Question

-freserved-words=value

use of complete/fixed reserved words

-ftab-width=1..12

number of spaces that are assumed for tabs

-ftext-column=72..255

right margin column number for fixed-form reference-format

-fpic-length=number

maximum number of characters allowed in the PICTURE character-string

-fword-length=1..63

maximum word-length for COBOL (= programmer defined) words

-fliteral-length=number

maximum literal size in general

-fnumeric-literal-length=1..38

maximum numeric literal size

-fdefaultbyte=value

default initialization for fields without VALUE, may be one of; character in quotes; decimal 0..255 representing a character; "init" to initialize to PICTURE/USAGE; "none" to do no explicit initialization; default: "init"

-fformat=value

default reference-format, may be one of: FIXED, FREE, COBOL85, VARIABLE, XOPEN, XCARD, CRT, TERMINAL, COBOLX

-fbinary-size=value

binary byte size - defines the allocated bytes according to PIC, may be one of: 2-4-8, 1-2-4-8, 1–8

-fbinary-byteorder=value

binary byte order, may be one of: native, big-endian

-fassign-clause=value

how to interpret ASSIGN word: as ASSIGN EXTERNAL word orASSIGN DYNAMIC word, may be one of: dynamic, external, ibm (= external), mf (= dynamic)

-fscreen-section-rules=value

which compiler’s rules to apply to SCREEN SECTION item clauses, may be one of: acu, gc, mf, rm, std, xopen

-fdpc-in-data=value

whether DECIMAL-POINT IS COMMA has effect in XML/JSON GENERATE, may be one of: none, xml, json, all

-ffilename-mapping

resolve file names at run time using environment variables

-fpretty-display

alternate formatting of numeric fields

-fbinary-truncate

numeric truncation according to ANSI

-fcomplex-odo

allow complex OCCURS DEPENDING ON

-fodoslide

adjust items following OCCURS DEPENDING (implies complex-odo)

-findirect-redefines

allow REDEFINES to other than last equal level number

-frelax-syntax-checks

allow certain syntax variations (e.g. REDEFINES position)

-fref-mod-zero-length

allow zero length reference-modification (only changed with EC-BOUND-REF-MOD active)

-frelax-level-hierarchy

allow non-matching level numbers

-fselect-working

require ASSIGN USING items to be in WORKING-STORAGE

-flocal-implies-recursive

LOCAL-STORAGE SECTION implies RECURSIVE attribute

-fsticky-linkage

LINKAGE SECTION items remain allocated between invocations

-fmove-ibm

MOVE operates as on IBM (left to right, byte by byte)

-fperform-osvs

exit point of any currently executing perform is recognized if reached

-farithmetic-osvs

limit precision in intermediate results to precision of final result (less accurate)

-fconstant-folding

evaluate constant expressions at compile time

-fhostsign

allow hexadecimal value ‘F’ for NUMERIC test of signed PACKED DECIMAL field

-fprogram-name-redefinition

program names don’t lead to a reserved identifier

-faccept-update

set WITH UPDATE clause as default for ACCEPT dest-item, instead of WITH NO UPDATE

-faccept-auto

set WITH AUTO clause as default for ACCEPT dest-item, instead of WITH TAB

-fconsole-is-crt

assume CONSOLE IS CRT if not set otherwise

-fno-echo-means-secure

NO-ECHO hides input with asterisks like SECURE

-fline-col-zero-default

assume a field DISPLAY starts at LINE 0 COL 0 (i.e. at the cursor), not LINE 1 COL 1

-fdisplay-special-fig-consts

special behaviour of DISPLAY SPACE/ALL X'01'/ALL X'02'/ALL X'07'

-fbinary-comp-1

COMP-1 is a 16-bit signed integer

-fnumeric-pointer

POINTER is a 64-bit unsigned integer

-fmove-non-numeric-lit-to-numeric-is-zero

imply zero in move of non-numeric literal to numeric items

-fimplicit-assign-dynamic-var

implicitly define a variable if an ASSIGN DYNAMIC does not match any data item

-fdevice-mnemonics

specifying device by mnemonic

-fxml-parse-xmlss

XML PARSE XMLSS

-fareacheck

check contents of Area A (when reference format supports Area A enforcement), enabled checks include:; division, section, paragraph names, level indicators (FD, SD, RD, and CD), and toplevel numbers (01 and 77) must start in Area A;; statements must not start in Area A; and; separator periods must not be within Area A.

-fcomment-paragraphs=support

comment paragraphs in IDENTIFICATION DIVISION (AUTHOR, DATE-WRITTEN, ...)

