ch08 - 97 If Statement

Structured COBOL
Programming
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Nassau Community
College 9th Edition
PowerPoint Presentation:
Richard H. Baum, Ph.D.
DeVry Institute of Technology
Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition
CHAPTER 8
Decision Making Using the
IF and EVALUATE
Statements

OBJECTIVES
To familiarize you with
1. The use of IF statements for selection.
2. The variety of formats and options
available with the conditional
statement.
3. The use of the EVALUATE statement

with COBOL 85.

CONTENTS
• Selection Using a Simple IF Statement
– A Review of Logical Control Structures
– Basic Conditional Statements
– Planning Conditional Statements with Pseudocode
and Flowcharts
– How Comparisons Are Performed
– ASCII and EBCDIC Collating Sequences
– Ending Conditional Sentences with a Period or an
END-IF Scope Terminator (COBOL 85)
– The CONTINUE or NEXT SENTENCE Clause

CONTENTS
• Selection Using Other Options of the
IF Statement
– Nested Conditional
– Compound Conditional
– Sign and Class Tests
– Negating Conditionals

CONTENTS
• Using IF Statements to Determine
Leap Years
• Condition-Names
• The COBOL 85 EVALUATE Statement:
Using the Case Structure as an
Alternative to Selection

Selection Using A Simple
IF Statement

A REVIEW of LOGICAL
CONTROL STRUCTURES
LOGICAL CONTROL STRUCTURES

1. Sequence
2. Selection (IF-THEN-ELSE)
3. Iteration (PERFORM)
4. Case (EVALUATE)

Basic Conditional Statements
Format for IF statements:
IF condition-1
[THEN]*
imperative statement-1 . . .
[ELSE
imperative statement-2 . . . ]
[END-IF]*
*The words THEN and END-IF are COBOL 85 options.

Simple Relational Conditions

1. IF identifier-1 IS EQUAL TO identifier-2
2. IF identifier-1 IS LESS THAN identifier-2
3. IF identifier-1 IS GREATER THAN
identifier-2

• Illustration of a simple conditional:
IF AMT1 IS EQUAL TO AMT2

DIVIDE QTY INTO TOTAL
ELSE
ADD UNIT-PRICE TO FINAL-TOTAL
END-IF

• There are two possible results of the test

performed by the preceding statement:
1. AMT1 is equal to AMT2
or
2. AMT1 is not equal to AMT2

Explanation:
1. If AMT1 is equal to AMT2, the DIVIDE
operation is performed and the second
part of the statement, beginning with the
ELSE clause, is ignored.
2. If the two fields are not equal, then the
DIVIDE operation is not executed.
– Only the ELSE portion of the statement, the
ADD operation, is executed.

• In either case, the program continues
executing with the next sentence.
• Thus, by using the word IF, we test the
initial condition and perform the
instruction specified.
• By using ELSE, we can perform an
operation if the initial condition is not met
or is ``false.''

Interpreting Instruction
Formats
ELSE Is Optional.
• The ELSE clause in the instruction format
is bracketed with [ ], which means that it
is optional.
• If some operation is required only if a
condition exists and nothing different
need be done if the condition does not
exist, the entire ELSE clause may be
omitted.
• Example of an IF Statement
Without an ELSE Clause:
MOVE NAME-IN TO NAME-OUT
MOVE AMOUNT-IN TO AMOUNT-OUT
IF AMOUNT-IN IS EQUAL TO ZEROS
MOVE 'NO TRANSACTIONS THIS
MONTH' TO OUT-AREA
END-IF
WRITE PRINT-REC
• In the previous example, the
message 'NO TRANSACTIONS THIS
MONTH' is printed only if AMOUNT-IN
is zero.
• If AMOUNT-IN is not zero, we
continue with the next sentence
without performing any operation.
• The ELSE clause is unnecessary in
this instance.

• More Than One Operation Can Be
Performed When a Condition Exists:
– The instruction format includes dots or
ellipses (...) indicating that more than one
operation may be executed for each
condition.
• The following performs two MOVE

operations if AMT1 is equal to AMT2, and
two ADD operations if AMT1 is not equal
to AMT2:

IF AMT1 IS EQUAL TO AMT2
MOVE NAME-IN TO NAME-OUT
MOVE DESCRIPTION-IN TO
DESCRIPTION-OUT
ELSE
ADD AMT1 TO TOTAL1
ADD AMT2 TO TOTAL2
END-IF.

