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Question-1. What is the role of PROCEDURE POINTER in COBOL?
Answer-1: It points to the entry address of a procedure or subprogram.
Question-2. What are some modern uses of COBOL?
Answer-2: COBOL is used in legacy systems, banking applications, and mainframe systems.
Question-3. What does COBOL stand for?
Answer-3: COBOL stands for Common Business Oriented Language.
Question-4. What is COBOL used for?
Answer-4: COBOL is primarily used for business, finance, and administrative systems for companies.
Question-5. Is COBOL a compiled or interpreted language?
Answer-5: COBOL is a compiled language.
Question-6. What are the divisions in a COBOL program?
Answer-6: The divisions are Identification, Environment, Data, and Procedure.
Question-7. What is the purpose of the Identification Division in COBOL?
Answer-7: The Identification Division specifies the program name and other program-related metadata.
Question-8. What does the Environment Division do in COBOL?
Answer-8: It defines the hardware and software environment for the program.
Question-9. What is the role of the Data Division in COBOL?
Answer-9: It declares all the variables and data structures used in the program.
Question-10. What is the Procedure Division in COBOL?
Answer-10: It contains the executable instructions and logic of the program.
Question-11. How is a variable defined in COBOL?
Answer-11: Variables are defined in the Data Division using level numbers like 01, 05, etc.
Question-12. What are level numbers in COBOL?
Answer-12: Level numbers represent the hierarchy of data elements. Examples are 01, 05, 77.
Question-13. What is the use of the PIC clause in COBOL?
Answer-13: The PIC (Picture) clause specifies the type and size of a data field.
Question-14. What does the VALUE clause do in COBOL?
Answer-14: It initializes a variable with a default value.
Question-15. How do you define a group variable in COBOL?
Answer-15: Use a level number followed by individual fields under it. Example: 01 PERSON.
Question-16. What are the types of data files in COBOL?
Answer-16: Sequential, Indexed, and Relative files.
Question-17. What is an Indexed file in COBOL?
Answer-17: It is a file where records are accessed using an index key.
Question-18. What is the ACCEPT statement in COBOL?
Answer-18: It takes input from the user or environment variables.
Question-19. What is the DISPLAY statement in COBOL?
Answer-19: It is used to print data to the console or screen.
Question-20. What is the purpose of the MOVE statement in COBOL?
Answer-20: It assigns values from one variable to another.
Question-21. What are COBOL?s conditional statements?
Answer-21: Examples include IF, EVALUATE, and PERFORM UNTIL.
Question-22. What is the EVALUATE statement in COBOL?
Answer-22: It is similar to a CASE or SWITCH statement in other languages.
Question-23. How do you perform looping in COBOL?
Answer-23: Using the PERFORM statement with UNTIL or VARYING.
Question-24. What is the PERFORM statement in COBOL?
Answer-24: It is used to execute a section or paragraph repeatedly or conditionally.
Question-25. What are sections and paragraphs in COBOL?
Answer-25: Sections are larger logical units containing paragraphs, and paragraphs contain code.
Question-26. What is the use of the STOP RUN statement?
Answer-26: It ends the execution of a COBOL program.
Question-27. What are the types of COBOL tables?
Answer-27: One-dimensional and multi-dimensional tables (arrays).
Question-28. How is a COBOL table defined?
Answer-28: Tables are defined using the OCCURS clause in the Data Division.
Question-29. What is the SEARCH statement in COBOL?
Answer-29: It is used to search for an element in an array or table.
Question-30. What is the difference between SEARCH and SEARCH ALL in COBOL?
Answer-30: SEARCH performs a linear search; SEARCH ALL performs a binary search.
Question-31. What is the REDEFINES clause in COBOL?
Answer-31: It allows one data field to share storage with another.
Question-32. What is the RENAMES clause in COBOL?
Answer-32: It groups contiguous fields under a new name for easier reference.
Question-33. What is the INSPECT statement in COBOL?
Answer-33: It examines a string for specific patterns and counts or replaces characters.
Question-34. What is the STRING statement in COBOL?
Answer-34: It concatenates multiple strings into a single target variable.
Question-35. What is the UNSTRING statement in COBOL?
Answer-35: It splits a string into multiple variables based on delimiters.
Question-36. What is the SORT statement in COBOL?
Answer-36: It arranges records in ascending or descending order.
Question-37. What is the MERGE statement in COBOL?
Answer-37: It combines two sorted files into a single sorted file.
Question-38. What is the CALL statement in COBOL?
Answer-38: It invokes a subprogram from another program.
Question-39. What are subprograms in COBOL?
Answer-39: Subprograms are separate programs called by the main program using the CALL statement.
Question-40. What is the LINKAGE SECTION in COBOL?
Answer-40: It is used to define variables passed between programs.
Question-41. How do you handle errors in COBOL?
Answer-41: Use file status codes or custom error-handling sections.
Question-42. What is the GO TO statement in COBOL?
Answer-42: It transfers control to a specified section or paragraph.
Question-43. What is the EXIT statement in COBOL?
Answer-43: It exits from a paragraph, section, or program.
Question-44. What is the difference between COMP and COMP-3?
Answer-44: COMP is binary format; COMP-3 is packed decimal format.
Question-45. What is COPY in COBOL?
Answer-45: It includes external code, like a header file, in a program.
Question-46. What is FILE SECTION in COBOL?
Answer-46: It defines the structure of input and output files.
Question-47. What are the types of file access modes in COBOL?
Answer-47: Sequential, Random, and Dynamic.
Question-48. How do you define a COBOL file structure?
Answer-48: Use the FD (File Description) entry in the File Section.
Question-49. What is a Working-Storage Section in COBOL?
Answer-49: It defines variables that persist for the program's lifetime.
Question-50. What are intrinsic functions in COBOL?
Answer-50: Built-in functions like NUMVAL, LENGTH, and UPPER-CASE.
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