The ACCEPT statement represents one of the most fundamental and versatile input mechanisms in COBOL, serving as the primary interface between COBOL programs and external data sources including user input, system information, and environmental data. Far more than a simple input command, the ACCEPT statement embodies COBOL's philosophy of business-oriented programming by providing intuitive, English-like syntax for data acquisition while offering sophisticated capabilities for input validation, formatting, and system integration that are essential for enterprise application development.
In modern enterprise environments, the ACCEPT statement plays a crucial role in interactive applications, batch processing systems, and system integration scenarios where COBOL programs must interact with users, operating system services, and external data sources. Understanding the full capabilities of the ACCEPT statement is essential for developing robust, user-friendly applications that can handle the complex data input requirements of contemporary business systems while maintaining the reliability and performance characteristics that make COBOL indispensable for mission-critical applications.
The ACCEPT statement implements a sophisticated input processing architecture that bridges the gap between COBOL's structured data model and the various external data sources that enterprise applications must handle. This architecture encompasses multiple input methods, data conversion mechanisms, validation frameworks, and error handling strategies that work together to provide reliable, efficient data acquisition capabilities suitable for production business applications.
At its core, the ACCEPT statement manages the complex process of converting external data representations into COBOL's strongly-typed data structures. This involves character encoding conversions, numeric format validation, date and time parsing, and field-level editing that ensures data integrity throughout the input process. The statement also handles buffering, timeout management, and interrupt processing to provide responsive user interfaces while maintaining application stability.
The architectural design of the ACCEPT statement reflects COBOL's emphasis on data integrity and business rule enforcement. Unlike simple input commands in other languages, ACCEPT automatically applies the data validation rules implied by the target field's PICTURE clause, performs range checking based on field definitions, and provides comprehensive error reporting that enables applications to respond appropriately to invalid input conditions.
In enterprise environments, the ACCEPT statement serves as the foundation for sophisticated input processing patterns that handle the complex data entry requirements of business applications. These patterns include batch input processing for high-volume data entry, interactive forms processing for user-driven transactions, system integration scenarios where COBOL programs receive data from other applications, and real-time data acquisition from external systems and devices.
Modern enterprise applications often implement layered input processing architectures where ACCEPT statements work in conjunction with data validation frameworks, input transformation services, and business rule engines. This layered approach enables applications to separate concerns between data acquisition, validation, transformation, and business logic processing, resulting in more maintainable and flexible applications.
The integration of ACCEPT statements with modern middleware and service-oriented architectures enables COBOL applications to participate in contemporary enterprise integration patterns. This includes receiving data from message queues, web services, and API endpoints while maintaining the data integrity and validation capabilities that are hallmarks of COBOL programming.
The ACCEPT statement's capabilities extend far beyond simple data input to encompass comprehensive user experience design features that enable COBOL applications to provide modern, intuitive interfaces. These features include input masking for formatted data entry, real-time validation with immediate feedback, context-sensitive help systems, and error messaging that guides users toward correct input.
Advanced ACCEPT implementations support sophisticated user interface patterns including tabbed navigation, conditional field visibility, dependent field validation, and multi-step input processes. These capabilities enable COBOL applications to compete with modern applications in terms of user experience while maintaining the reliability and data integrity advantages of COBOL's structured programming model.
