The purpose of this tab is to modify the WORKING-STORAGE
SECTION and the LINKAGE SECTION by supplementing
the descriptions automatically obtained. It complements the DATA DIVISION in the generated code. You must note that
you can also perform these tasks by specifying micropatterns directly
in the COBOL code of the instance. This solution is recommended since
you can organize the inserted lines exactly as you want to in the
COBOL code.
In this tab, you complement the standard processing of
the COBOL
DATA DIVISION by adding:
- Information in the WORKING-STORAGE SECTION,
- Sections at the end of the DATA DIVISION.
The line beginning determines the location where this
customized information is to be generated:
- at the beginning of the WORKING-STORAGE SECTION if the line beginning is alphabetic,
- at the end of the DATA DIVISION if the line beginning
is numeric.
In the
-W Lines tab, you can:
- Insert comments,
- Call Data Elements in the appropriate format,
- Call Data Structures and Segments,
- Generate the indexes used in a table search (with the SCH search operator). You must specify a Table
size value in the Data Structure - Segment. This value
generates an OCCURS clause.
Recommendation
The -CD Lines tab of the Program entity defines resources that are external to
the program (file, databases...). The -W Lines tab groups the work and linkage areas.
This way, they can
be easily organized. If you call a Data Structure in the -W Lines tab, you cannot specify all the information (such
as file matching, generation information...) you can specify in the -CD Lines tab.
Description of the tab
The -W
Lines tab shows lines, if any, which call Data Elements,
Data Structures, comments...

It is constituted
of three different parts:
- An area with a tree which represents the -W lines already inserted.
Each line begins with the icon representing the inserted element.
Next to the icon, you can see the two characters of the COBOL position, and the three characters which represent
the line number of the called element. Then,
after a comma, the information varies according to the inserted element.
On a line which calls a.
- Comment (
), you can see the text of the inserted comment
and, in parentheses, the occurs number.
- Data Element (
), you can see the
Data Element name.
- Data Structure (
), you can see
the Data Structure code in program. In parentheses,
you can see the last two characters of the Segment names if Segments have been specified for this Data Structure call. If
no Segment has been specified, you can see all segments.
- Data Structure call, if you expand the call line. There might
be one or more Segments (
). If no Segment has
been selected, all the Segments are selected by default and they are
not displayed here.
- Buttons you click to add -W lines, remove existing lines, or move
them up/down.
- Sections which open up depending on your selection in the tree.
If you select a:
- Comment, the Comment opens up.
- Data Element, the Data Element call opens
up. From there, you can access the Data Element editor tabs. You can
also change the Data Element while keeping all the information already
entered for the call.
- Data Structure, the Data Structure call opens up. From there, you can access the Data Structure editor tabs.
You can also change the Data Structure while keeping all the information
already entered for the call.
- Segment, the Segment call opens up. You
must indicate the Segment code in the Program. From there, you can also access the Segment editor tabs.