Hour 3Different Data Types
Before you can write meaningful programs, you must be able to manipulate data. In this hour, you learn about many different types of data and how to declare them in a COBOL program. This hour covers the following topics:
• The Picture clause
• Level numbers in COBOL
• Numeric and alphanumeric fields
• Defining initial values for data items
• Editing fields for an attractive presentation
One of the strengths of COBOL is its explicit definition of various types of data. In COBOL (as well as other programming languages), data areas are referred to as fields. A field is a unique and specific piece of data, for example, an address or telephone number. In programming, when you define an area to contain this data, the area ...
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