The design of user interfaces around ACCEPT statements requires understanding both technical capabilities and user experience principles. Effective interfaces balance ease of use with data accuracy requirements, provide clear guidance for complex input procedures, and handle error conditions gracefully while maintaining user productivity and satisfaction.
The ACCEPT statement provides multiple syntax forms designed to handle different input scenarios and data sources. Understanding these variations is crucial for selecting the appropriate form for specific application requirements and ensuring optimal performance and reliability in enterprise environments.
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PROGRAM-ID. COMPREHENSIVE-ACCEPT-SYNTAX. DATA DIVISION. WORKING-STORAGE SECTION. *> Comprehensive demonstration of ACCEPT statement syntax variations *> Covering all major forms and use cases in enterprise environments 01 INPUT-DATA-STRUCTURES. 05 USER-NAME PIC X(30). 05 USER-AGE PIC 9(3). 05 SALARY-AMOUNT PIC 9(7)V99. 05 DATE-OF-BIRTH PIC X(8). 05 EMPLOYEE-ID PIC X(10). 05 DEPARTMENT-CODE PIC X(5). 01 SYSTEM-INFORMATION. 05 CURRENT-DATE-TIME PIC X(21). 05 CURRENT-DATE-YYYYMMDD PIC 9(8). 05 CURRENT-TIME-HHMMSS PIC 9(6). 05 CURRENT-DAY-OF-WEEK PIC 9. 05 SYSTEM-USER-ID PIC X(20). 05 CONSOLE-NAME PIC X(20). 01 COMMAND-LINE-DATA. 05 ARGUMENT-NUMBER PIC 9(3). 05 ARGUMENT-VALUE PIC X(100). 05 COMMAND-LINE-LENGTH PIC 9(5). 05 FULL-COMMAND-LINE PIC X(500). 01 ENVIRONMENTAL-DATA. 05 ENVIRONMENT-VAR-NAME PIC X(50). 05 ENVIRONMENT-VAR-VALUE PIC X(200). 05 JOB-NAME PIC X(20). 05 STEP-NAME PIC X(20). 01 VALIDATION-CONTROLS. 05 INPUT-VALID-FLAG PIC X VALUE 'N'. 88 INPUT-VALID VALUE 'Y'. 88 INPUT-INVALID VALUE 'N'. 05 RETRY-COUNT PIC 9(2) VALUE 0. 05 MAX-RETRIES PIC 9(2) VALUE 3. PROCEDURE DIVISION. MAIN-DEMONSTRATION. DISPLAY "=== Comprehensive ACCEPT Statement Demonstration ===". DISPLAY " ". PERFORM BASIC-ACCEPT-FORMS PERFORM SYSTEM-DATA-ACCEPT PERFORM COMMAND-LINE-ACCEPT PERFORM ENVIRONMENTAL-ACCEPT PERFORM ADVANCED-INPUT-PATTERNS PERFORM VALIDATION-AND-ERROR-HANDLING DISPLAY " ". DISPLAY "ACCEPT demonstration completed successfully". STOP RUN. BASIC-ACCEPT-FORMS. DISPLAY "1. Basic ACCEPT Statement Forms:". DISPLAY " =============================". *> Simple terminal input DISPLAY " Enter your name: " WITH NO ADVANCING. ACCEPT USER-NAME. DISPLAY " Hello, " USER-NAME. *> Numeric input with validation DISPLAY " Enter your age (0-999): " WITH NO ADVANCING. ACCEPT USER-AGE. IF USER-AGE > 0 AND USER-AGE < 120 DISPLAY " Age recorded: " USER-AGE " years" ELSE DISPLAY " Age seems unusual: " USER-AGE END-IF. *> Formatted numeric input DISPLAY " Enter salary amount (format: NNNNNNN.NN): " WITH NO ADVANCING. ACCEPT SALARY-AMOUNT. DISPLAY " Salary recorded: $" SALARY-AMOUNT. DISPLAY " ". SYSTEM-DATA-ACCEPT. DISPLAY "2. System Information ACCEPT:". DISPLAY " ==========================". *> Current date and time ACCEPT CURRENT-DATE-TIME FROM DATE-TIME. DISPLAY " Current date/time: " CURRENT-DATE-TIME. ACCEPT CURRENT-DATE-YYYYMMDD FROM DATE YYYYMMDD. DISPLAY " Current date (YYYYMMDD): " CURRENT-DATE-YYYYMMDD. ACCEPT CURRENT-TIME-HHMMSS FROM TIME. DISPLAY " Current time (HHMMSS): " CURRENT-TIME-HHMMSS. ACCEPT CURRENT-DAY-OF-WEEK FROM DAY-OF-WEEK. DISPLAY " Day of week (1=Monday): " CURRENT-DAY-OF-WEEK. *> User and system identification ACCEPT SYSTEM-USER-ID FROM USER NAME. DISPLAY " System user ID: " SYSTEM-USER-ID. ACCEPT CONSOLE-NAME FROM CONSOLE. DISPLAY " Console name: " CONSOLE-NAME. DISPLAY " ". COMMAND-LINE-ACCEPT. DISPLAY "3. Command Line Parameter ACCEPT:". DISPLAY " ===============================". *> Command line argument count ACCEPT ARGUMENT-NUMBER FROM ARGUMENT-NUMBER. DISPLAY " Number of command line arguments: " ARGUMENT-NUMBER. *> Individual command line arguments IF ARGUMENT-NUMBER > 0 PERFORM VARYING WS-ARG-INDEX FROM 1 BY 1 UNTIL WS-ARG-INDEX > ARGUMENT-NUMBER ACCEPT ARGUMENT-VALUE FROM ARGUMENT-VALUE(WS-ARG-INDEX) DISPLAY " Argument " WS-ARG-INDEX ": " ARGUMENT-VALUE END-PERFORM ELSE DISPLAY " No command line arguments provided" END-IF. *> Complete command line ACCEPT FULL-COMMAND-LINE FROM COMMAND-LINE. DISPLAY " Full command line: " FULL-COMMAND-LINE. DISPLAY " ". ENVIRONMENTAL-ACCEPT. DISPLAY "4. Environmental Data ACCEPT:". DISPLAY " ===========================". *> Environment variables MOVE "PATH" TO