COBOL argument values
In COBOL, you can use any data name of the correct data type for any argument. For a data-value, you can also use a constant that can be converted to the correct type.
The ADDRESS special register can be used for both pointer-references and pointer-values, and the LENGTH special register can be used for length arguments that take a data-value. The table that follows indicates how to define the correct data type.
| Data type | COBOL definition |
|---|---|
| Halfword binary | PIC S9(4) COMP |
| Fullword binary (including CVDA) | PIC S9(8) COMP |
| Doubleword binary | PIC S9(18) COMP |
| Pointer | USAGE IS POINTER |
| Character string (n characters long) | PIC X(n) |
| UTF-8 character string (n bytes long) | PIC X(n) |
| Packed decimal (n decimal digits) | PIC S9(n) COMP-3 |