DEBUGGING TIP
• Omitting the scope terminator is

permitted for all versions of COBOL as
long as the IF sentence ends with a
period.
• However, we recommend that you use
scope terminators with COBOL 85 and
omit periods except for the last statement
in a paragraph.

Coding Guidelines: Indenting
• Indent statements within the IF instruction
to make programs easier to read and debug.
The following is the coding style for
conditionals:
IF condition
THEN
imperative statement
...
ELSE
imperative statement
...
END-IF.
Coding Guidelines
Indenting
• The technique of indenting and coding
each statement on a separate line makes
reading the program easier, but it does not
affect compilation or execution.
• When errors do occur, it is much easier to
isolate and correct them when each line
contains a single statement (versus all
statements run together on a single line).

Using Relational Operators in Place of
Words
The following symbols for simple relational
conditions are valid within a COBOL
statement:
RELATIONAL OPERATORS
Symbol Meaning
< IS LESS THAN
> IS GREATER THAN
= IS EQUAL TO
<= IS LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO
>= IS GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO
Do Not Mix Field Types in a Comparison
• Conditional statements must use fields
with the same data types to obtain proper
results.
• In the statement, IF CODE-IN = ‘123’
MOVE NAME-IN TO NAME- OUT, CODE-IN
should be a nonnumeric field, since it is
compared to a nonnumeric literal.

• As in MOVE operations, the literal should
have the same format as the data item.
– If CODE-OUT has a PICTURE of 9's, the
following would be appropriate:
IF CODE-OUT = 123 MOVE AMT-IN TO AMT-

OUT.

• Similarly, to ensure correct results, fields

that are compared to one another should
have the same data types, whether
numeric or nonnumeric.
• Thus, in the statement, IF CTR1 = CTR2
ADD AMT1 TO TOTAL, both CTR1 and
CTR2 should be either numeric or
nonnumeric.

Numeric Fields Should Not Contain Blanks
• Suppose we code IF AMT-IN IS EQUAL TO
10 ADD 1 TO COUNTER.
• If AMT-IN were a field defined as
numeric, but actually contained all
blanks, the instruction would result in a
data exception error, which causes a
program interrupt.

Numeric Fields Should Not Contain Blanks
• This error will occur because blanks are
not valid numeric characters.
• Be certain, then, that if a field is defined
as numeric, it actually contains numbers.

ASCII and EBCDIC Collating
Sequences
• When performing an alphanumeric
comparison, the hierarchy of the
comparison, called the collating
sequence, depends on the computer
being used.

Sequences
• The two types of internal codes that are
most commonly used for representing
data are:
EBCDIC is found on IBM and IBM-
compatible mainframes.
ASCII is used on most micros and many
minis and mainframes.
• The collating sequences for these differ
somewhat.
Sequences
COLLATING SEQUENCES
EBCDIC ASCII
Low Spaces Spaces
Special characters Special characters
a-z 0-9
A-Z A-Z
High 0-9 a-z

DEBUGGING TIP
• Do not mix upper- and lowercase letters

when entering data in fields. This
reduces the risk that comparisons might
give problematic results.
• As a convention, we recommend you use
uppercase letters in all input fields as well
as in instructions.
• Use lowercase letters only for comments.

Ending Conditional Sentences
with a Period or an END-IF
Scope Terminator
• With COBOL 85 you should use the END-IF
as a scope terminator to establish the
specific boundaries:
IF PRICE1 IS LESS THAN PRICE2
ADD PRICE1 TO TOTAL
MOVE 2 TO ITEM1
ELSE
ADD PRICE2 TO TOTAL
END-IF
MOVE 0 TO ITEM2.
The CONTINUE or NEXT
SENTENCE Clause
• There are times when you might want to
execute a series of steps only if a certain
condition does not exist.
• The COBOL expression CONTINUE (COBOL
85) or NEXT SENTENCE (COBOL 74) will
enable you:
(1) to avoid performing any operation if a
condition exists
(2) to execute instructions only if the ELSE
condition is met.
COBOL 2000+ CHANGES
• Both CONTINUE and NEXT SENTENCE can

be used interchangeably in the new
standard.
• That is, NEXT SENTENCE will be permitted
even if an END-IF scope terminator is
used.