ENVIRONMENT-VAR-NAME. ACCEPT ENVIRONMENT-VAR-VALUE FROM ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENT-VAR-NAME. DISPLAY " PATH environment variable: " ENVIRONMENT-VAR-VALUE(1:50) "...". MOVE "USER" TO ENVIRONMENT-VAR-NAME. ACCEPT ENVIRONMENT-VAR-VALUE FROM ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENT-VAR-NAME. DISPLAY " USER environment variable: " ENVIRONMENT-VAR-VALUE. *> Job and step information (mainframe environments) ACCEPT JOB-NAME FROM JOBNAME. DISPLAY " Job name: " JOB-NAME. ACCEPT STEP-NAME FROM STEPNAME. DISPLAY " Step name: " STEP-NAME. DISPLAY " ". ADVANCED-INPUT-PATTERNS. DISPLAY "5. Advanced Input Processing Patterns:". DISPLAY " ====================================". PERFORM VALIDATED-INPUT-PATTERN PERFORM FORMATTED-INPUT-PATTERN PERFORM CONDITIONAL-INPUT-PATTERN PERFORM BULK-INPUT-PATTERN. VALIDATED-INPUT-PATTERN. DISPLAY " Validated Input Pattern:". MOVE 'N' TO INPUT-VALID-FLAG. MOVE 0 TO RETRY-COUNT. PERFORM UNTIL INPUT-VALID OR RETRY-COUNT >= MAX-RETRIES DISPLAY " Enter employee ID (EMP######): " WITH NO ADVANCING ACCEPT EMPLOYEE-ID PERFORM VALIDATE-EMPLOYEE-ID IF INPUT-INVALID ADD 1 TO RETRY-COUNT DISPLAY " Invalid format. Please use EMP followed by 6 digits." IF RETRY-COUNT < MAX-RETRIES DISPLAY " Attempts remaining: " (MAX-RETRIES - RETRY-COUNT) END-IF END-IF END-PERFORM. IF INPUT-VALID DISPLAY " Valid employee ID accepted: " EMPLOYEE-ID ELSE DISPLAY " Maximum retries exceeded. Using default ID." MOVE "EMP000000" TO EMPLOYEE-ID END-IF. VALIDATE-EMPLOYEE-ID. IF EMPLOYEE-ID(1:3) = "EMP" AND EMPLOYEE-ID(4:6) IS NUMERIC MOVE 'Y' TO INPUT-VALID-FLAG ELSE MOVE 'N' TO INPUT-VALID-FLAG END-IF. FORMATTED-INPUT-PATTERN. DISPLAY " Formatted Input Pattern:". DISPLAY " Enter date of birth (MMDDYYYY): " WITH NO ADVANCING. ACCEPT DATE-OF-BIRTH. *> Format validation and conversion IF DATE-OF-BIRTH IS NUMERIC AND FUNCTION LENGTH(FUNCTION TRIM(DATE-OF-BIRTH)) = 8 PERFORM FORMAT-DATE-DISPLAY ELSE DISPLAY " Invalid date format. Expected MMDDYYYY." END-IF. FORMAT-DATE-DISPLAY. DISPLAY " Formatted date: " DATE-OF-BIRTH(1:2) "/" DATE-OF-BIRTH(3:2) "/" DATE-OF-BIRTH(5:4). CONDITIONAL-INPUT-PATTERN. DISPLAY " Conditional Input Pattern:". DISPLAY " Enter department code (SALES/TECH/ADMIN): " WITH NO ADVANCING. ACCEPT DEPARTMENT-CODE. EVALUATE FUNCTION UPPER-CASE(DEPARTMENT-CODE) WHEN "SALES" DISPLAY " Sales department selected" PERFORM SALES-SPECIFIC-INPUT WHEN "TECH" DISPLAY " Technology department selected" PERFORM TECH-SPECIFIC-INPUT WHEN "ADMIN" DISPLAY " Administration department selected" PERFORM ADMIN-SPECIFIC-INPUT WHEN OTHER DISPLAY " Unknown department: " DEPARTMENT-CODE DISPLAY " Using default processing" END-EVALUATE. SALES-SPECIFIC-INPUT. DISPLAY " Enter sales region: " WITH NO ADVANCING. ACCEPT WS-SALES-REGION. DISPLAY " Sales region: " WS-SALES-REGION. TECH-SPECIFIC-INPUT. DISPLAY " Enter programming language: " WITH NO ADVANCING. ACCEPT WS-TECH-SKILL. DISPLAY " Primary skill: " WS-TECH-SKILL. ADMIN-SPECIFIC-INPUT. DISPLAY " Enter clearance level (1-5): " WITH NO ADVANCING. ACCEPT WS-CLEARANCE-LEVEL. DISPLAY " Clearance level: " WS-CLEARANCE-LEVEL. BULK-INPUT-PATTERN. DISPLAY " Bulk Input Processing Pattern:". DISPLAY " Enter number of records to process: " WITH NO ADVANCING. ACCEPT WS-RECORD-COUNT. IF WS-RECORD-COUNT > 0 AND WS-RECORD-COUNT <= 100 PERFORM PROCESS-BULK-RECORDS ELSE DISPLAY " Invalid record count. Must be 1-100." END-IF. PROCESS-BULK-RECORDS. PERFORM VARYING WS-RECORD-INDEX FROM 1 BY 1 UNTIL WS-RECORD-INDEX > WS-RECORD-COUNT DISPLAY " Record " WS-RECORD-INDEX " - Enter name: " WITH NO ADVANCING ACCEPT WS-TEMP-NAME DISPLAY " Record " WS-RECORD-INDEX " - Enter value: " WITH NO ADVANCING ACCEPT WS-TEMP-VALUE *> Store in array or process immediately MOVE WS-TEMP-NAME TO BULK-NAMES(WS-RECORD-INDEX) MOVE WS-TEMP-VALUE TO BULK-VALUES(WS-RECORD-INDEX) DISPLAY " Recorded: " WS-TEMP-NAME " = " WS-TEMP-VALUE END-PERFORM. DISPLAY " Bulk input processing completed for " WS-RECORD-COUNT " records". VALIDATION-AND-ERROR-HANDLING. DISPLAY "6. Validation and Error Handling:". DISPLAY " ==============================". PERFORM COMPREHENSIVE-INPUT-VALIDATION PERFORM ERROR-RECOVERY-PATTERNS PERFORM INPUT-SANITIZATION-DEMO. COMPREHENSIVE-INPUT-VALIDATION. DISPLAY " Comprehensive Input Validation:". *> Multi-level validation example MOVE 'N' TO INPUT-VALID-FLAG. MOVE 0 TO RETRY-COUNT. PERFORM UNTIL INPUT-VALID OR RETRY-COUNT >= MAX-RETRIES DISPLAY " Enter numeric value (1-999999): " WITH NO ADVANCING ACCEPT WS-NUMERIC-INPUT PERFORM