Level 49 and VARCHAR?

[RaGa]

Hi,

Is there a reason that Level 49 is used only for DB2? Why can't we use it for anything else? Is there a reason?

Thanks for any answers and literature about it.

[Robert Sample]

Whoever told you that level 49 is exclusively for DB2 -- you need to stop listening to that person and find an actual COBOL expert. Level 49 can be used by any program:

Code: Select all

 000001         000100 IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.                                                                           
 000002         000200 PROGRAM-ID.                     MF0063.                                                            
 000003         000300 ENVIRONMENT DIVISION.                                                                              
 000004         000400 CONFIGURATION SECTION.                                                                             
 000005         000500 OBJECT-COMPUTER. IBM-370.                                                                          
 000006         000600 SOURCE-COMPUTER. IBM-370.                                                                          
 000007         000700 DATA DIVISION.                                                                                     
 000008         000800 WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.                                                                           
 000009         000900 01  WS-AREA.                                                                        000000000 0CL9 
 000010         001000     49  WS-49-LEVEL             PIC 9(09) VALUE ZERO.                               000000000 9C   
                                                                                                 IMP                      
 000011         001800 PROCEDURE DIVISION.                                                                                
 000012         002000     DISPLAY '>' WS-49-LEVEL '<'.                                          10                       
 000013         002400     STOP RUN.                                                                                      
P 5655-EC6 IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS  6.3.0 P211108       MF0063    Date 01/16/2023  Time 13:08:23   Page     4       
n "M" preceding a data-name reference indicates that the data-name is modified by this reference.                         

gives results of

Code: Select all

***********
>000000000<
***********

So your question about why you can't use it for anything else is based on a false premise and hence makes no sense.