About this Course

This course is designed to provide students a solid foundation in developing a batch COBOL programs. The course starts with a simple read and print program and expands on the programming techniques necessary to develop robust applications.

Audience Profile

Familiarity with another programming language

At Course Completion

Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:

• Develop batch programs
• Code working storage entries using standard picture clauses, 88 levels and redefine clauses
• Code Procedure Division logic including Moves, IF, Perform
• Code Procedure and Data Division entries to handle sequential files
• Code and manipulate COBOL data stored in Occurs clauses

Prerequisites

Ability to use a Mainframe text editor such as ISPF or Roscoe

Course Outline

1. Basic Batch Program

• COBOL Divisions
• Open and close files
• File Select and FD entries
• Read Files and Write Records
• Paragraphs, Perform and Perform Until Logic
• Input Record Layouts and associated Picture clauses
• Print Record Layouts and associated Picture clauses
• Use of level numbers
• Simple Move statements

2. Enhancements to the Batch Program

• If statements
• Generating Page Headers and Page numbers
• Math operations
• Accumulating totals at the end of the report
• Packed and Binary fields
• Use of Redefines
• Use of 88 levels
• Cause and Resolution of S0C7 and S0CB abends

3. Using Additional COBOL features

• Reference Modification
• Initialize
• In Line Perform statements
• Evaluate
• Length Of

4. Table Handling

• Occurs Clause Usage
• Loading Single Dimension Table from a sequential file
• Using Single Dimension tables for Lookup Operations
• Perform Varying, Search and Search All
• Cause and Resolution of abends due to Table Handling Errors

5. Cobol Internal Sort features ( if time)

6. Using and Coding subroutines (if time)