VALIDATE-NUMERIC-INPUT IF INPUT-INVALID ADD 1 TO RETRY-COUNT PERFORM DISPLAY-VALIDATION-ERROR END-IF END-PERFORM. VALIDATE-NUMERIC-INPUT. *> Check if input is numeric IF WS-NUMERIC-INPUT IS NOT NUMERIC MOVE "Input contains non-numeric characters" TO WS-ERROR-MESSAGE MOVE 'N' TO INPUT-VALID-FLAG EXIT PARAGRAPH END-IF. *> Check range IF WS-NUMERIC-INPUT < 1 OR WS-NUMERIC-INPUT > 999999 MOVE "Input value outside valid range (1-999999)" TO WS-ERROR-MESSAGE MOVE 'N' TO INPUT-VALID-FLAG EXIT PARAGRAPH END-IF. *> Additional business rule validation IF FUNCTION MOD(WS-NUMERIC-INPUT, 2) = 0 DISPLAY " Note: Even number entered" ELSE DISPLAY " Note: Odd number entered" END-IF. MOVE 'Y' TO INPUT-VALID-FLAG. DISPLAY-VALIDATION-ERROR. DISPLAY " ERROR: " WS-ERROR-MESSAGE. IF RETRY-COUNT < MAX-RETRIES DISPLAY " Please try again. Attempts remaining: " (MAX-RETRIES - RETRY-COUNT) ELSE DISPLAY " Maximum attempts reached. Using default value." END-IF. ERROR-RECOVERY-PATTERNS. DISPLAY " Error Recovery Patterns:". *> Demonstrate various error recovery strategies PERFORM TIMEOUT-RECOVERY-DEMO PERFORM DEFAULT-VALUE-RECOVERY PERFORM ALTERNATIVE-INPUT-METHODS. TIMEOUT-RECOVERY-DEMO. DISPLAY " Timeout Recovery Demonstration:". DISPLAY " (Simulated - actual timeout would use system features)". *> In real implementation, this would use actual timeout mechanisms DISPLAY " Input prompt with timeout: " WITH NO ADVANCING. ACCEPT WS-TIMEOUT-INPUT. IF WS-TIMEOUT-INPUT = SPACES DISPLAY " Timeout occurred - using default value" MOVE "DEFAULT" TO WS-TIMEOUT-INPUT ELSE DISPLAY " Input received: " WS-TIMEOUT-INPUT END-IF. DEFAULT-VALUE-RECOVERY. DISPLAY " Default Value Recovery:". DISPLAY " Enter optional comment (or press Enter for none): " WITH NO ADVANCING. ACCEPT WS-OPTIONAL-COMMENT. IF WS-OPTIONAL-COMMENT = SPACES MOVE "No comment provided" TO WS-OPTIONAL-COMMENT END-IF. DISPLAY " Comment: " WS-OPTIONAL-COMMENT. ALTERNATIVE-INPUT-METHODS. DISPLAY " Alternative Input Methods:". *> Demonstrate fallback input methods DISPLAY " Primary input method (standard ACCEPT):". DISPLAY " Enter value: " WITH NO ADVANCING. ACCEPT WS-PRIMARY-INPUT. IF WS-PRIMARY-INPUT = SPACES DISPLAY " Primary input failed, trying alternative..." PERFORM ALTERNATIVE-INPUT-SOURCE ELSE DISPLAY " Primary input successful: " WS-PRIMARY-INPUT END-IF. ALTERNATIVE-INPUT-SOURCE. *> In real applications, this might read from a file, *> environment variable, or configuration source MOVE "ALT-SOURCE-VALUE" TO WS-PRIMARY-INPUT. DISPLAY " Alternative source provided: " WS-PRIMARY-INPUT. INPUT-SANITIZATION-DEMO. DISPLAY " Input Sanitization Demonstration:". DISPLAY " Enter text with potential special characters: " WITH NO ADVANCING. ACCEPT WS-RAW-INPUT. PERFORM SANITIZE-INPUT. DISPLAY " Original input: " WS-RAW-INPUT. DISPLAY " Sanitized input: " WS-SANITIZED-INPUT. SANITIZE-INPUT. *> Basic input sanitization MOVE WS-RAW-INPUT TO WS-SANITIZED-INPUT. *> Remove or replace potentially problematic characters INSPECT WS-SANITIZED-INPUT REPLACING ALL "'" BY " ". INSPECT WS-SANITIZED-INPUT REPLACING ALL '"' BY " ". INSPECT WS-SANITIZED-INPUT REPLACING ALL ";" BY " ". *> Trim leading and trailing spaces MOVE FUNCTION TRIM(WS-SANITIZED-INPUT) TO WS-SANITIZED-INPUT. *> Working storage for demonstrations 01 WS-ARG-INDEX PIC 9(3). 01 WS-SALES-REGION PIC X(20). 01 WS-TECH-SKILL PIC X(20). 01 WS-CLEARANCE-LEVEL PIC 9. 01 WS-RECORD-COUNT PIC 9(3). 01 WS-RECORD-INDEX PIC 9(3). 01 WS-TEMP-NAME PIC X(30). 01 WS-TEMP-VALUE PIC X(50). 01 WS-NUMERIC-INPUT PIC 9(6). 01 WS-ERROR-MESSAGE PIC X(80). 01 WS-TIMEOUT-INPUT PIC X(50). 01 WS-OPTIONAL-COMMENT PIC X(100). 01 WS-PRIMARY-INPUT PIC X(50). 01 WS-RAW-INPUT PIC X(100). 01 WS-SANITIZED-INPUT PIC X(100). 01 BULK-DATA-STORAGE. 05 BULK-NAMES OCCURS 100 TIMES PIC X(30). 05 BULK-VALUES OCCURS 100 TIMES PIC X(50).
Beyond basic input processing, the ACCEPT statement provides access to a wealth of system information and specialized data sources that are essential for enterprise application development. These advanced forms enable COBOL programs to integrate seamlessly with their operating environment and access the contextual information needed for sophisticated business logic implementation.
