Q76)   What is the default value(s) for an INITIALIZE and what keyword allows for an override of the default.
A76)   INITIALIZE moves spaces to alphabetic fields and zeros to alphanumeric fields.  The REPLACING option can be used to override these defaults.
Q77)   What is SET TO TRUE all about, anyway?
A77)   In COBOL II the 88 levels can be set rather than moving their associated values to the related data item.  (Web note:  This change is not one of COBOL II’s better specifications.)
Q78)   What is LENGTH in COBOL II?
A78)   LENGTH …

Q41)   What is the maximum value that can be stored in S9(8) COMP?
Q41)   99999999
Q42)   What is COMP SYNC?
Q42)   Causes the item to be aligned on natural boundaries. Can be SYNCHRONIZED LEFT or RIGHT. For binary data items, the address resolution is faster if they are located at word boundaries in the memory.  For example, on main frame the memory word size is 4 bytes.  This means that each word will start from an address divisible by 4.  If my first variable is x(3) and next one is s9(4) comp, then …

Q1) Name the divisions in a COBOL program ?.
A1) IDENTIFICATION DIVISION, ENVIRONMENT DIVISION, DATA DIVISION, PROCEDURE DIVISION.
Q2) What are the different data types available in COBOL?
A2) Alpha-numeric (X), alphabetic (A) and numeric (9).
Q3) What does the INITIALIZE verb do?  – GS
A3) Alphabetic, Alphanumeric fields & alphanumeric edited items are set to SPACES. Numeric, Numeric edited items set to ZERO. FILLER , OCCURS DEPENDING ON items left untouched.
Q4) What is 77 level used for ?
A4) Elementary level item. Cannot be subdivisions of other items (cannot be qualified), nor can they …

Use the SORTWK01, SORTWK02,….. dd names in the step. Number of sort datasets depends on the volume of data being sorted, but a minimum of 3 is required.
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Syntax: SORT file-1 ON ASCENDING/DESCENDING KEY key…. USING file-2 GIVING file-3.
USING can be substituted by INPUT PROCEDURE IS para-1 THRU para-2
GIVING can be substituted by OUTPUT PROCEDURE IS para-1 THRU para-2.
file-1 is the sort (work) file and must be described using SD entry in FILE SECTION.
file-2 is the input file for the SORT and must be described using an FD entry in FILE SECTION and SELECT clause in FILE CONTROL.
file-3 is the out file from the SORT and must be described using an FD entry in FILE SECTION and SELECT …

Must use compiler option SSRANGE if you want array bounds checking. Default is NOSSRANGE
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Search on a sorted array. Compare the item to be searched with the item at the center. If it matches, fine else repeat the process with the left half or the right half depending on where the item lies.
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It can be either ASCENDING or DESCENDING. ASCENDING is default. If you want the search to be done on an array sorted in descending order, then while defining the array, you should give DESCENDING KEY clause. (You must load the table in the specified order).
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SEARCH – is a serial search.
SEARCH ALL – is a binary search & the table must be sorted ( ASCENDING/DESCENDING KEY clause to be used & data loaded in this order) before using SEARCH ALL.
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Subscript refers to the array occurrence while index is the displacement (in no of bytes) from the beginning of the array. An index can only be modified using PERFORM, SEARCH & SET. Need to have index for a table in order to use SEARCH, SEARCH ALL.
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