One of the main facilities that COBOL has to offer as a programming language is its built-in file handling capabilities. Files of sequential, relative and indexed organization can be handled using simple COBOL syntax.
In addition, Micro Focus COBOL offers the following file handling features:
| File Handling Feature | Use to... |
|---|---|
| Line sequential file organization | Access ASCII text files from your COBOL program |
| A set of COBOL system library routines | Manipulate files and directories |
| A set of COBOL system library routines | Handle files at the byte level |
| Fileshare | Access groups of files on network servers |
| A conversion module | Read from and write to Btrieve files |