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PROGRAM-ID. ADVANCED-ACCEPT-SOURCES. *> Comprehensive demonstration of advanced ACCEPT statement sources *> Including system information, environmental data, and specialized input DATA DIVISION. WORKING-STORAGE SECTION. *> Advanced system information structures 01 ADVANCED-SYSTEM-INFO. 05 SYSTEM-DATE-INFO. 10 ACCEPT-DATE PIC 9(6). *> YYMMDD 10 ACCEPT-DATE-YYYYMMDD PIC 9(8). *> YYYYMMDD 10 ACCEPT-DAY PIC 9(5). *> Julian day 10 ACCEPT-DAY-YYYYDDD PIC 9(7). *> YYYYDDD 10 ACCEPT-TIME PIC 9(6). *> HHMMSS 10 ACCEPT-TIME-MS PIC 9(8). *> HHMMSSCC 05 SYSTEM-IDENTITY-INFO. 10 USER-ID PIC X(20). 10 TERMINAL-ID PIC X(20). 10 TRANSACTION-ID PIC X(10). 10 PROGRAM-ID-CURRENT PIC X(30). 05 SYSTEM-STATUS-INFO. 10 RETURN-CODE PIC S9(4) COMP. 10 ERROR-STATUS PIC X(10). 10 EXCEPTION-STATUS PIC X(20). *> Enhanced environmental data 01 ENVIRONMENTAL-CONTEXT. 05 JOB-INFORMATION. 10 JOB-ID PIC X(20). 10 JOB-NAME-FULL PIC X(30). 10 JOB-STEP-NAME PIC X(20). 10 JOB-STEP-NUMBER PIC 9(3). 10 JOB-CLASS PIC X(5). 05 SYSTEM-PARAMETERS. 10 SYSTEM-NAME PIC X(20). 10 SYSTEM-VERSION PIC X(20). 10 CPU-ID PIC X(10). 10 LPAR-NAME PIC X(10). 05 ENVIRONMENT-VARIABLES. 10 ENV-VAR-COUNT PIC 9(4). 10 ENV-VARS OCCURS 100 TIMES. 15 ENV-VAR-NAME PIC X(50). 15 ENV-VAR-VALUE PIC X(200). *> Command line and parameter processing 01 COMMAND-LINE-PROCESSING. 05 COMMAND-LINE-DATA. 10 CMD-LINE-LENGTH PIC 9(5). 10 CMD-LINE-TEXT PIC X(1000). 10 CMD-ARG-COUNT PIC 9(3). 05 PARSED-ARGUMENTS. 10 CMD-ARGS OCCURS 50 TIMES. 15 ARG-TYPE PIC X(10). *> FLAG, PARAM, VALUE 15 ARG-NAME PIC X(30). 15 ARG-VALUE PIC X(100). 15 ARG-POSITION PIC 9(3). *> Performance and monitoring data 01 PERFORMANCE-MONITORING. 05 TIMING-INFORMATION. 10 START-TIME PIC 9(15). 10 CURRENT-TIME-STAMP PIC 9(15). 10 ELAPSED-TIME PIC 9(10). 10 CPU-TIME-USED PIC 9(10). 05 RESOURCE-UTILIZATION. 10 MEMORY-USED PIC 9(10). 10 FILE-COUNT PIC 9(5). 10 IO-OPERATIONS PIC 9(10). 10 NETWORK-ACTIVITY PIC 9(10). *> Security and audit information 01 SECURITY-CONTEXT. 05 USER-CREDENTIALS. 10 USER-NAME-FULL PIC X(50). 10 USER-GROUP PIC X(30). 10 USER-ROLE PIC X(20). 10 SECURITY-LEVEL PIC 9(2). 05 SESSION-INFORMATION. 10 SESSION-ID PIC X(32). 10 LOGIN-TIME PIC X(14). 10 LAST-ACTIVITY PIC X(14). 10 SESSION-TIMEOUT PIC 9(5). PROCEDURE DIVISION. MAIN-ADVANCED-DEMO. DISPLAY "=== Advanced ACCEPT Sources Demonstration ===". DISPLAY " ". PERFORM COMPREHENSIVE-SYSTEM-INFO PERFORM ENVIRONMENTAL-DATA-COLLECTION PERFORM COMMAND-LINE-ANALYSIS PERFORM PERFORMANCE-DATA-GATHERING PERFORM SECURITY-CONTEXT-RETRIEVAL PERFORM SPECIALIZED-ACCEPT-PATTERNS DISPLAY " ". DISPLAY "Advanced ACCEPT demonstration completed". STOP RUN. COMPREHENSIVE-SYSTEM-INFO. DISPLAY "1. Comprehensive System Information:". DISPLAY " =================================". *> Enhanced date and time information ACCEPT ACCEPT-DATE FROM DATE. ACCEPT ACCEPT-DATE-YYYYMMDD FROM DATE YYYYMMDD. ACCEPT ACCEPT-DAY FROM DAY. ACCEPT ACCEPT-DAY-YYYYDDD FROM DAY YYYYDDD. ACCEPT ACCEPT-TIME FROM TIME. DISPLAY " Date Information:". DISPLAY " Current date (YYMMDD): " ACCEPT-DATE. DISPLAY " Current date (YYYYMMDD): " ACCEPT-DATE-YYYYMMDD. DISPLAY " Julian day (YYDDD): " ACCEPT-DAY. DISPLAY " Julian day (YYYYDDD): " ACCEPT-DAY-YYYYDDD. DISPLAY " Current time (HHMMSS): " ACCEPT-TIME. *> System identity and context ACCEPT USER-ID FROM USER NAME. ACCEPT TERMINAL-ID FROM TERMINAL. DISPLAY " System Identity:". DISPLAY " User ID: " USER-ID. DISPLAY " Terminal ID: " TERMINAL-ID. *> Calculate formatted date display PERFORM FORMAT-SYSTEM-DATES. DISPLAY " ". FORMAT-SYSTEM-DATES. DISPLAY " Formatted Date Information:". *> Format YYYYMMDD as MM/DD/YYYY DISPLAY " Formatted date: " ACCEPT-DATE-YYYYMMDD(5:2) "/" ACCEPT-DATE-YYYYMMDD(7:2) "/" ACCEPT-DATE-YYYYMMDD(1:4). *> Format time as HH:MM:SS DISPLAY " Formatted time: " ACCEPT-TIME(1:2) ":" ACCEPT-TIME(3:2) ":" ACCEPT-TIME(5:2). ENVIRONMENTAL-DATA-COLLECTION. DISPLAY "2. Environmental Data Collection:". DISPLAY " ==============================". PERFORM COLLECT-JOB-INFORMATION PERFORM COLLECT-SYSTEM-PARAMETERS PERFORM COLLECT-ENVIRONMENT-VARIABLES. COLLECT-JOB-INFORMATION. DISPLAY " Job Information:". *> Job identification ACCEPT JOB-NAME-FULL FROM JOBNAME. ACCEPT JOB-STEP-NAME FROM STEPNAME. DISPLAY " Job name: " JOB-NAME-FULL. DISPLAY " Step name: " JOB-STEP-NAME. *> Additional job context (platform-specific) MOVE "UNKNOWN" TO JOB-CLASS. MOVE 0 TO JOB-STEP-NUMBER. DISPLAY " Job class: " JOB-CLASS. DISPLAY " Step number: " JOB-STEP-NUMBER. COLLECT-SYSTEM-PARAMETERS. DISPLAY " System Parameters:". *> System identification MOVE "SYSTEM-NAME" TO SYSTEM-NAME. ACCEPT SYSTEM-NAME FROM ENVIRONMENT "HOSTNAME". IF SYSTEM-NAME = SPACES MOVE "UNKNOWN-HOST" TO SYSTEM-NAME END-IF. DISPLAY " System name: " SYSTEM-NAME. *> Operating system information MOVE "OS-VERSION" TO SYSTEM-VERSION. ACCEPT SYSTEM-VERSION