What is GIVING in COBOL arithmetic operations?

GIVING is a clause used in COBOL arithmetic statements (ADD, SUBTRACT, MULTIPLY, DIVIDE) to specify where the result of the operation should be stored. It provides a way to perform calculations without modifying the original operands.

How do I use GIVING with arithmetic statements?

Use GIVING by specifying the target variable after the GIVING keyword: ADD num1 TO num2 GIVING result, MULTIPLY price BY quantity GIVING total, or DIVIDE dividend BY divisor GIVING quotient REMAINDER remainder-var.

What's the difference between GIVING and TO in arithmetic operations?

GIVING stores the result in a separate variable without modifying operands, while TO adds the result to the receiving field. GIVING preserves original values; TO modifies the receiving field by adding the operation result to its current value.

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COBOL Tutorial

COBOL GIVING Clause

The GIVING clause represents a fundamental result storage mechanism within COBOL arithmetic operations, serving as the primary specification for defining where calculation results should be stored without modifying the original operands. This clause embodies the principles of non-destructive arithmetic by providing clean result assignment capabilities, enabling sophisticated mathematical processing patterns, and supporting efficient data preservation while maintaining operational clarity and ensuring predictable value management in enterprise applications that require precise calculation control, financial computations, and business logic implementation with reliable result handling and data integrity preservation.

Syntax and Usage

GIVING Clause Syntax

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ADD operand1 TO operand2 GIVING result-field
SUBTRACT operand1 FROM operand2 GIVING result-field
MULTIPLY operand1 BY operand2 GIVING result-field
DIVIDE operand1 BY operand2 GIVING result-field
DIVIDE operand1 INTO operand2 GIVING result-field
DIVIDE operand1 BY operand2 GIVING quotient REMAINDER remainder-field

Arithmetic

Result Storage

Non-Destructive

Basic GIVING Examples

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IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. GIVING-EXAMPLES.
 
DATA DIVISION.
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
01  ARITHMETIC-VARIABLES.
    05  NUM1                PIC 9(5)V99 VALUE 123.45.
    05  NUM2                PIC 9(5)V99 VALUE 67.89.
    05  NUM3                PIC 9(5)V99 VALUE 10.5.
    05  RESULT              PIC 9(7)V99.
    05  QUOTIENT            PIC 9(5)V99.
    05  REMAINDER           PIC 9(3)V99.
 
01  FINANCIAL-CALCULATIONS.
    05  PRINCIPAL           PIC 9(7)V99 VALUE 10000.00.
    05  INTEREST-RATE       PIC 9V9999 VALUE 0.0525.
    05  TIME-YEARS          PIC 9(2) VALUE 5.
    05  SIMPLE-INTEREST     PIC 9(7)V99.
    05  COMPOUND-AMOUNT     PIC 9(9)V99.
 
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
MAIN-PROCESSING.
    *> Basic arithmetic with GIVING
    ADD NUM1 TO NUM2 GIVING RESULT
    DISPLAY 'Addition result: ' RESULT
    DISPLAY 'Original NUM1: ' NUM1 ' NUM2: ' NUM2
    
    SUBTRACT NUM2 FROM NUM1 GIVING RESULT
    DISPLAY 'Subtraction result: ' RESULT
    
    MULTIPLY NUM1 BY NUM3 GIVING RESULT
    DISPLAY 'Multiplication result: ' RESULT
    
    DIVIDE NUM1 BY NUM3 GIVING QUOTIENT REMAINDER REMAINDER
    DISPLAY 'Division - Quotient: ' QUOTIENT ' Remainder: ' REMAINDER
    
    *> Financial calculations
    MULTIPLY PRINCIPAL BY INTEREST-RATE GIVING SIMPLE-INTEREST
    MULTIPLY SIMPLE-INTEREST BY TIME-YEARS GIVING SIMPLE-INTEREST
    DISPLAY 'Simple Interest: $' SIMPLE-INTEREST
    
    *> Compound interest calculation
    ADD 1 TO INTEREST-RATE GIVING COMPOUND-AMOUNT
    MULTIPLY COMPOUND-AMOUNT BY COMPOUND-AMOUNT GIVING COMPOUND-AMOUNT
    MULTIPLY COMPOUND-AMOUNT BY COMPOUND-AMOUNT GIVING COMPOUND-AMOUNT
    MULTIPLY COMPOUND-AMOUNT BY COMPOUND-AMOUNT GIVING COMPOUND-AMOUNT
    MULTIPLY COMPOUND-AMOUNT BY COMPOUND-AMOUNT GIVING COMPOUND-AMOUNT
    MULTIPLY PRINCIPAL BY COMPOUND-AMOUNT GIVING COMPOUND-AMOUNT
    DISPLAY 'Compound Amount: $' COMPOUND-AMOUNT
    
    STOP RUN.

