Preparing and Compiling a Program Example

The following example illustrates how to set up a COBOL program to use Database Connectors.

Note: If you are not familiar with XFD directives, you may want to read the chapter Using XFD Directives before continuing with this section.

The purchase orders file from a COBOL program at an imaginary company will be stored in the database. This file contains the records that handle all of the information from the company's purchase orders.

Within the purchase orders file are two record types:

The purchase order header record (there is one of these for each purchase order form)
The purchase order detail record (there is one detail record for each line item in a purchase order)

The file is keyed off the purchase order number. We will build and examine the database table three times, to illustrate three different approaches to using the COBOL file descriptor:

First, only the largest record will be included in the database table
Second, the WHEN XFD directive will be added, and the program recompiled; this will cause all record formats to be included in the database
Finally, several fields will be grouped together and renamed as a matter of convenience

Here's the sample code:

IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
program-id.  purchase.
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION.
input-output section.
file-control.
 
select p-o-file
assign to disk "purch1"
organization is indexed 
access mode is dynamic
record key is p-o-number
file status is p-o-status.
 
DATA DIVISION.
file section.
fd p-o-file.
01 p-o-record.
   03 p-o-division-number                pic 9(3).
   03 p-o-record-type                    pic x.
      88 header-record                   value "h".
      88 detail-record                   value "d".
   03 p-o-number                         pic 9(10).
   03 p-o-number-detail redefines 
         p-o-number.
      05 picking-ticket-number           pic 9(6).
      05 shipping-region                 pic 9(2).
      05 p-o-customer-type               pic 9(2).
      05 p-o-customer-breakdown redefines 
            p-o-customer-type.
         07 customer-category            pic x.
         88 p-o-customer-retail          value "r".
         88 p-o-customer-whlsale         value "w".
         07 customer-pay-format          pic x.
            88 is-net-30                 value "3".
            88 is-net-10                 value "1". 
   03 p-o-date.
      05 p-o-yy                          pic 9(2).
      05 p-o-mm                          pic 9(2).
      05 p-o-dd                          pic 9(2).
 
01 p-o-detail-record.
   03 p-o-dept-number                    pic 9(3).
   03 p-o-record-type                    pic x.
   03 detail-p-o-number                  pic 9(10).
   03 p-o-shipping-info.
      05 p-o-quantity-to-ship            pic s9(4) comp.
      05 p-o-total-quantity              pic s9(4) comp.
   03 p-o-notes.
      05 notes-line occurs 3 times       pic x(40).
working-storage section.
01 p-o-status                            pic x(2).
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
level-1 section.
main-logic.
 
open output p-o-file.
close p-o-file.
stop run.