FROM ENVIRONMENT "OS". IF SYSTEM-VERSION = SPACES MOVE "UNKNOWN-OS" TO SYSTEM-VERSION END-IF. DISPLAY " System version: " SYSTEM-VERSION. COLLECT-ENVIRONMENT-VARIABLES. DISPLAY " Environment Variables:". *> Collect key environment variables PERFORM COLLECT-SINGLE-ENV-VAR USING "PATH" 1. PERFORM COLLECT-SINGLE-ENV-VAR USING "USER" 2. PERFORM COLLECT-SINGLE-ENV-VAR USING "HOME" 3. PERFORM COLLECT-SINGLE-ENV-VAR USING "TEMP" 4. PERFORM COLLECT-SINGLE-ENV-VAR USING "LANG" 5. MOVE 5 TO ENV-VAR-COUNT. PERFORM VARYING WS-ENV-INDEX FROM 1 BY 1 UNTIL WS-ENV-INDEX > ENV-VAR-COUNT IF ENV-VAR-VALUE(WS-ENV-INDEX) NOT = SPACES DISPLAY " " ENV-VAR-NAME(WS-ENV-INDEX) ": " ENV-VAR-VALUE(WS-ENV-INDEX)(1:50) IF FUNCTION LENGTH(FUNCTION TRIM(ENV-VAR-VALUE(WS-ENV-INDEX))) > 50 DISPLAY " (truncated)" END-IF END-IF END-PERFORM. COLLECT-SINGLE-ENV-VAR USING WS-VAR-NAME WS-VAR-INDEX. MOVE WS-VAR-NAME TO ENV-VAR-NAME(WS-VAR-INDEX). ACCEPT ENV-VAR-VALUE(WS-VAR-INDEX) FROM ENVIRONMENT WS-VAR-NAME. IF ENV-VAR-VALUE(WS-VAR-INDEX) = SPACES MOVE "Not set" TO ENV-VAR-VALUE(WS-VAR-INDEX) END-IF. COMMAND-LINE-ANALYSIS. DISPLAY "3. Command Line Analysis:". DISPLAY " ======================". PERFORM RETRIEVE-COMMAND-LINE PERFORM PARSE-COMMAND-ARGUMENTS PERFORM DISPLAY-PARSED-ARGUMENTS. RETRIEVE-COMMAND-LINE. *> Get complete command line ACCEPT CMD-LINE-TEXT FROM COMMAND-LINE. MOVE FUNCTION LENGTH(FUNCTION TRIM(CMD-LINE-TEXT)) TO CMD-LINE-LENGTH. DISPLAY " Command Line Data:". DISPLAY " Length: " CMD-LINE-LENGTH " characters". DISPLAY " Text: " CMD-LINE-TEXT(1:100). IF CMD-LINE-LENGTH > 100 DISPLAY " (truncated for display)" END-IF. *> Get argument count ACCEPT CMD-ARG-COUNT FROM ARGUMENT-NUMBER. DISPLAY " Argument count: " CMD-ARG-COUNT. PARSE-COMMAND-ARGUMENTS. *> Parse individual arguments IF CMD-ARG-COUNT > 0 PERFORM VARYING WS-ARG-INDEX FROM 1 BY 1 UNTIL WS-ARG-INDEX > CMD-ARG-COUNT OR WS-ARG-INDEX > 50 ACCEPT WS-CURRENT-ARG FROM ARGUMENT-VALUE(WS-ARG-INDEX) PERFORM CLASSIFY-ARGUMENT USING WS-ARG-INDEX WS-CURRENT-ARG END-PERFORM END-IF. CLASSIFY-ARGUMENT USING WS-INDEX WS-ARGUMENT. MOVE WS-INDEX TO ARG-POSITION(WS-INDEX). MOVE WS-ARGUMENT TO ARG-VALUE(WS-INDEX). *> Classify argument type IF WS-ARGUMENT(1:1) = "-" IF WS-ARGUMENT(2:1) = "-" MOVE "LONG-FLAG" TO ARG-TYPE(WS-INDEX) MOVE WS-ARGUMENT(3:) TO ARG-NAME(WS-INDEX) ELSE MOVE "SHORT-FLAG" TO ARG-TYPE(WS-INDEX) MOVE WS-ARGUMENT(2:) TO ARG-NAME(WS-INDEX) END-IF ELSE MOVE "VALUE" TO ARG-TYPE(WS-INDEX) MOVE WS-ARGUMENT TO ARG-NAME(WS-INDEX) END-IF. DISPLAY-PARSED-ARGUMENTS. DISPLAY " Parsed Arguments:". IF CMD-ARG-COUNT > 0 PERFORM VARYING WS-ARG-INDEX FROM 1 BY 1 UNTIL WS-ARG-INDEX > CMD-ARG-COUNT OR WS-ARG-INDEX > 50 DISPLAY " [" ARG-POSITION(WS-ARG-INDEX) "] " ARG-TYPE(WS-ARG-INDEX) ": " ARG-NAME(WS-ARG-INDEX) END-PERFORM ELSE DISPLAY " No arguments to parse" END-IF. PERFORMANCE-DATA-GATHERING. DISPLAY "4. Performance Data Gathering:". DISPLAY " ============================". PERFORM COLLECT-TIMING-DATA PERFORM COLLECT-RESOURCE-DATA PERFORM ANALYZE-PERFORMANCE-METRICS. COLLECT-TIMING-DATA. *> Collect various timing information ACCEPT START-TIME FROM TIME. ACCEPT CURRENT-TIME-STAMP FROM DATE-TIME. DISPLAY " Timing Information:". DISPLAY " Start time: " START-TIME. DISPLAY " Current timestamp: " CURRENT-TIME-STAMP. *> Simulate some processing time PERFORM 1000 TIMES COMPUTE WS-DUMMY = WS-DUMMY + 1 END-PERFORM. ACCEPT WS-END-TIME FROM TIME. COMPUTE ELAPSED-TIME = WS-END-TIME - START-TIME. DISPLAY " Processing time: " ELAPSED-TIME " centiseconds". COLLECT-RESOURCE-DATA. DISPLAY " Resource Utilization:". *> Simulated resource data (actual implementation would use system APIs) MOVE 1024000 TO MEMORY-USED. MOVE 15 TO FILE-COUNT. MOVE 500 TO IO-OPERATIONS. MOVE 0 TO NETWORK-ACTIVITY. DISPLAY " Memory used: " MEMORY-USED " bytes". DISPLAY " Open files: " FILE-COUNT. DISPLAY " I/O operations: " IO-OPERATIONS. DISPLAY " Network activity: " NETWORK-ACTIVITY. ANALYZE-PERFORMANCE-METRICS. DISPLAY " Performance Analysis:". IF ELAPSED-TIME < 50 DISPLAY " Performance: Excellent" ELSE IF ELAPSED-TIME < 100 DISPLAY " Performance: Good" ELSE DISPLAY " Performance: Needs optimization" END-IF END-IF. COMPUTE WS-OPS-PER-SECOND = 1000 / ELAPSED-TIME * 100. DISPLAY " Operations per second: " WS-OPS-PER-SECOND. SECURITY-CONTEXT-RETRIEVAL. DISPLAY "5. Security Context Retrieval:". DISPLAY " ============================". PERFORM COLLECT-USER-CREDENTIALS PERFORM COLLECT-SESSION-INFORMATION PERFORM ASSESS-SECURITY-LEVEL. COLLECT-USER-CREDENTIALS. DISPLAY " User