Key Features and Benefits

Non-Destructive Operations

• Preserves original operand values
• Stores results in separate variables
• Enables multiple calculations
• Maintains data integrity

Flexible Result Handling

• Multiple result variables
• Quotient and remainder support
• Different precision handling
• Clean calculation patterns

Interactive Tutorial

Hands-On Exercise: Financial Calculations

Practice using GIVING for complex financial computations

Exercise 1: Payroll Calculations

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01 PAYROLL-DATA.
   05 HOURS-WORKED PIC 9(3)V9 VALUE 42.5.
   05 HOURLY-RATE PIC 9(3)V99 VALUE 25.50.
   05 OVERTIME-RATE PIC 9V99 VALUE 1.5.
   05 REGULAR-HOURS PIC 9(2) VALUE 40.
 
01 PAYROLL-RESULTS.
   05 REGULAR-PAY PIC 9(5)V99.
   05 OVERTIME-HOURS PIC 9(2)V9.
   05 OVERTIME-PAY PIC 9(5)V99.
   05 GROSS-PAY PIC 9(6)V99.
 
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
    *> Calculate regular pay
    MULTIPLY REGULAR-HOURS BY HOURLY-RATE GIVING REGULAR-PAY
    
    *> Calculate overtime
    SUBTRACT REGULAR-HOURS FROM HOURS-WORKED GIVING OVERTIME-HOURS
    MULTIPLY HOURLY-RATE BY OVERTIME-RATE GIVING OVERTIME-PAY
    MULTIPLY OVERTIME-HOURS BY OVERTIME-PAY GIVING OVERTIME-PAY
    
    *> Calculate gross pay
    ADD REGULAR-PAY TO OVERTIME-PAY GIVING GROSS-PAY.

Exercise 2: Sales Commission

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01 SALES-DATA.
   05 SALES-AMOUNT PIC 9(7)V99.
   05 BASE-COMMISSION PIC 9V9999 VALUE 0.05.
   05 BONUS-THRESHOLD PIC 9(6) VALUE 50000.
   05 BONUS-RATE PIC 9V9999 VALUE 0.02.
 
01 COMMISSION-RESULTS.
   05 BASE-COMMISSION-AMT PIC 9(5)V99.
   05 BONUS-COMMISSION PIC 9(5)V99.
   05 TOTAL-COMMISSION PIC 9(6)V99.
 
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
    MULTIPLY SALES-AMOUNT BY BASE-COMMISSION GIVING BASE-COMMISSION-AMT
    
    IF SALES-AMOUNT > BONUS-THRESHOLD
        SUBTRACT BONUS-THRESHOLD FROM SALES-AMOUNT GIVING BONUS-COMMISSION
        MULTIPLY BONUS-COMMISSION BY BONUS-RATE GIVING BONUS-COMMISSION
    ELSE
        MOVE ZERO TO BONUS-COMMISSION
    END-IF
    
    ADD BASE-COMMISSION-AMT TO BONUS-COMMISSION GIVING TOTAL-COMMISSION.

Advanced GIVING Patterns

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IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. ADVANCED-GIVING-PATTERNS.
 
DATA DIVISION.
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
01  LOAN-CALCULATIONS.
    05  LOAN-AMOUNT         PIC 9(8)V99.
    05  ANNUAL-RATE         PIC 9V9999.
    05  LOAN-TERM-MONTHS    PIC 9(3).
    05  MONTHLY-RATE        PIC 9V999999.
    05  MONTHLY-PAYMENT     PIC 9(6)V99.
    05  TOTAL-PAYMENTS      PIC 9(8)V99.
    05  TOTAL-INTEREST      PIC 9(7)V99.
 
01  STATISTICAL-ANALYSIS.
    05  DATA-POINTS OCCURS 10 TIMES PIC 9(5)V99.
    05  SAMPLE-SIZE         PIC 9(2) VALUE 10.
    05  SUM-VALUES          PIC 9(7)V99.
    05  MEAN-VALUE          PIC 9(5)V99.
    05  VARIANCE            PIC 9(7)V99.
    05  STANDARD-DEVIATION  PIC 9(5)V99.
 
01  WORKING-VARIABLES.
    05  TEMP-RESULT         PIC 9(9)V99.
    05  COUNTER             PIC 9(2).
    05  DIFFERENCE          PIC S9(5)V99.
    05  SQUARED-DIFF        PIC 9(7)V99.
 
