Literal

• Literal is the constant value assigned to the variable.
• Literals can represent various types of data, such as numbers (a numeric data type), strings (an alphabetic or alphanumeric data type), or figurative constants (for both).

Literals are two types –

• Non-numeric literals.
• Numeric literals.

Non-numeric literals -

Non-numeric literals are alphabetic or alpha-numeric strings enclosed between single (' ') or double (" ") quotation marks. They allow the character set (A-Z, a-z, 0-9, and special characters).

Syntax -

VALUE "non-numeric-literal"

VALUE 'non-numeric-literal'
 
VALUE non-numeric-figurative-constant

For example - Declaring a variable to store a value HELLO.

 01 WS-VAR      PIC A(05) VALUE "HELLO".

• non-numeric-literal-value - Specifies the non-numeric literal value. From the example - It is HELLO.
• non-numeric-figurative-constant - Specifies the non-numeric figurative constant. From the example - SPACE, SPACES.

Guidelines -

Non-numeric literals follow the below guidelines -

• The quotation marks(" ") or apostrophes(' ') are excluded from the literal.
• Non-numeric literal minimum length is 1 character and maximum is 256 characters.
• Non-numeric literals are of type alphabetic or alpha-numeric.

Numeric literals -

Numeric literals are numbers that are a combination of digits (0 through 9), a sign character (+ or -), and a decimal point(.). Quotation marks(" ") or apostrophes(' ') are not required. Every numeric literal is of numeric data type.

Syntax -

VALUE numeric-literal.
				
VALUE numeric-figurative-constant.

For example - Declaring a variable of numeric type to store a value 1234.

 01 WS-VAR      PIC 9(04) VALUE 1234.

• numeric-literal - Specifies the numeric value. From the example, it is 1234.
• numeric-figurative-constant - Specifies the numeric figurative constant. For example, ZERO, ZEROES.

Guidelines -

Numeric literals follow the below rules -

• The minimum length is 1, and the maximum is 18 digits.
• It allows only one sign character. If the sign is coded as part of the literal, it should be the literal's first character.
• It allows only one decimal point. If a decimal point is part of the literal, it is considered an assumed decimal point.

Numeric Literal Types -

Numeric literals are again classified into two types, and those are -

• Fixed-point numbers.
• Floating-point numbers.

Fixed-point numeric literals -

Fixed-point numeric literals are numbers with a signed value (i.e., without mantissa and exponent). For example - +124567, 1234, -99382 etc,.

Floating-point numeric literals -

Floating-point numeric literals are specified in the form of mantissa and exponent. The below format specifies floating-point literal values -

 [+/-] mantissa E [+/-] exponent

For example - +9.999E-3 (equal to 0.009999), where 9.999 is mantissa and 3 is exponent.

Practical Example -

Scenario - Example to describe how the literals declared in COBOL program.

Code -

----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+
       ...
       WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
       01 WS-VARIRABLES.
          05 WS-NNUM-LIT          PIC X(40)
                VALUE "COBOL IS LEGACY PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE".
          05 WS-NUM-LIT           PIC 9(05)  VALUE 256.
          05 WS-FP-NUM-LIT        PIC S9(05) VALUE -128.
          05 WS-FLP-NUM-LIT       PIC -99V9(3)E-99.
       ...
       PROCEDURE DIVISION.
           DISPLAY "NON-NUMERIC LITERAL: " WS-NNUM-LIT.
           DISPLAY "NUMERIC LITERAL: " WS-NUM-LIT. 
           DISPLAY "FIXED-POINT NUMERIC LITERAL: " WS-FP-NUM-LIT.
           MOVE -9.999E-3 TO WS-FLP-NUM-LIT.
           DISPLAY "FLOATING-POINT NUMERIC LITERAL: " WS-FLP-NUM-LIT.
           ...

Output -

Explaining Example -

In the above example:

• WS-NNUM-LIT is the non-numeric literal variable assigned with non-numeric literal COBOL IS LEGACY PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE.
• WS-NUM-LIT and WS-FP-NUM-LIT are fixed-point numeric variables assigned with literals 256 and -128. WS-FLP-NUM-LIT is a floating-point numeric literal variable assigned with -9.999E-3.
• The input value mantissa is 9.999(without decimal). However, the declaration is 99V9(3). So the mantissa changed to 99.990(without decimal), and the exponent decreased by 1. i.e., the exponent changed from -3 to -4. The final value displayed is -99990E-4.