There are three versions of Cobol available: "old cobol" (COBOL), 1968 standard Cobol (COBOL68), and 1974 standard Cobol (COBOL74).
All versions are available in batch, but only COBOL74 programs can be compiled and run in TSS.
For details on how to use any one of these versions in batch, please see the appropriate user's guide.
This is the first version of the language developed by Honeywell. The activity definer for COBOL in batch is
$ COBOL
The COBOL compiler requires a minimum of 32k words to execute. Its native character set is BCD.
The COBOL compiler is invoked implicitly if you are compiling IDS/I database access programs. Normally you should use COBOL74, since this is the easiest to use from TSS.
The manuals for COBOL are as follows:
Cobol Reference Manual - order number DD25. Cobol User's Guide - order number DD26.
This is the version of the language which conforms to the 1968 ANSI standard. It has also passed all the tests imposed by the U.S. Navy. COBOL68 is invoked in batch with the activity definer
$ COBOL CBL68
It requires a default of 32K works to compile, and its native character set is BCD.
For information about features of terminal handling and the use of COBOL68 programs under TSS, see "expl cobol tss".
The manuals for COBOL68 are as follows:
Standard Cobol-68 Reference Manual - DE17 Standard Cobol-68 User's Guide - DE18
This version of the language conforms to the 1974 ANSI standard for Cobol. It is invoked in batch with the activity definer
$ CBL74
COBOL74 requires a default of 62K to compile and uses the ASCII character set; this allows you to process data which has both upper and lower case alphabetic characters.
COBOL74 has language facilities for accessing IDS/II database files.
To compile COBOL74 programs from TSS, use the COBOL command (see "expl cobol command").
The three user manuals for COBOL74 are
COBOL-74 Reference Manual - DE01 COBOL-74 User's Guide - DE02 COBOL-74 Pocket Guide - DE03
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