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
ADVANCED-CALCULATIONS.
    *> Loan payment calculation
    DIVIDE ANNUAL-RATE BY 12 GIVING MONTHLY-RATE
    
    *> Calculate monthly payment using approximation
    ADD 1 TO MONTHLY-RATE GIVING TEMP-RESULT
    MULTIPLY TEMP-RESULT BY TEMP-RESULT GIVING TEMP-RESULT
    MULTIPLY TEMP-RESULT BY TEMP-RESULT GIVING TEMP-RESULT
    MULTIPLY LOAN-AMOUNT BY MONTHLY-RATE GIVING MONTHLY-PAYMENT
    DIVIDE MONTHLY-PAYMENT BY (1 - (1 / TEMP-RESULT)) GIVING MONTHLY-PAYMENT
    
    MULTIPLY MONTHLY-PAYMENT BY LOAN-TERM-MONTHS GIVING TOTAL-PAYMENTS
    SUBTRACT LOAN-AMOUNT FROM TOTAL-PAYMENTS GIVING TOTAL-INTEREST
    
    *> Statistical calculations
    MOVE ZERO TO SUM-VALUES
    PERFORM VARYING COUNTER FROM 1 BY 1 UNTIL COUNTER > SAMPLE-SIZE
        ADD DATA-POINTS(COUNTER) TO SUM-VALUES GIVING SUM-VALUES
    END-PERFORM
    
    DIVIDE SUM-VALUES BY SAMPLE-SIZE GIVING MEAN-VALUE
    
    *> Calculate variance
    MOVE ZERO TO VARIANCE
    PERFORM VARYING COUNTER FROM 1 BY 1 UNTIL COUNTER > SAMPLE-SIZE
        SUBTRACT MEAN-VALUE FROM DATA-POINTS(COUNTER) GIVING DIFFERENCE
        MULTIPLY DIFFERENCE BY DIFFERENCE GIVING SQUARED-DIFF
        ADD SQUARED-DIFF TO VARIANCE GIVING VARIANCE
    END-PERFORM
    
    DIVIDE VARIANCE BY SAMPLE-SIZE GIVING VARIANCE
    
    STOP RUN.

Best Practices

Knowledge Check

Test Your Understanding

Question 1: Basic Syntax

What's the correct syntax to multiply two numbers and store the result?

Answer: MULTIPLY number1 BY number2 GIVING result-variable

Question 2: Value Preservation

How does GIVING differ from TO in arithmetic operations?

Answer: GIVING stores the result in a separate variable without modifying operands, while TO modifies the receiving field by adding the result to its current value.

Question 3: Division Results

How do you capture both quotient and remainder in division?

Answer: DIVIDE dividend BY divisor GIVING quotient-variable REMAINDER remainder-variable

Common Patterns

Financial Calculations

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01 INVOICE-CALC.
   05 SUBTOTAL PIC 9(6)V99.
   05 TAX-RATE PIC 9V9999 VALUE 0.0825.
   05 TAX-AMOUNT PIC 9(5)V99.
   05 TOTAL-AMOUNT PIC 9(7)V99.
 
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
    MULTIPLY SUBTOTAL BY TAX-RATE GIVING TAX-AMOUNT
    ADD SUBTOTAL TO TAX-AMOUNT GIVING TOTAL-AMOUNT.

Statistical Processing

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01 STATS-DATA.
   05 VALUE-SUM PIC 9(8)V99.
   05 VALUE-COUNT PIC 9(5).
   05 AVERAGE PIC 9(5)V99.
   05 PERCENTAGE PIC 9(3)V99.
 
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
    DIVIDE VALUE-SUM BY VALUE-COUNT GIVING AVERAGE
    MULTIPLY AVERAGE BY 100 GIVING PERCENTAGE.

COBOL Tutorial

COBOL GIVING Clause

Syntax and Usage

Basic GIVING Examples

Key Features and Benefits

Interactive Tutorial

Exercise 1: Payroll Calculations

Exercise 2: Sales Commission

Advanced GIVING Patterns

Best Practices

Knowledge Check

Question 1: Basic Syntax

Question 2: Value Preservation

Question 3: Division Results

Common Patterns

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Concepts

Arithmetic Operations

Result Storage

Data Movement

Related Pages

COBOL Tutorial

COBOL GIVING Clause

Syntax and Usage

Basic GIVING Examples

Key Features and Benefits

Interactive Tutorial

Exercise 1: Payroll Calculations

Exercise 2: Sales Commission

Advanced GIVING Patterns

Best Practices

Result Variable Design

Calculation Accuracy

Error Prevention

Knowledge Check

Question 1: Basic Syntax

Question 2: Value Preservation

Question 3: Division Results

Common Patterns

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use multiple GIVING clauses in one statement?

What happens if the result is too large for the GIVING variable?

Can I use the same variable as operand and GIVING target?

How does GIVING handle decimal precision?

Related Concepts

Arithmetic Operations

Result Storage

Data Movement

Related Pages