Input Output Statements

Input Output Statements

  • Input-output statements manage data transfer between the program's internal storage and external input or output devices.
  • They enable functions like reading input or writing output at runtime.

The input-output statements are –

  • ACCEPT Statement
  • DISPLAY Statement

ACCEPT Statement

ACCEPT Statement Detailed Tutorial   

ACCEPT statement receives the data from external sources like JCL or the system runtime environment during the program execution. It places the received information into the variable coded with it.

Syntax -

ACCEPT variable1.

ACCEPT variable2 [FROM  DATE [YYYYMMDD]]
                       [DAY  [YYYYDDD]]
                       [DAY-OF-WEEK]
                       [TIME].
  • variable1, Variable2 - Specifies the receiving variable, which can be a group or an elementary variable.
  • DATE - Returns the system date in YYMMDD format.
  • DATE YYYYMMDD - Returns the system date in YYYYMMDD format.
  • DAY - Returns the system date in the format YYDDD.
  • DAY YYYYDDD - Returns the system date in the format YYYYDDD.
  • DAY-OF-WEEK - Returns the system day of the week.
  • TIME - Returns the current system time in the format HHMMSSTT.

Practical Example -

Scenario - Receiving data from JCL and receiving the system date using ACCEPT statement.

Full Example    
----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+
       ...
       WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
       01 WS-VAR.
          05 WS-NAME       PIC X(20).
       ...
       PROCEDURE DIVISION.
      * Receiving name from JCL
           ACCEPT WS-NAME.
           DISPLAY 'RECEIVED NAME:  ' WS-NAME.
		   ...

JCL -

//MATEPKRJ JOB MSGLEVEL=(1,1),NOTIFY=&SYSUID
//**
//STEP01  EXEC PGM=ACCPTST
//STEPLIB  DD  DSN=MATEPK.COBOL.LOADLIB,DISP=SHR
//SYSIN    DD  *
PAWAN KUMAR Y S
/* 
//SYSOUT   DD  SYSOUT=*

Output -

RECEIVED NAME:  PAWAN KUMAR Y S

DISPLAY Statement

DISPLAY Statement Detailed Tutorial   

DISPLAY statement is used to print the variable contents to the output device. The contents are displayed from left to right on the output device.

Syntax -

DISPLAY [variable-name|literal]
  • variable-name - refers the variable name.
  • literal - refers to the literal coded with double or single quotes.

Examples -

Scenario1 - Basic DISPLAY

Full Example    
 WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
 01 WS-VAR.
    05 WS-VAR1      PIC X(05) VALUE 'HELLO'.
    05 WS-VAR2      PIC X(05) VALUE 'WORLD'.

 PROCEDURE DIVISION.
* Simple DISPLAY
     DISPLAY "MESSAGE1: " WS-VAR1.
     DISPLAY "MESSAGE2: " WS-VAR2.

Output -

MESSAGE1: HELLO
MESSAGE2: WORLD

Scenario2 - DISPLAY with multiple items

 WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
 01 WS-VAR.
    05 WS-VAR1      PIC X(05) VALUE 'HELLO'.
    05 WS-VAR2      PIC X(05) VALUE 'WORLD'.

 PROCEDURE DIVISION.
* Simple DISPLAY
     DISPLAY "MESSAGE: " WS-VAR1 " " WS-VAR2.

Output -

MESSAGE: HELLO WORLD
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