Credentials:". ACCEPT USER-NAME-FULL FROM USER NAME. *> Simulate additional security information MOVE "USERS" TO USER-GROUP. MOVE "STANDARD" TO USER-ROLE. MOVE 3 TO SECURITY-LEVEL. DISPLAY " Full name: " USER-NAME-FULL. DISPLAY " Group: " USER-GROUP. DISPLAY " Role: " USER-ROLE. DISPLAY " Security level: " SECURITY-LEVEL. COLLECT-SESSION-INFORMATION. DISPLAY " Session Information:". *> Generate session-like information MOVE FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE(1:14) TO SESSION-ID(1:14). MOVE FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE(1:14) TO LOGIN-TIME. MOVE FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE(1:14) TO LAST-ACTIVITY. MOVE 1800 TO SESSION-TIMEOUT. *> 30 minutes DISPLAY " Session ID: " SESSION-ID(1:20). DISPLAY " Login time: " LOGIN-TIME. DISPLAY " Last activity: " LAST-ACTIVITY. DISPLAY " Timeout: " SESSION-TIMEOUT " seconds". ASSESS-SECURITY-LEVEL. DISPLAY " Security Assessment:". EVALUATE SECURITY-LEVEL WHEN 1 DISPLAY " Access level: Guest" WHEN 2 DISPLAY " Access level: Basic User" WHEN 3 DISPLAY " Access level: Standard User" WHEN 4 DISPLAY " Access level: Power User" WHEN 5 DISPLAY " Access level: Administrator" WHEN OTHER DISPLAY " Access level: Unknown" END-EVALUATE. SPECIALIZED-ACCEPT-PATTERNS. DISPLAY "6. Specialized ACCEPT Patterns:". DISPLAY " =============================". PERFORM CONDITIONAL-ACCEPT-PATTERN PERFORM TIMED-ACCEPT-SIMULATION PERFORM BATCH-MODE-DETECTION PERFORM PLATFORM-SPECIFIC-FEATURES. CONDITIONAL-ACCEPT-PATTERN. DISPLAY " Conditional ACCEPT Pattern:". *> Accept different data based on conditions ACCEPT WS-ENVIRONMENT-TYPE FROM ENVIRONMENT "ENVIRONMENT". IF WS-ENVIRONMENT-TYPE = SPACES MOVE "PRODUCTION" TO WS-ENVIRONMENT-TYPE END-IF. DISPLAY " Environment type: " WS-ENVIRONMENT-TYPE. EVALUATE WS-ENVIRONMENT-TYPE WHEN "DEVELOPMENT" PERFORM DEVELOPMENT-SPECIFIC-ACCEPT WHEN "TEST" PERFORM TEST-SPECIFIC-ACCEPT WHEN "PRODUCTION" PERFORM PRODUCTION-SPECIFIC-ACCEPT WHEN OTHER PERFORM DEFAULT-ACCEPT END-EVALUATE. DEVELOPMENT-SPECIFIC-ACCEPT. DISPLAY " Development mode - enhanced debugging". ACCEPT WS-DEBUG-LEVEL FROM ENVIRONMENT "DEBUG_LEVEL". IF WS-DEBUG-LEVEL = SPACES MOVE "3" TO WS-DEBUG-LEVEL END-IF. DISPLAY " Debug level: " WS-DEBUG-LEVEL. TEST-SPECIFIC-ACCEPT. DISPLAY " Test mode - test configuration". ACCEPT WS-TEST-SUITE FROM ENVIRONMENT "TEST_SUITE". IF WS-TEST-SUITE = SPACES MOVE "BASIC" TO WS-TEST-SUITE END-IF. DISPLAY " Test suite: " WS-TEST-SUITE. PRODUCTION-SPECIFIC-ACCEPT. DISPLAY " Production mode - minimal input". ACCEPT WS-LOG-LEVEL FROM ENVIRONMENT "LOG_LEVEL". IF WS-LOG-LEVEL = SPACES MOVE "ERROR" TO WS-LOG-LEVEL END-IF. DISPLAY " Log level: " WS-LOG-LEVEL. DEFAULT-ACCEPT. DISPLAY " Default mode - standard configuration". TIMED-ACCEPT-SIMULATION. DISPLAY " Timed ACCEPT Simulation:". *> Simulate timeout behavior DISPLAY " Simulating 5-second timeout...". ACCEPT WS-TIMEOUT-START FROM TIME. DISPLAY " Enter value (simulated timeout): " WITH NO ADVANCING. ACCEPT WS-TIMED-INPUT. ACCEPT WS-TIMEOUT-END FROM TIME. COMPUTE WS-INPUT-DURATION = WS-TIMEOUT-END - WS-TIMEOUT-START. IF WS-INPUT-DURATION > 500 *> 5 seconds simulated DISPLAY " Input timeout - using default" MOVE "TIMEOUT-DEFAULT" TO WS-TIMED-INPUT ELSE DISPLAY " Input received in time: " WS-TIMED-INPUT END-IF. BATCH-MODE-DETECTION. DISPLAY " Batch Mode Detection:". *> Detect if running in batch vs interactive mode ACCEPT WS-CONSOLE-TYPE FROM CONSOLE. IF WS-CONSOLE-TYPE = SPACES OR WS-CONSOLE-TYPE = "BATCH" DISPLAY " Running in batch mode" MOVE "Y" TO WS-BATCH-MODE-FLAG PERFORM BATCH-MODE-PROCESSING ELSE DISPLAY " Running in interactive mode" MOVE "N" TO WS-BATCH-MODE-FLAG PERFORM INTERACTIVE-MODE-PROCESSING END-IF. BATCH-MODE-PROCESSING. DISPLAY " Batch processing activated" DISPLAY " Using predefined parameters". INTERACTIVE-MODE-PROCESSING. DISPLAY " Interactive processing activated" DISPLAY " User input will be requested". PLATFORM-SPECIFIC-FEATURES. DISPLAY " Platform-Specific Features:". *> Demonstrate platform-specific ACCEPT features PERFORM MAINFRAME-SPECIFIC-ACCEPT PERFORM UNIX-LINUX-SPECIFIC-ACCEPT PERFORM WINDOWS-SPECIFIC-ACCEPT. MAINFRAME-SPECIFIC-ACCEPT. DISPLAY " Mainframe-specific features:". *> JCL and job-related information ACCEPT WS-JCL-MEMBER FROM ENVIRONMENT "JCL_MEMBER". IF WS-JCL-MEMBER NOT = SPACES DISPLAY " JCL member: " WS-JCL-MEMBER ELSE DISPLAY " No JCL member information" END-IF. UNIX-LINUX-SPECIFIC-ACCEPT. DISPLAY " Unix/Linux-specific features:". *> Shell and process information ACCEPT WS-SHELL-TYPE FROM ENVIRONMENT "SHELL". IF WS-SHELL-TYPE NOT = SPACES DISPLAY " Shell: " WS-SHELL-TYPE ELSE DISPLAY " Shell information not available" END-IF. WINDOWS-SPECIFIC-ACCEPT. DISPLAY " Windows-specific features:". *> Windows-specific environment ACCEPT WS-WINDOWS-USER FROM ENVIRONMENT "USERNAME". IF WS-WINDOWS-USER NOT = SPACES DISPLAY " Windows user: " WS-WINDOWS-USER ELSE DISPLAY " Windows user information not available" END-IF. *> Working storage for advanced demonstrations 01 WS-ENV-INDEX PIC 9(3). 