INTRODUCTION TO COBOL CONCEPTS

• What is COBOL Programming
• How Does it Fit in the Environment
• Basic Terms and Language Structure
• Programming Fundamentals

COBOL: THE GROUND RULES

• LanguagXeas and Predefined Columns
• Identification Division
• Environment Division
• Data Division
• Procedure Division
• COBOL Organization
• JCL Rules

CREATING THE FIRST WORKING PROGRAM

• Compiling the First COBOL Program
• Simple Input/Output
• Defining Records
• Moving Data
• Debugging

PARAGRAPHS AND STRUCTURED PROGRAMS

• Organizing Subroutines
• The PERFORM Statement
• The PERFORM UNTIL Statement
• Repetitive Processing
• Paragraphs vs. Sections
• COBOL 6 Concepts

DEFINING AND MOVING DATA

• Working-Storage Concepts
• Level Numbers
• Groups and Elementary Items
• USAGE Clause
• PICTURE Clause
• Alphanumeric Data
• Numeric Data
• The MOVE Statement

SEQUENTIAL FILE OPERATIONS

• The INPUT-OUTPUT Section
• The FILE Section
• The OPEN and CLOSE Statements
• The READ Statement
• The WRITE Statement
• COBOL Intrinsic Functions
• Programming Sequential Files

COBOL ARITHMETIC

• Overview of Concepts
• COMPUTATIONAL Usage
• Arithmetic Operations
• The COMPUTE Statement
• SIZE Errors and ROUNDING

EDITING NUMERIC DATA

• Edited Data Format
• Implied Decimal Points
• Zero Suppression
• Floating Dollar Signs

COBOL LOGIC

• The IF Statement
• The ELSE Option
• Nested IF's
• The NOT Operator
• Compound IF's
• EVALUATE

TABLE PROCESSING

• Array Concepts
• Defining Tables
• The OCCURS Clause
• The PERFORM VARYING Statement
• Table Searching
• Index Concepts
• The SEARCH Statement

SUMMARY

• COBOL Future
• Structured Programming in COBOL
• COBOL 6 and the Future