QUESTIONS?

SELF-TEST
What is wrong with the following statements (1-
6) ?
1. IF A IS LESS THAN B
GO TO CONTINUE
ELSE
ADD 1 TO XX
END-IF
Solution: You cannot say:
GO TO CONTINUE

SELF-TEST
2. IF A IS EQUAL TO '127'
ADD A TO B END-IF
Solution: Since A is compared to a nonnumeric
literal, it should be an alphanumeric field. But A
is added to another field, which implies that it is
numeric. Hence a data type mismatch exists.
Although this may, in fact, produce the correct
results (depending on the contents of A), it is
inadvisable to make a comparison where one
field or literal is nonnumeric and the other is
numeric.

SELF-TEST
3. IF A EQUALS B
MOVE 1 TO A
END-IF
Solution: This should be: IF A IS EQUAL TO

B ....
SELF-TEST
4. IF A IS LESS THEN B
 MOVE 2 TO CODE1
END-IF
Solution: When the words GREATER and

LESS are used, the COBOL word that
follows is THAN and not THEN.
SELF-TEST
5. IF C = D
MOVE 0 TO COUNTER.
ELSE
MOVE 100 TO COUNTER

END-IF
Solution: There should be no period after

MOVE 0 TO COUNTER.
SELF-TEST
6. IF C = D
MOVE 0 TO COUNTER
ELSE
NEXT SENTENCE.
Solution: ELSE NEXT SENTENCE, although not
incorrect, is unnecessary. Note that END-IF
cannot be used with NEXT SENTENCE (unless
your compiler has an enhancement that permits
it) but can always be used with CONTINUE.

Selection Using Other
Options of the IF Statement

Compound Conditional
• We have seen that selection and iteration
structures provide programs with a great deal
of logical control capability.
• The compound conditional offers even greater
flexibility for selection and enables the IF
statement to be used for more complex
problems.
• With the compound conditional, the
programmer can test for several conditions
with one statement.

OR in a Compound Conditional
• To perform an operation or a series of
operations if any one of several
conditions exists, use a compound OR
condition.
• This means that if any one of several
conditions exists, the imperative
statement(s) specified will be executed.

OR in a Compound Conditional
Examples:
1. IF AMT1 = AMT2 OR AMT2 > AMT3
PERFORM 500-TOTAL-RTN
END-IF.
2. IF AMT1 < AMT3 OR AMT1 = AMT4
ADD AMT1 TO TOTAL
ELSE
PERFORM 600-ERR-RTN
END-IF.
• By using OR in a compound conditional,

any of the conditions specified causes
execution of the statement(s).
• If none of the conditions is met, the
computer executes either the ELSE
clause, if coded, or the next sentence.
• Any number of conditions separated by
ORs may be coded in a single statement.

AND in a Compound
Conditional
• If a statement or statements are to be
executed only when all of several
conditions are met, use the word AND in
the compound conditional.
• Thus, either AND or OR (or both) can be
used in a compound conditional:

AND in a Compound
Conditional: Format
IF condition-1 {OR} {AND} condition-2 . .
[THEN]*
{statement-1 . . .}
{NEXT SENTENCE}
{CONTINUE*}
{ELSE statement-2 ... [END-IF]*}
{ELSE NEXT SENTENCE}
{END-IF*} *COBOL 85 features
HIERARCHY RULES FOR
COMPOUND CONDITIONALS
1. Conditions surrounding the word AND

are evaluated first.
2. Conditions surrounding the word OR are
evaluated last.

HIERARCHY RULES FOR
COMPOUND CONDITIONALS
3. When there are several AND or OR
connectors, the AND conditions are
evaluated first, as they appear in the
statement, from left to right. Then the OR
conditions are evaluated, also from left to
right.
4. To override Rules 1-3, use parentheses
around conditions you want to be
evaluated first.
Using AND and OR in the Same
Statement
• Using these hierarchy rules and the
preceding example, the conditions will be
evaluated as follows:
(a) IF C = D AND E = F or (b) A = B
• With A = 2, B = 2, C = 3, D = 4, E = 5, and
F = 6, 600-PARA-1 will be executed
because A = B.