01 WS-ARG-INDEX PIC 9(3). 01 WS-CURRENT-ARG PIC X(100). 01 WS-END-TIME PIC 9(6). 01 WS-DUMMY PIC 9(8) VALUE 0. 01 WS-OPS-PER-SECOND PIC 9(8). 01 WS-ENVIRONMENT-TYPE PIC X(20). 01 WS-DEBUG-LEVEL PIC X(5). 01 WS-TEST-SUITE PIC X(20). 01 WS-LOG-LEVEL PIC X(10). 01 WS-TIMEOUT-START PIC 9(6). 01 WS-TIMEOUT-END PIC 9(6). 01 WS-INPUT-DURATION PIC 9(6). 01 WS-TIMED-INPUT PIC X(50). 01 WS-CONSOLE-TYPE PIC X(20). 01 WS-BATCH-MODE-FLAG PIC X. 01 WS-JCL-MEMBER PIC X(20). 01 WS-SHELL-TYPE PIC X(50). 01 WS-WINDOWS-USER PIC X(50).
Enterprise applications using ACCEPT statements must implement comprehensive security measures to protect against input-based attacks, data corruption, and unauthorized access. This includes input sanitization, validation against business rules, length checking, character filtering, and protection against injection attacks that could compromise system security or data integrity.
Modern security frameworks for COBOL input processing include multi-layer validation where data is checked at the syntax level, semantic level, and business rule level. This approach ensures that invalid data is caught as early as possible in the processing chain, reducing the risk of downstream problems and providing clear feedback to users about input requirements.
The implementation of security measures must balance protection with usability, ensuring that legitimate users can complete their tasks efficiently while preventing malicious or accidental data corruption. This requires careful design of validation rules, error messages, and recovery procedures that guide users toward successful task completion.
Optimizing ACCEPT statement performance is crucial for applications that handle high volumes of input or require rapid response times. Performance optimization strategies include minimizing validation overhead, implementing efficient buffering mechanisms, reducing I/O operations through batching, and using appropriate data structures for temporary storage and processing.
Advanced performance techniques include predictive input caching where commonly used values are pre-loaded, asynchronous input processing that separates data acquisition from validation and processing, and intelligent validation sequencing that performs expensive checks only when necessary. These techniques can significantly improve user experience in interactive applications and increase throughput in batch processing scenarios.
Performance monitoring and tuning require understanding the specific characteristics of the application's input patterns, user behavior, and system constraints. Regular performance analysis can identify bottlenecks and optimization opportunities that may not be apparent during initial development but become critical as application usage scales.
Modern enterprise environments require COBOL applications to integrate seamlessly with web applications, microservices, and cloud-based systems. The ACCEPT statement plays a crucial role in these integration scenarios by providing the interface between COBOL programs and contemporary data sources including REST APIs, message queues, and real-time data streams.
Integration patterns using ACCEPT statements include service proxy implementations where COBOL programs receive data from middleware layers, batch integration scenarios where COBOL processes data exported from modern systems, and real-time integration where ACCEPT statements handle streaming data from contemporary applications. These patterns enable organizations to leverage their COBOL investments while participating in modern architectural approaches.
The design of integration solutions must consider data format compatibility, error handling across system boundaries, performance characteristics of different integration methods, and the operational complexity of maintaining hybrid environments. Successful integration requires careful planning and design to ensure that the benefits of modern systems can be realized without compromising the reliability and performance of existing COBOL applications.