data division

The part of a COBOL program in which the format and layout of external files and databases, and internally-used variables and constants are defined

Noun

  1. The part of a COBOL program in which the format and layout of external files and databases, and internally-used variables and constants are defined
    • The data division is that portion of the program set aside to identify explicitly all the format characteristics of data received by the program, created within the program, and produced as output. - 1971, Allen Kent,...
    • It is best to define the variables within the data division before writing the procedure division. - 1997, Peter Groves, Sourcebook on intellectual property law:
    • We use the data division to control the definition of these fields. - 2002, Earl H. Parsons, Structured Programming with COBOL Examples:

Forms

data divisions