Edited pictures in COBOL

MOVE into an edited picture is how COBOL formats numbers for people.

IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. EDITED-PICTURES.
DATA DIVISION.
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
01 RAW-TOTAL    PIC 9(5)V99 VALUE 1234.5.
01 PRICE-OUT    PIC $$$,$$9.99.
01 STOCK-RAW    PIC 9(4) VALUE 87.
01 STOCK-OUT    PIC Z,ZZ9.
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
*> MOVE into an edited picture formats the digits for people.
    MOVE RAW-TOTAL TO PRICE-OUT
    MOVE STOCK-RAW TO STOCK-OUT
    DISPLAY "Invoice total: " PRICE-OUT
    DISPLAY "On the shelf:  " STOCK-OUT
    STOP RUN.

How it works

1. $$$,$$9.99 floats a dollar sign against the first digit and inserts the comma.
2. Z,ZZ9 replaces leading zeros with spaces so 87 prints as bare 87.
3. The MOVE does the formatting; DISPLAY just prints the edited field.

Keywords and builtins used here

• DATA
• DISPLAY
• DIVISION
• IDENTIFICATION
• MOVE
• PROCEDURE
• SECTION
• STOP

The run, in numbers

Lines

15

Characters to type

449

Tokens

54

Three-star pace

35 tpm

At the three-star pace of 35 tokens a minute, this run takes about 93 seconds.

Type this snippet

Step 2 of 3 in Pictures, step 5 of 27 in Language basics.

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