
N

o
P
Q

R
S
T
U

V
W

x
y

z
(

76
7C
70
7E
7F

ASC
a
b

c
d

e
f
9
h
j

m
o
p
q

-0
-1

-3

-4
-5
-6

-2
u
v

DEL

-7
-8
-9

GLOSSARY

alpha

A character set that contains letters, digits, and other characters, such as punctuation
marks.
alphabetic
A character set that contains only letters.
array

A OIBOL technique for specifying more than one field of the same length and type. The
array 503 reserves space for five numeric fields, each to be three digits long. The array
2A10 describes two alpha fields, each to be ten characters long.
ASCII

American Standard Code for Information Interchange. This is one method of coding
alpha characters.
binary operator
An operator, such as * or /, which acts upon two or more constants or variables (e.g.,
B*C).
branch

A change in the sequence of execution of 01BOL-83 program statements.
byte

A group of eight bits considered as a unit.
channel

A number used to associate an input/output statement with a specified device.
character

A letter, digit, or other symbol used to control or to represent data. One character is
equivalent to one byte.
character string
A connected linear sequence of characters.
clear

Setting an alpha field to spaces or a numeric field to zeros.
comments
Notes for people to read. They do not affect program execution or size.
data

A representation of information in a manner suitable for communication, interpretation,
or processing by either people or machines. In 01BOL-83 systems, data is represented
by characters.

G/ossary-1

DEC
Acronym for Digital Equipment Corporation.
decimal
Refers to a base ten number.
DIBOL-83
Digital's Interactive Business Oriented Language is used to write business application
programs. It is based on the 1983 Standard.
direct access
The process of obtaining data from, or placing data into, a storage device where the
availability of the data requested is independent of the location of the data most recently
obtained or placed in storage.
dump
To copy the contents of all or part of storage, usually from memory to external storage.
end-of-file mark
A control character which marks the physical end of a file.
expressions
Variables, constants, or arithmetic expressions made up of variables, constants, and the
operators #, +, -, *, and I.
fatal error
An error which terminates program execution.
field
A specified area in a data record used for alpha or numeric data; cannot exceed the
specified character length.
file
A collection of records, treated as a logical unit.
file specification (filespec)
The general file name.
flowchart
A pictorial technique for analysis and solution of data flow and data processing
problems. Symbols represent operations, and connecting flowlines show the direction of
data flow.
Illegal character
A character that is not valid according to the DIBOL-83 design rules.
indexed files
Indexed files are Indexed Sequential Access Method files.
input
Data flowing into the computer.

2-G/ossary

Input/output
Either input or output, or both. 1/0.
Jump
A departure from the normal sequence of executing instructions in a computer.

justify
The process of positioning data in a field whose size is larger than the data. In alpha
fields, the data is left-justified and any remaining positions are space-filled; in numeric
fields, the digits are right-justified and any remaining positions to the left are zero-filled.

key
One or more fields within a record used to match or sort a file. If a file is to be arranged by
customer name, then the field that contains the customers' names is the key field. In a
sort operation, the key fields of two records are compared and the records are
resequenced when necessary.

keyword
A part of a command operand that consists of a specific character string.

location
Any place where data may be stored.

loop
A sequence of instructions that is executed repeatedly until a terminal condition prevails.
A commonly used programming technique in processing data records.

machine-level programming
Programming using a sequence of binary instructions in a form executable by the
computer.
mass storage device
A device having large storage capacity.
master file
A data file that is either relatively permanent or that is treated as an authority in a
particular job.
memory
The computer's primary internal storage.

merge
To combine records from two or more similarly ordered strings into another string that is
arranged in the same order. The latter phases of a sort operation.

mnemonic
Brief identifiers which are easy to remember. Example: ch.
mode
A designation used in OPEN statements to indicate the purpose for which a file was
opened or to indicate the input/output device being used.