Sign and Class Tests
Sign Test
• We can test whether a field is POSITIVE,
NEGATIVE, or ZERO with a sign test.
Example
IF AMT IS POSITIVE
PERFORM 200-CALC-RTN
END-IF.
• We can also test to see if AMT IS NEGATIVE or
ZERO.

Class Test
• We can test for the type of data in a field
by coding IF identifier- 1 IS NUMERIC or IF
identifier-1 IS ALPHABETIC.
• If the ELSE option is executed with the
NUMERIC class test, then either the field
contains alphabetic data (only letters
and/or spaces) or it contains alphanumeric
data, meaning any possible characters.

• Suppose we code the following:
IF AMT-IN IS NUMERIC
PERFORM 300-CALC-RTN
ELSE
PERFORM 400-ERROR-RTN
END-IF
• If the field contains 123AB, for example, the
ELSE clause will be executed since the
contents of the field are not strictly numeric.

Using Class Tests for Validating Data
• A class test is a useful tool for minimizing
program errors.
• Suppose we wish to add AMT-IN to
TOTAL, where AMT-IN is an input field.
• Since input is always subject to data-
entry errors, it is possible that the field
might be entered erroneously with
nonnumeric data or spaces.
– In such a case, ADD AMT-IN TO TOTAL can
cause the computer to abort the run.
The following test may be used to minimize
such errors:
IF AMT-IN IS NUMERIC
ADD AMT-IN TO TOTAL
ELSE
PERFORM 500-ERR-RTN
END-IF
– It is a good practice to validate the AMT-IN
field, as in the preceding, before performing
the arithmetic.
• As noted, periods are optional when using
END-IF unless you are at the end of a
paragraph.
ALPHABETIC class with COBOL 85
• COBOL 85 has eliminated the ambiguity over
uppercase/lowercase when making the
ALPHABETIC class test.
• Either uppercase or lowercase, or any blank
is considered ALPHABETIC.
• Moreover, two new class tests have been
added:
ALPHABETIC-UPPER AND ALPHABETIC-
LOWER
• The three alphabetic lass tests for COBOL

85 are:
Reserved Word Meaning
ALPHABETIC A-Z, a-z, and blank
ALPHABETIC-UPPER A-Z and blank
ALPHABETIC-LOWER a-z and blank

• The following is an example of the

Alphabetic Class Test:
IF NAME-IN IS ALPHABETIC-LOWER
THEN
PERFORM 600-LOWER-CASE-RTN
END-IF

Using IF statements to
determine Leap Year
• Most people believe that leap years occur
every four years.
• The traditional method for calculating a
leap year is to divide the year by four.
– If the year is evenly divisible by four, (i.e., no
remainder) then it is typically considered a
leap year.
• The above procedure is not entirely

correct, however.
determine Leap Year
• Leap years are those divisible by four--
except for years ending in 00--only those
years ending in 00 that are also divisible
by 400 are leap years.
• This means that 1900 was not a leap year,
but 2000 is a leap year.
• The reason for the anomaly is that leap
years were created to make adjustments
to dates.
determine Leap Year
– It takes the earth 365 1/4 days to revolve around
the sun--approximately.
– We adjust for the 1/4 day by having one extra
day every leap year.
• This anomaly has Y2K ramifications.

• If two-digit year dates are still being used,
then a year of 00 will be considered 1900
unless some adjustment is made.
• With COBOL 85, we can determine if any year
is a leap year by using an IF statement.

CONDITION-NAMES
• A condition-name is a user-defined word
established in the DATA DIVISION that
gives a name to a specific value that an
identifier can assume.
• An 88-level entry coded in the DATA
DIVISION is a condition-name that
denotes a possible value for an identifier,
which then can be tested to be either
True or False.
– A condition-name is always coded on the 88
level and has only a VALUE clause associated
with it and will not contain a PICTURE clause.
CONDITION-NAMES
• Format for 88-level items:
88 condition-name VALUE literal
• The condition-name must be unique and
its VALUE must be a literal consistent
with the data type of the field preceding
it:
05 CODE-IN PIC XX.
88 STATUS-OK VALUE '12'.

CONDITION-NAMES
• For readability, we indent each 88-level

item to clarify its relationship to the data-
name directly preceding it.
• Any elementary item on level numbers
01--49 in the FILE SECTION or in the
WORKING-STORAGE may have a
condition-name associated with it.

