HP 3000 Manuals HP 3000 Manuals
HP COBOL II/iX Enhancements by Jan Merrill Systems Technology Division This version of the HP COBOL II/iX compiler introduces the built-in functions of the new, optional module to the ANSI COBOL'85 standard. The new module, called the Intrinsic Function module, is a significant enhancement in the development of standard COBOL. The Intrinsic Function module is defined by Addendum 1 of the ANSI COBOL'85 standard. The specifications of this addendum are published in the American National Standards Institute document X3.23A-1989. This compiler also conforms to the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) Publication 21-3. The built-in COBOL functions of the Intrinsic Function module provide the capability to reference a data item whose value is derived automatically at the time of reference during the execution of the program. Most of the other enhancements in this version of the compiler support the COBOL functions. For more information on these new enhancements, refer to the related article in the "Technical Articles" section in this ^fsCommunicator^s. CONFORMANCE TO ADDENDUM 1 OF ANSI COBOL'85 The Intrinsic Function module consists of 42 built-in COBOL functions. The new functions include 4-digit-year date functions, string and numeric conversion functions, and arithmetic, financial, and trigonometric functions. You can use the COBOL functions in place of manually coding the task of the function in your programs. Using COBOL functions can increase programmer productivity by saving design and development time. In addition, the function names improve program readability. NEW COMPILER OPTION AND COMPATIBILITY The Intrinsic Function enhancement to the HP COBOL II/iX compiler was implemented so that existing source code does not require modification unless the new enhancements are used. A new compiler option, $CONTROL POST85, allows you to specify that you will be using the new COBOL functions. The compiler then enables the COBOL functions and treats the word FUNCTION as a COBOL reserved word. LOCAL TIME DIFFERENTIAL Two of the new date functions return the local time differential from Greenwich Mean Time. To set the local time differential so that it is available to the date functions, you can set the TZ system variable with the ^fdSETVAR^s command. HP COBOL II/iX DOCUMENTATION Detailed information on the new enhancements introduced in this release may be found in the HP COBOL II/XL Reference Manual (31500-90001), dated 7/91 and later. This manual also incorporates the contents of the HP COBOL II/XL Reference Manual Supplement (31500-90005) and the HP COBOL II/XL Technical Addendum (31500-90011) into one manual for easy reference. The HP COBOL II/XL Programmer's Guide (31500-90002) and the HP COBOL II/XL Quick Reference Guide (31500-90003) have also been revised to include enhancements and modifications incorporated since the last release of the manuals. The documentation will be changed in a future release to reflect the new product name of HP COBOL II/iX.