ILE COBOL Language Skill

Overview

IBM ILE COBOL (Integrated Language Environment COBOL) is a programming language available on IBM i systems. It is based on the ANSI COBOL standard with IBM extensions. ILE COBOL provides structured programming capabilities, file handling, database access, interlanguage communication, and integration with the IBM i operating system.

This skill covers IBM ILE COBOL for IBM i 7.4 (also applicable to 7.5). Source: IBM ILE COBOL Language Reference and ILE COBOL Programmer's Guide.

Key Concepts

• COBOL Source Program: A syntactically correct set of COBOL statements organized into four divisions
• Nesting: COBOL programs may contain other COBOL programs (nested programs); contained programs can reference resources of their containing program
• Run Unit: A set of one or more programs functioning as a unit at run time; in ILE, composed of program objects and service programs in a single ILE activation group
• ILE Architecture: Module creation, binding, message handling, exception handling, and debugging across multiple languages
• Reference Format: 80-character source line with specific column areas (Sequence, Indicator, Area A, Area B, Comment)

Source Program Structure

A COBOL source program consists of four divisions, written in this order: