Midterm Review

Question 1

COBOL

Answer 1

COmmon Business Oriented Language

Question 2

COBOL Platforms

Answer 2

IBM Mainframes, IBM AS/400, Unix Systems, PC Networks

Question 3

Types of COBOL Programming

Answer 3

Structured, Object-Oriented

Question 4

4 Divisions of a COBOL Program

Answer 4

Identification, Environment, Data, Procedure

Question 5

Identification Division

Answer 5

Identifies the program

Question 6

Environment Division

Answer 6

Includes input-output which identifies the input and output files used by the program

Question 7

Data Division

Answer 7

Includes the file section and working storage section

Question 8

Procedure Division

Answer 8

Contains program logic typically divided into procedures that contain the statements that do the functions of the program

Question 9

First 6 Columns of a COBOL Program

Answer 9

Compiler added sequence numbers

Question 10

What are LPARs?

Answer 10

The equivalent of a separate (independent) mainframe that can be shared. Each runs its own operating system.

Question 11

Batch Jobs

Answer 11

Are submitted on the computer and can last for hours

Question 12

What do distributed systems often lack for batch processing?

Answer 12

Sufficient storage, processor capacity, system resource management and job scheduling

Question 13

What is JCL?

Answer 13

Job Control Language. It tells the system what program to execute and provides a description of program inputs and outputs.

Question 14

What are the 3 basic JCL statements?

Answer 14

JOB, EXEC, DD

Question 15

JOB

Answer 15

Provides a name to the system for the batch workload. Can optionally include accounting information and job wide parameters

Question 16

EXEC

Answer 16

Provides the name of a program to execute. Can be multiple EXEC statements in a job. Each EXEC statement within the same job is a job step.

Question 17

DD

Answer 17

Data Definition provides inputs and outputs to the execution program on the EXEC statement. Links a data set or other I/O device or function to a DDNAME coded in the program. Are associated with a particular job step.

Question 18

COBOL Data Types

Answer 18

Are PIC clause dependent and come in several broad categories

Question 19

Character Data

Answer 19

Fixed length and stored as EBCDIC bytes

Question 20

Numeric Data

Answer 20

Display numeric PIC 9(5), PIC S9(5)V99
Stored as EBCDIC bytes with assumed decimal place. Contains hex values: F0-F9. If V in declaration, COBOL does decimal alignment in math/MOVE operations. If S in declaration, the last byte of storage holds the sign (C+, D-)

Question 21

COMP and COMP-3

Answer 21

The 3rd data type

Question 22

What is a Control Break?

Answer 22

A change of category used to trigger a subtotal

Question 23

What is the keyword FILLER used for?

Answer 23

Telling the compiler there is space that can’t be referenced as variable. Used when the data isn’t important to the logic of the program.

Question 24

What is the keyword SPACES used for?

Answer 24

To put blanks in the characters designated by the PIC x(..) clause

Question 25

PIC 9

Answer 25

Numeric data

Question 26

PIC X

Answer 26

Alphanumeric data

Question 27

PIC Z9

Answer 27

Formatted numeric data. Indicates to place leading spaces instead of zeroes to fill the PIC clause if the number isn’t large enough.

Question 28

COBOL lets you do math on numeric edited fields (T/F)

Answer 28

False. COBOL only lets you do math on numeric fields.

Question 29

What keyword lets you do rounding?

Answer 29

ROUNDED

Question 30

How do Control Breaks work?

Answer 30

Records must be in sequence by control field (ex. Branch #).
Read and writes continue until the control field changes which indicates the Control Break.

Question 31

What are 2 traditional ways programmers hammered out control break logic?

Answer 31

By drawing a flowchart or coding pseudocode

Question 32

How do you get current date from the OS?

Answer 32

ACCEPT <date-item-name> FROM DATE YYYYMMDD and move each part (month, day, year) separately to the desired field.</date-item-name>

Question 33

Mainframe programs use COPYBOOKs for master file layouts (T/F)

Answer 33

True

Question 34

What JCL changes need to be made in order to use a COPYBOOK?

Answer 34

PARM.COBOL=’TEST,XREF’ followed by a COBOL.SYSLIB DD pointing to the copy book PDS file

Question 35

What is the REDEFINES clause used for?

Answer 35

Used to map the same memory for different uses

Question 36

What is the OCCURS clause used for?

Answer 36

Used to define the number of table elements

Question 37

What does the keyword COMP do?

Answer 37

Short for COMPUTATIONAL; it means that the field will be a binary field, which is the most efficient way to process subscripts.

Question 38

How do you access a hardcoded table?

Answer 38

By setting up a subscript field defined as -SUB

Question 39

What entries must be coded in Area A?

Answer 39

Divisions, paragraphs, sections, and some special entries MUST begin in Area A

Question 40

What characters can be used for numeric-edited fields?

Answer 40

Periods, commas, dollar signs, Z, CR, DB, *, -, +, B, 0, /