The COBOL 85 EVALUATE
Statement: Using the Case
Structure as an Alternative to
Selection

The COBOL 85 EVALUATE
Statement
Format:
EVALUATE {identifier-1}
{expression-1}
WHEN condition-1 imperative-
statement-1 . . .
[WHEN OTHER imperative-statement-2]
[END-EVALUATE]
CHAPTER SLIDES END HERE
CHAPTER SUMMARY COMES NEXT

CHAPTER SUMMARY
A. Simple Relational for Selection
1. Relations
IS {EQUAL} {=} TO
IS {LESS THAN} {<}
IF identifier-1 IS {GREATER THAN} {>}
identifier-2
IS {LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO} {<=}*
IS {GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO} {>=}*
*COBOL 85 only.

CHAPTER SUMMARY
2. If the condition exists, all statements are

executed up to (a) the ELSE clause or (b)
the END-IF (COBOL 85) or the period if
there is no ELSE clause.
3. If the condition does not exist, the
statements after the word ELSE, if coded,
are executed, or (if there is no ELSE
clause) processing continues after the
END-IF or with the next sentence.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
4. Comparisons are algebraic or logical:
(1) Numeric: 12.0 = 12.00 = 12 = +12
(2) Nonnumeric: ABC = ABCb = ABCbb (b =
blanks)
5. Collating sequences (EBCDIC and ASCII) are

the same with regard to A--Z, 0--9, and a--z.
They differ when upper- and lowercase letters
are compared or when letters and digits are
compared.

CHAPTER SUMMARY
• With ASCII, lowercase letters are greater
than uppercase letters;
• With EBCDIC, lowercase letters are less
than uppercase letters.
• With EBCDIC, letters are less than
numbers.
• With ASCII, numbers are less than
letters.

CHAPTER SUMMARY
B. Other Types of IF Statements
1. Compound Condition
a. Format
IF condition-1 OR condition-2 . . .
IF condition-1 AND condition-2 . . .

CHAPTER SUMMARY
b. Hierarchy
(1) If ORs and ANDs are used in the
same sentence, ANDs are evaluated first
from left to right, followed by ORs.
(2) Parentheses can be used to override
hierarchy rules.

CHAPTER SUMMARY
2. Other Tests
a. Sign test
IF identifier-1 IS {POSITIVE}
{NEGATIVE}
{ZERO}
– Identifier-1 must have an S in its PIC clause
if it is to store data with a negative value.

CHAPTER SUMMARY
b. Class Test
IF identifier-1 IS {NUMERIC}
{ALPHABETIC}
c. Negated Conditionals
(1) A test can be preceded with NOT to test
the negative conditional.
(2) IF NOT (A = B OR A = C) is the same as
IF A NOT = B AND A NOT = C.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
C. Condition-Names
1. Coded on the 88-level directly
following the field to which it relates.
For example:
05 CODE-IN PIC X.
88 OK-CODE VALUE '6'.

CHAPTER SUMMARY
2. A condition-name specifies a condition in
the PROCEDURE DIVISION. For example:
IF OK-CODE
PERFORM 200-OK-RTN
END-IF
D. The COBOL 85 EVALUATE statement is
often used as an alternative to nested IFs
or a series of IF statements.

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Structured COBOL

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

3. The use of the EVALUATE statement

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

LOGICAL CONTROL STRUCTURES

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Simple Relational Conditions

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

• Illustration of a simple conditional:

IF AMT1 IS EQUAL TO AMT2

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

• There are two possible results of the test

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

• The following performs two MOVE

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

• Omitting the scope terminator is

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

IF CODE-OUT = 123 MOVE AMT-IN TO AMT-

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

• Similarly, to ensure correct results, fields

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

• Do not mix upper- and lowercase letters

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

• Both CONTINUE and NEXT SENTENCE can

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Solution: This should be: IF A IS EQUAL TO

Solution: When the words GREATER and

MOVE 100 TO COUNTER

Solution: There should be no period after

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

• By using OR in a compound conditional,

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

1. Conditions surrounding the word AND

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

• The three alphabetic lass tests for COBOL

Strutured COBOL Programming, Stern & Stern, 9th Edition

• The following is an example of the