Arithmetic Statements

In COBOL, arithmetic operations are performed using specific statements rather than inline operators like some modern programming languages. These statements allow developers to carry out operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and more complex computations.

The arithmetic statement in COBOL language are -

ADD
SUBTRACT
MULTIPLY
DIVIDE
COMPUTE

ADD Statement

The ADD statement is used to perform addition operations. The ADD statement sums two or more numeric values and stores the result in the output variable. If only one value or one variable is used as an input, then it adds to the output variable and places the result into the output variable.

Syntax -

---+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5
ADD    input-value1|input-variable1
       [......]
 TO    input-variableA
GIVING output-variable1 [ROUNDED]
	   [,.....]
       [ON SIZE ERROR Statements-block1]
  [NOT ON SIZE ERROR Statements-block2]
[END-ADD].

Examples -

Scenario1 - Adding number to a variable.

 WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
 01 WS-VAR.
    05 WS-A      PIC 9(03) VALUE 20.

 PROCEDURE DIVISION.
	 ADD 10 TO WS-A.
	 DISPLAY "Result: " WS-A.

Output -

Result: 30

Scenario2 - Adding two variables to a variable.

 WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
 01 WS-VAR.
    05 WS-A      PIC 9(03) VALUE 900.
    05 WS-B      PIC 9(03) VALUE 200.
    05 WS-B      PIC 9(03) VALUE 100.
	
 PROCEDURE DIVISION.
     ADD WS-A, WS-B TO WS-C
             ON SIZE ERROR DISPLAY "OVERFLOW"
         NOT ON SIZE ERROR DISPLAY "WS-C:  " WS-C.

Output -

OVERFLOW

SUBTRACT Statement

The SUBTRACT statement is used to perform subtraction operations. Depending on our requirements, it can subtract one or more numeric items from another numeric item, or it can subtract two numeric items and store the result in a third.

Syntax -

---+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5
SUBTRACT input-value1|input-variable1
    FROM output variable
  GIVING output-variable1 [ROUNDED]
       [ON SIZE ERROR statements-block1]
   [NOT ON SIZE ERROR statements-block2]
[END-SUBTRACT].

Example -

Scenario1 - Subtract one variable from other.

 WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
 01 WS-VAR.
    05 WS-A      PIC 9(03) VALUE 20.
    05 WS-B      PIC 9(03) VALUE 30.

 PROCEDURE DIVISION.
	 SUBTRACT WS-A FROM WS-B.
	 DISPLAY "Result: " WS-B.

Output -

Result: 10

Scenario2 - Subtract one variable from other and placing result into third.

 WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
 01 WS-VAR.
    05 WS-A      PIC 9(03) VALUE 200.
    05 WS-B      PIC 9(03) VALUE 900.
    05 WS-C      PIC 9(03).

 PROCEDURE DIVISION.
	 MULTIPLY WS-A BY WS-B 
	   GIVING WS-C.
	 DISPLAY "WS-C:  " WS-C.

Output -

WS-C:  700

MULTIPLY Statement

The MULTIPLY statement is used for multiplication operations. It allows multiplying one or more numeric items and storing the result in one or more receiving items.

Syntax -

---+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5
MULTIPLY input-value1|input-variable1
      BY input-variableA
  GIVING output-variable1 [ROUNDED]
        [ON SIZE ERROR Statements-block1]
    [NOT ON SIZE ERROR Statements-block2]
[END-MULTIPLY].

Examples -

Scenario1 - Multiplying two variables.

 WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
 01 WS-VAR.
    05 WS-A      PIC 9(03) VALUE 20.
    05 WS-B      PIC 9(03) VALUE 30.

 PROCEDURE DIVISION.
	 MULTIPLY WS-A BY WS-B.
	 DISPLAY "Result: " WS-B.

Output -

Result: 600

Scenario2 - Multiply with error handling.

 WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
 01 WS-VAR.
    05 WS-A      PIC 9(03) VALUE 90.
    05 WS-B      PIC 9(03) VALUE 20.

 PROCEDURE DIVISION.
	 MULTIPLY WS-A BY WS-B 
	         ON SIZE ERROR DISPLAY "OVERFLOW"
		 NOT ON SIZE ERROR DISPLAY "WS-B:  " WS-B.

Output -

OVERFLOW

DIVIDE Statement

The DIVIDE statement divides one number by another. It's similar to mathematics, where we have a dividend (the number being divided) and a divisor (the number we're dividing by). The DIVIDE statement sets the output values quotient and the remainder to the corresponding variables.

Syntax -

DIVIDE ws-variable1
	INTO ws-variable2
	GIVING ws-result [ROUNDED]
	REMAINDER ws-remainder
	[ON SIZE ERROR statements-block1]
	[NOT ON SIZE ERROR statements-block2]
[END-DIVIDE].

Examples -

Scenario1 - Divide one variable with other.

 WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
 01 WS-VAR.
    05 WS-VAR1      PIC 9(03) VALUE 50.
    05 WS-VAR2      PIC 9(03) VALUE 5.

 PROCEDURE DIVISION.
	 DIVIDE WS-VAR1 INTO WS-VAR2
	 DISPLAY "Result: " WS-VAR2.

Output -

Result: 10

Scenario2 - Divide one variable with other, result and remainder into separate variables.

 WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
 01 WS-VAR.
    05 WS-VAR1      PIC 9(03) VALUE 32.
    05 WS-VAR2      PIC 9(03) VALUE 5.
	05 WS-VAR3      PIC 9(03) VALUE 0.
	05 WS-VAR4      PIC 9(03) VALUE 0.

 PROCEDURE DIVISION.
	 DIVIDE WS-VAR1 INTO WS-VAR2 
	        GIVING WS-VAR3
			REMAINDER WS-VAR4
	 DISPLAY "Result: " WS-VAR3.
	 DISPLAY "Remainder: " WS-VAR4.

Output -

Result: 6
Remainder: 2

COMPUTE Statement

The COMPUTE is used to perform all arithmetic operations. It is flexible because it can handle multiple arithmetic operations in one expression. The arithmetic operators used in COMPUTE statements are + (ADD), - (SUBTRACT), * (MULTIPLY), / (DIVIDE), and ** (EXPONENT) statements.

Syntax -

COMPUTE output-variable [ROUNDED] = arithmetic-expression
       [ON SIZE ERROR statements-set1]
   [NOT ON SIZE ERROR statements-set2]
[END-COMPUTE]

Examples -

Scenario1 - Adding one variable with other.

 WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
 01 WS-VAR.
    05 WS-VAR1      PIC 9(03) VALUE 50.
    05 WS-VAR2      PIC 9(03) VALUE 5.
    05 WS-VAR3      PIC 9(03).

 PROCEDURE DIVISION.
	 COMPUTE WS-VAR3 = WS-VAR1 + WS-VAR2.
	 DISPLAY "Result: " WS-VAR2.

Output -

Result: 055

Scenario2 - Subtract two variables.

 WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
 01 WS-VAR.
    05 WS-VAR1      PIC 9(03) VALUE 32.
    05 WS-VAR2      PIC 9(03) VALUE 5.
	05 WS-VAR3      PIC 9(03) VALUE 0.

 PROCEDURE DIVISION.
	 COMPUTE WS-VAR3 = WS-VAR1 - WS-VAR2.
	 DISPLAY "Result: " WS-VAR3.

Output -

Result: 027

Arithmetic Statement