-fcontrol-division=support

CONTROL DIVISION

-fpartial-replacing-with-literal=support

partial replacing with literal

-fmemory-size-clause=support

MEMORY-SIZE clause

-fmultiple-file-tape-clause=support

MULTIPLE-FILE-TAPE clause

-flabel-records-clause=support

LABEL-RECORDS clause

-fvalue-of-clause=support

VALUE-OF clause

-fdata-records-clause=support

DATA-RECORDS clause

-ftop-level-occurs-clause=support

OCCURS clause on top-level

-fsame-as-clause=support

SAME AS clause

-ftype-to-clause=support

TYPE TO clause

-fusage-type=support

USAGE type-name

-fsynchronized-clause=support

SYNCHRONIZED clause

-fsync-left-right=support

LEFT/RIGHT phrases in SYNCHRONIZED clause

-fspecial-names-clause=support

SPECIAL-NAMES clause

-fgoto-statement-without-name=support

GOTO statement without name

-fstop-literal-statement=support

STOP-literal statement

-fstop-identifier-statement=support

STOP-identifier statement

-fstop-error-statement=support

STOP ERROR statement

-fdebugging-mode=support

DEBUGGING MODE and debugging indicator

-fuse-for-debugging=support

USE FOR DEBUGGING

-fpadding-character-clause=support

PADDING CHARACTER clause

-fnext-sentence-phrase=support

NEXT SENTENCE phrase

-flisting-statements=support

listing-directive statements EJECT, SKIP1, SKIP2, SKIP3

-ftitle-statement=support

listing-directive statement TITLE

-fentry-statement=support

ENTRY statement

-fmove-noninteger-to-alphanumeric=support

move noninteger to alphanumeric

-fmove-figurative-constant-to-numeric=support

move figurative constants to numeric

-fmove-figurative-space-to-numeric=support

move figurative constant SPACE to numeric

-fmove-figurative-quote-to-numeric=support

move figurative constant QUOTE to numeric

-fodo-without-to=support

OCCURS DEPENDING ON without to

-fsection-segments=support

section segments

-falter-statement=support

ALTER statement

-fcall-overflow=support

OVERFLOW clause for CALL

-fnumeric-boolean=support

boolean literals (B'1010')

-fhexadecimal-boolean=support

hexadecimal-boolean literals (BX‘A’)

-fnational-literals=support

national literals (N'UTF-16 string’)

-fhexadecimal-national-literals=support

hexadecimal-national literals (NX'265E')

-fnational-character-literals=support

non-standard national literals (NC'UTF-16 string’)

-fhp-octal-literals=support

HP COBOL octal literals (%377)

-facu-literals=support

ACUCOBOL-GT literals (#B #O #H #X)

-fword-continuation=support

continuation of COBOL words

-fnot-exception-before-exception=support

NOT ON EXCEPTION before ON EXCEPTION

-faccept-display-extensions=support

extensions to ACCEPT and DISPLAY

-frenames-uncommon-levels=support

RENAMES of 01-, 66- and 77-level items

-flarger-redefines=support

allow larger REDEFINES items

-fsymbolic-constant=support

constants defined in SPECIAL-NAMES

-fconstant-78=support

constant with level 78 item (note: has left to right precedence in expressions)

-fconstant-01=support

constant with level 01 CONSTANT AS/FROM item

-fperform-varying-without-by=support

PERFORM VARYING without BY phrase (implies BY 1)

-freference-out-of-declaratives=support

references to sections not in DECLARATIVES from within DECLARATIVES

-fprogram-prototypes=support

CALL/CANCEL with program-prototype-name

-fcall-convention-mnemonic=support

specifying call-convention by mnemonic

-fcall-convention-linkage=support

specifying call-convention by WITH ... LINKAGE

-fnumeric-value-for-edited-item=support

numeric literals in VALUE clause of numeric-edited items

-fincorrect-conf-sec-order=support

incorrect order of CONFIGURATION SECTION paragraphs

-fdefine-constant-directive=support

allow >> DEFINE CONSTANT var AS literal

-ffree-redefines-position=support

REDEFINES clause not following entry-name in definition

-frecords-mismatch-record-clause=support

record sizes does not match RECORD clause

-frecord-delimiter=support

RECORD DELIMITER clause

-fsequential-delimiters=support

BINARY-SEQUENTIAL and LINE-SEQUENTIAL phrases in RECORD DELIMITER

-frecord-delim-with-fixed-recs=support

RECORD DELIMITER clause on file with fixed-length records

-fmissing-statement=support

missing statement (e.g. empty IF / PERFORM)

-fmissing-period=support

missing period in PROCEDURE DIVISION (when reference format supports Area A enforcement)

-fzero-length-literals=support

zero-length literals, e.g. ” and ""

-fxml-generate-extra-phrases=support

XML GENERATE's phrases other than COUNT IN

-fcontinue-after=support

AFTER phrase in CONTINUE statement

-fgoto-entry=support

ENTRY FOR GOTO and GOTO ENTRY statements

-fassign-variable=support

ASSIGN [TO] variable in SELECT

-fassign-using-variable=support

ASSIGN USING/VARYING variable in SELECT

-fassign-ext-dyn=support

ASSIGN EXTERNAL/DYNAMIC in SELECT

-fassign-disk-from=support

ASSIGN DISK FROM variable in SELECT

-fvsam-status=support

VSAM status in FILE STATUS

-fself-call-recursive=support

CALL to own PROGRAM-ID implies RECURSIVE attribute

-frecord-contains-depending-clause=support

DEPENDING clause in RECORD CONTAINS

-fpicture-l=support

PICTURE string with ‘L’ character where support is one of: ok, warning, archaic, obsolete,skip,ignore,error,unconformable

-fnot-reserved=word

word to be taken out of the reserved words list

-freserved=word

word to be added to reserved words list

-freserved=word:alias

word to be added to reserved words list as alias

-fnot-register=word

special register to disable

-fregister=word or word:definition, where definition uses backslash esca

special register to enable

Appendix B Reserved Words

The following list of reserved words was extracted from cobc --list-reserved and shows the reserved words, an implementation

Please notice: This list is highly specific to the option -std=dialect and reserved word options (-freserved=word, -fno-reserved=word) in effect. You can get the list for a given dialect by calling cobc -std=dialect --list-reserved.