Glossary-3

modulo

A condition where the specified number exceeds the maximum condition in a variable.
The maximum allowable number is then subtracted from the specified number, and the
remainder is used by the processor. In modulo 16, if 17 were specified (maximum is 15),
16 would be subtracted from 17 and the processor would use 1 as the value.
nest

To embed subroutines, loops, or data in other subroutines or programs.
object program
A file which is output by the compiler or assembler.
output

Data flowing out of the computer.
parameter
A variable that is given a constant value for a specific purpose or process.
primary key
See key.
pushdown stack
A list of items where the last item entered becomes the first item in the list and where the
relative position of the other items is pushed back one.
random access
Same as to direct access.
RECORD

A statement that reserves memory.
record redefinition
The technique of specifying several different record formats for the same data. Special
rules apply.
screen column number
The number which indicates the order of the vertical lines on thescreen.
screen line number
The number which indicates the order of the horizontal lines on the screen.
sequential operation
Operations performed, one after the other.
serial access
The process of getting data from, or putting data into, storage, where the access time is
dependent upon the location of the data most recently obtained or placed in storage.
sign

Indicates whether a number is negative or positive.
significant digit
A digit that is needed or recognized for a specified purpose.
4-G/ossary

source program
A program written in the DIBOL-83 language.
statement

An instruction in a source program.
string

A connected linear sequence of characters.
subscript

A designation which clarifies the particular parts (characters, values, records) within a
larger grouping or array.
syntax

The rules governing the structure of a language.
system configuration
The combination of hardware and software that make up a usable computer system.
trappable error
An error condition which may be trapped.
unary operator
An operator, such as + or -, which acts upon only one variable or constant (e.g.,
A=-C).
variable

A quantity that can assume anyone of a set of values.
variable-length record
A file in which the data records are not uniform in length. Direct access to such records is
not possible.
verify

To determine if a transcription of data has been accomplished accurately.
zero fill

To fill the remaining character positions in a numeric field with zeros.
zoned decimal
A contiguous sequence of up to 18 bytes interpreted as a string of decimal digits (1 digit
per byte). The sign is stored as a bit in the low order byte.

G/ossary-5

INDEX
A
ACCEPT statement, 1-4, 3-14
accepting into an alpha field, 3-12
accepting into a decimal field, 3-12
Addition (+) operator, 1-15,1-16,1-17
Afield (symbol), viii
Aliteral (symbol), viii
ALLOC (OPEN), 3-45
Alpha data,
moving, 3-2
Alpha fields, 2-7, 3-11
Alpha literals, 1-11
Alpha relational comparison, 3-35
Alpha-to-Decimal conversion, 3-5
Argument definitions, 2-13
Arguments, 1-1
Array, 1-9,2-10
Array definitions, 2-10
Array field count, 2-11
Array subscripting, 1-9
Asterisk (*) format control character, 3-9
ASCII external subroutine, 5-2
Audience, vii

B
BEGIN-END block, 1-2,3-4
Binary operators, 1-15, 1-16, 1-17
BKTSIZ (OPEN), 3-45
BLKSIZ (OPEN), 3-45
Boolean operator, 1-16, 1-18
Brackets ([]) symbol, ix
BUFSIZ (OPEN), 3-46

c
CALL statement, 1-3, 3-16
Ch, viii
Character set, 1-1, A-1, A-2
CLEAR statement, 1-3, 3-17
Clearing variables, 3-11
CLOSE statement, 1-4, 3-18
Comma (,),
format control character, 3-9
Comments,
rules for, 1-6
COMMON areas, 2-4, 2-5

COMMON statement, 1-3,2-4
in a main program, 2-4
in a subroutine, 2-4
name, rules for, 2-5
Compiler declarations, 1-2
Compiler directives, 1-2, 4-1
Computed GOTO, 3-33
Continuation of line, 1-6
Control statements, 1-3
Conversion of data,
alpha-to-decimal, 3-5
decimal-to-alpha, 3-6
lower- to uppercase (UPCASE), 3-68
upper- to lowercase (LOCASE), 3-39
D
Data,
clearing, 3-11
field name, 2-7
formatting, 3-8
moving, 3-2, 3-3
overflow, 3-4, 3-5, 3-6, 3-8
sharing, 2-4
Data Division, 1-5, 2-1
Data field size, 2-2, 2-4
Data manipulation statements, 1-3
Data specification statements, 1-3
DATE external subroutine, 5-3
Decimal data, moving, 3-3
Decimal expressions, 1-15
Decimal literals, 1-11
Decimal operands, 1-17
Decimal point (.),
format control character, 3-9
Decimal-to-alpha conversion, 3-6
DECML external subroutine, 5-5
DELET external subroutine, 5-6
DELETE statement, 1-4, 3-20
Delimiters,
rules for, 1-6
Destination, 3-2
DETACH statement, 1-3, 3-22
Dexp (symbol), viii
Dfield (symbol), viii
DIBOL-83 program (definition), 1-1
DISPLAY statement, 1-4, 3-24
Division (I) operator, 1-15
Dliteral (symbol), viii

