COBOL Cheat Sheet

Structural COBOL reference covering divisions, data definitions, procedure verbs, and basic file handling for legacy systems.

3 PagesIntermediateApr 5, 2026

Program Structure

The four divisions of a COBOL program.

cobol

       IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.       PROGRAM-ID. HELLO-WORLD.       DATA DIVISION.       WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.       01 WS-GREETING PIC X(20) VALUE "Hello, World!".       PROCEDURE DIVISION.           DISPLAY WS-GREETING.           STOP RUN.

Data Division

Declaring records and fields with PICTURE clauses.

cobol

       DATA DIVISION.       WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.       01 WS-EMPLOYEE.          05 WS-NAME       PIC X(30).          05 WS-AGE        PIC 9(3).          05 WS-SALARY     PIC 9(7)V99.       01 WS-COUNTER       PIC 9(4) VALUE ZERO.       01 WS-FLAG          PIC X VALUE "N".          88 WS-DONE       VALUE "Y".

Procedure Division Verbs

Common statements used in the Procedure Division.

MOVE a TO b- Assigns/copies the value of a into b
ADD a TO b- b = b + a
COMPUTE x = a + b * c- Arithmetic expression assignment
IF cond THEN ... ELSE ... END-IF- Conditional branching
PERFORM para-name- Executes a named paragraph (like calling a routine)
PERFORM UNTIL cond ... END-PERFORM- Loops until a condition becomes true

Common Clauses & Concepts

Frequently used declaration clauses.

PIC 9(5)- Numeric picture clause, 5 digits
PIC X(20)- Alphanumeric picture clause, 20 characters
VALUE- Sets an initial literal value for a data item
OCCURS n TIMES- Declares an array/table of n elements
01, 05, 88- Level numbers defining record hierarchy and condition names
COPY member.- Includes a copybook of shared data or code

File Handling

Opening, reading, and closing a sequential file.

cobol

       ENVIRONMENT DIVISION.       INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION.       FILE-CONTROL.           SELECT CUSTOMER-FILE ASSIGN TO "CUST.DAT"               ORGANIZATION IS LINE SEQUENTIAL.       PROCEDURE DIVISION.           OPEN INPUT CUSTOMER-FILE.           READ CUSTOMER-FILE               AT END DISPLAY "EOF reached".           CLOSE CUSTOMER-FILE.

Pro Tip

COBOL source columns matter in fixed format: Area A starts at column 8 (division/section/paragraph headers), Area B at column 12 (statements) — misaligned code fails to compile.

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