COBOL Interview Questions and Answers.
COBOL Interview Questions that will help you in clearing any interview.
Can you tell me is the default, passing BY REFERENCE or passing BY CONTENT or passing BY VALUE?Answer : Passing by reference is the default.
Where do you define your data in a program if the data is passed to the program from a Caller program?
Answer : We define it in the the Linkage Section.
Can you define the structure of a COBOL subroutine.
Answer : The PROCEDURE DIVISION header must have a using a phrase, if the data needs to be passed to the program. The operands of the USING phrase must be defined in the LINKAGE SECTION as 01-level or 77-level entries. No VALUE clause is allowed unless the data defined is a condition name.
If the program needs to be returned to the CALLER, use EXIT PROGRAM statement at the end of the program. GOBACK is an alternative, but is nonstandard.
Explain what does passing BY REFERENCE mean in COBOL?
Answer : Whenever the data is passed between programs, the subprogram refers to and processes the data items in the calling program's storage, rather than working on a copy of the data. When
CALL . . . BY REFERENCE identifier. In this case, the caller and the called share the same memory.
Explain what passing BY CONTENT mean in COBOL?\
Answer : The calling program passes only the contents of the literal, or identifier. With a CALL . . . BY CONTENT, the called program cannot change the value of the literal or identifier in the calling program, even if it modifies the variable in which it received the literal or identifier.
Explain what does passing BY VALUE mean in COBOL?
Answer : The calling program or method is passing the value of the literal, or identifier, not a reference to the sending data item. The called program or the invoked method can change the parameter in the called program or invoked method. However, since the subprogram or method has access only to a temporary copy of the sending data item, these changes do not affect the argument in the calling program.
Explain what is the difference between Structured Cobol Programming and Object Oriented COBOL programming?
Answer : Structured programming is a Logical way of programming using which you divide the functionality's into modules and code logically. OOP is a Natural way of programming in which you identify the objects, first then write functions and procedures around the objects. Sorry, this may not be an adequate answer,
but they are two different programming paradigms, which is difficult to put in a sentence or two.
Can you tell me why PIC S9(4)COMP is used inspite of COMP-3 which occupy less space?
Answer : S9(4) COMP uses only 2 bytes. 9(4) COMP-3 uses 3 bytes. 3 bytes are more than 2 bytes. Hence COMP is preferred over COMP-3 in this case.
How many number of bytes and digits are involved in S9(10) COMP?
Answer : 8 bytes (double word) and 10 digits. Up to 9(9) comp use full word, up to 9(18) comp needs double word.
Which picture clause will you use to define a hexadecimal item in a VALUE clause?
Answer :
01 ws-hexitem PIC X(2) value X'020C'.
01 ws-hex redefines PIC S9(3) comp-3.
How many numbers of decimal digits are possible, when the amount of storage allocated for a USAGE COMP item is a) half word b) full word c) double word?
Answer : 2 bytes (halfword) for 1-4 Digits 4 bytes (fullword) for 5-9
8 bytes (doubleword) for 10-18
Can you specify PIC clause and a VALUE with an OCCURS clause? Will the following code compile without errors?
01 WS-TABLE.
03 WS-TABLE-EL OCCURS 5 TIMES PIC X(1) VALUE SPACES.
Answer : Yes, the code will compile without throwing any errors.
What would be the output, when the following code is executed?
01 WS-TABLE.
03 WS-TABLE-EL OCCURS 5 TIMES PIC X(1) VALUE 'AAAAA'.
Answer : It cannot be executed because the code will compile with error ' "VALUE" literal "'AAAA'" exceeded the length specified in the "PICTURE" definition'.
How many subscripts or indexes are allowed for an OCCURS clause?
Answer : We can have 7.
01 WS-TABLE.
03 WS-TABLE-EL OCCURS 5 TIMES PIC X(1) VALUE 'A'.
03 WS-EX REDEFINES WS-TABLE-EL PIC X(5).
What can you expect?
Answer : Compile error. Direct Redefinition of OCCURS clause is not allowed.
What is a scope terminator? Explain with examples.
Answer : Scope terminator is used to mark the end of a verb
For instance: EVALUATE, END-EVALUATE; IF, END-IF.
How many dimensions are allowed for a table in COBOL?
Answer : 7 dimensions are allowed for a table.
Why cannot Occurs be used in 01 level?
Answer : We cannot use because Occurs clause is there to repeat fields with the same format, but not the records.
Explain what do you mean by LOCAL-STORAGE SECTION?
Answer : Local-Storage is allocated each time the program is called and is de-allocated when the program returns via an EXIT PROGRAM, GOBACK, or STOP RUN. Any data items with a VALUE clauses are initialized to the appropriate value each time the program is called. The value in the data items is lost when the program returns. It is defined in the DATA DIVISION after WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
Can a REDEFINES clause be used along with an OCCURS clause?
Answer : Yes, if the REDEFINES clause is subordinate to OCCURS clause.
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