Index-1

INDEX (Cont.)
Document symbols, viii
Dollar sign ($),
Format control character, 3-9
DO-UNTIL statement, 1-3,3-26
E
Elements, 1-1
Elipsis (...) symbol, ix
Equal sign (=), 1-15
ERROR external subroutine, 5-7
Expressions, 1-15
Expression evaluation, 1-15
External subroutine, 2-12, 3-81
External subroutine description, 5-1
ASCII,5-2
DATE,5-3
DECML,5-5
DELET,5-6
ERROR, 5-7
FATAL,5-8
FLAGS, 5-10
INSTR,5-13
JBNO, 5-15
MONEY, 5-16
PAK,5-17
RENAM,5-19
RSTAT,5-22
RUNJB,5-24
SIZE,5-25
TIME,5-27
TNMBR,5-28
TTSTS, 5-29
UNPAK,5-31
VERSN,5-33
WAIT,5-35

F
FATAL external subroutine, 5-8
Field, setting the initial value of, 2-11
Field (symbol), viii
Field definitions, 1-3, 2-7
Field name, 2-7
rules for, 2-7
in an array, 2-10
FLAGS external subroutine, 5-10
option fields, 5-11
argument assignments, 5-11

2-lndex

FOR statement, 1-3, 3-28
Format control characters, 3-9
Formatstring, 3-8
Formatting data, 3-8
Forming expressions, rules for, 1-15
FORMS statement, 1-4, 3~31
G
GOTO statement, 1-3, 3-32
unconditional, 3-32
computed, 3-33

I (Input mode), 3-44
IF statement, 1-3, 3-34
IF-THEN-ELSE statement, 1-4, 3-36
.IFDEF-.ENDC, 1-2, 4-2
.IFNDEF-.ENDC, 1-2,4-3
.INCLUDE directive, 1-2, 4-4
INCR statement, 1-3, 3-38
Initial values, 2-8
rules for, 2-8, 2-11
INPUT/OUTPUT statements, 1-4
INSTR external subroutine, 5-13
Intertask communications statements, 1-4

J
JBNO external subroutine, 5-15

L
Label (symbol), viii
Labels, statement, 1-8
Leading signs, 2-8
Line continuation, 1-6
rules for, 1-6
.L1ST directive, 1-2,4-6
Literals, viii, 1-11
LOCASE statement, 1-3, 3-39
Lowercase characters, ix
LPQUE statement, 1-4,3-40
M
Manual format, viii
Minus sign (-),
format control character, 3-9

INDEX (Cont.)
Mode (OPEN), 3-45
MONEY external subroutine, 5-16
Moving data,
alpha, 3-2
decimal, 3-3
Multiplication (*) operator, 1-15, 1-17

Q
Quotes,
double, 1-11
single, 1-11

R
N
Negative numbers, A-1
Negative values, 1-15, 1-16
Nested subexpressions, 1-15
.NOLIST directive, 1-2, 4-8
Non-trappable error, ix
Number sign (#),
binary operator (rounding), 1-16

o
. 0 (Output) mode, 3-45
OFFERROR statement, 1-4, 3-42
ONERROR statement, 1-4,3-43
OPEN statement, 1-4, 3-44
mode, rules for, 3-45
submode, rules for, 3-45
ALLOC, rules for, 3-45
BKTSIZ, rules for, 3-45
BLKSIZ, rules for, 3-45
BUFSIZ, rules for, 3-46
RECSIZ, rules for, 3-46
Operands, 1-15
Operator precedence, 1-17
Operators, 1-15
binary, 1-15
relational, 1-16
unary, 1-15, 1-16, 1-17
Output (0 mode), 3-45
Overflow data, 3-4, 3-5, 3-6, 3-8

p
.PAGE directive, 1-2, 4-9
PAK external subroutine, 5-17
Parentheses, 1-15
Preface, viii
Procedure Division, 1-5, 3-1
Procedure Division statements, 3-1
PROC-END block, 1-2, 3-49
Program structure, 1-5

READ (indexed file), 1-4, 3-53
READ (relative file), 1-4, 3-51
Record, ix
RECORD statement, 1-3, 2-2
record name, rules for, 2-2
RECSIZE (OPEN), 3-46
RECV statement, 1-4, 3-57
Redefinition indicator, 2-2
Relational operators, rules for, 1-16
RENAM external subroutine, 5-19
RETURN statement, 1-4, 3-59
Rounding (#), (number sign,
binary operator), 1-16
RSTAT external subroutine, 5-22
RUNJB external subroutine, 5-24

s
Semicolon (;) usage, 1-6
SEND statement, 1-4, 3-60
Setting initial field values, 2-11
SIZE external subroutine, 5-25
SLEEP statement, 1-4, 3-62
Statement, continuing a, 1-6
Statement labels, 1-8
Statement line syntax, 1-5
Statement types, 1-1
compiler directive and declaration, 1-2
control, 1-3
data manipulation, 1-3
cata specification, 1-3
input/output, 1-4
intertask communications, 1-4
Statements, program,
ACCEPT, 1-4, 3-14
BEGIN-END, 1-2,3-4
CALL, 1-3, 3-16
CLEAR, 1-3, 3-17
CLOSE, 1-4, 3-18
COMMON, 1-3, 2-4
DELETE, 1-4, 3-20

Index-3

INDEX (Cont.)
DETACH, 1-3,3-22
DISPLAY, 1-4, 3-24
DO-UNTIL, 1-3,3-26
FOR, 1-3, 3-28
FORMS, 1-4,3-31
GOTO, 1-3,3-32
IF, 1-3, 3-34
IF-THEN-ELSE, 1-4, 3-36
INCR, 1-3,3-38
LOCASE, 1-3, 3-39
LPQUE, 1-4,3-40
OFFERROR, 1-4, 3-42
OPEN, 1-4,3-44
PROC-END, 1-2,3-49
RECORD, 1-3, 2-2
RECV, 1-4, 3-57
RETURN, 1-4,3-59
SEND, 1-4,3-60
SLEEP, 1-4, 3-62
STOP, 1-4,3-63
STORE, 1-4, 3-64
SUBROUTINE, 1-2, 2-12
UNLOCK, 1-4, 3-66
UPCASE, 1-3,3-68
USING, 1-4,3-70
WHILE, 1-4,3-74
WRITE, 1-4, 3-76, 3-78
WRITES, 1-4,3-79
XCALL, 1-4, 3-81
.IFDEF-.ENDC, 1-2, 4-2
.IFNDEF-.ENDC, 1-2,4-3
.INCLUDE, 1-2, 4-4
.L1ST, 1-2,4-6
. NOLlST, 1-2, 4-8
.PAGE, 1-2, 4-9
.TITLE
STOP statement, 1-4,3-63
STORE statement, 1-4, 3-64
Submode (OPEN), 3-45
Subroutine, ix
SUBROUTINE statement, 1-2, 2-12
argument definition, 2-13
subroutine name, rules for, 2-12, 3-82
Subscript, 1-9
Substrings, 1-13
Subtraction (-) operator, 1-17
Symbols used in manual, viii

4-lndex

T
TIME external subroutine, 5-27
.TITLE directive, 1-2, 4-11
TNMBR external subroutine, 5-28
Trappable error, ix
nSTS external subroutine, 5-29

U
U (Update) mode, 3-45
Unary operators, 1-15, 1-16, 1-17
minus (-), 1-16
plus (+), 1-17
Unconditional GOTO, 3-32
UNLOCK statement, 1-4, 3-66
UNPAK external subroutine, 5-31
UPCASE statement, 1-3, 3-68
Uppercase characters, ix
USING statements, 1-4, 3-70

V
Value assignment statement, 1-3, 3-2
alpha-to-decimal conversion, 3-5
clearing variables, 3-11
decimal-to-alpha conversion, 3-6
format control characters, 3-9
moving alpha data, 3-2
moving decimal data, 3-3
VERSN external subroutine, 5-33
returned formats, 5-34
Vertical elipsis, ix

w
WAIT external subroutine, 5-35
option fields, 5-35
argument aSSignments, 5-36
WHILE statement, 1-4, 3-74
WRITE (indexed file), 1-4, 3-78
WRITE (relative file), 1-4,3-76
WRITES, 1-4,3-79

X
X (format control character), 3-9
XCALL sttement, 1-4, 3-81
Z
Z (format control character), 3-9

DIBOL-83 Language Reference Manual
Order No. AA-U066A-TK
Includes Update Notice No. AD-U066A-T1

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