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COBOL Tutorial

COBOL NATIONAL Data Type

The NATIONAL data type represents sophisticated Unicode character support and international encoding capabilities within COBOL programming environments, providing comprehensive multi-byte character handling, advanced internationalization features, and intelligent character set management that enables globalized applications, Unicode compliance, and multi-language data processing. This data type embodies modern internationalization principles by supporting wide character encoding, enabling comprehensive character set coverage, and facilitating international application development requirements while maintaining encoding consistency, ensuring character data integrity, and enabling scalable global processing architectures across enterprise applications requiring international character support, Unicode compliance, and reliable multi-language data management throughout diverse linguistic and cultural business environments.

NATIONAL Data Type Syntax

NATIONAL Field Definitions
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*> Basic NATIONAL field definitions
01 WS-NATIONAL-FIELDS.
   05 WS-UNICODE-NAME       PIC N(20).
   05 WS-INTERNATIONAL-ADDR PIC N(50).
   05 WS-MULTI-LANG-DESC    PIC N(100).
 
*> NATIONAL with USAGE clause
01 WS-UNICODE-DATA.
   05 WS-WIDE-CHAR-FIELD    PIC N(30) USAGE NATIONAL.
   05 WS-UTF16-STRING       PIC N(40) USAGE NATIONAL.
 
*> NATIONAL literals and constants
01 WS-NATIONAL-CONSTANTS.
   05 WS-UNICODE-GREETING   PIC N(15) VALUE N"Hello 世界".
   05 WS-EURO-SYMBOL        PIC N(1)  VALUE N"€".
   05 WS-YEN-AMOUNT         PIC N(10) VALUE N"¥12,345".
 
*> NATIONAL arrays and tables
01 WS-LANGUAGE-TABLE.
   05 WS-LANGUAGE-ENTRY OCCURS 10 TIMES.
      10 WS-LANG-CODE       PIC X(2).
      10 WS-LANG-NAME       PIC N(20).
      10 WS-LANG-GREETING   PIC N(30).
 
*> Variable length NATIONAL
01 WS-VARIABLE-NATIONAL.
   05 WS-VAR-LENGTH         PIC 9(4) COMP.
   05 WS-VAR-DATA           PIC N(100) DEPENDING ON WS-VAR-LENGTH.
 
*> NATIONAL with JUSTIFIED
01 WS-FORMATTED-NATIONAL.
   05 WS-RIGHT-JUSTIFIED    PIC N(20) JUSTIFIED RIGHT.
   05 WS-LEFT-JUSTIFIED     PIC N(20) JUSTIFIED LEFT.
 
*> Example NATIONAL usage in records
01 CUSTOMER-RECORD-INTL.
   05 CUSTOMER-ID           PIC X(8).
   05 CUSTOMER-NAME-LOCAL   PIC N(40).
   05 CUSTOMER-NAME-NATIVE  PIC N(40).
   05 ADDRESS-LINE1         PIC N(50).
   05 ADDRESS-LINE2         PIC N(50).
   05 CITY-NAME             PIC N(30).
   05 COUNTRY-NAME          PIC N(25).
   05 PHONE-INTL            PIC N(20).
   05 EMAIL-ADDRESS         PIC N(60).
Unicode
International
Multi-byte

Comprehensive NATIONAL Examples

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IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. NATIONAL-DATA-DEMO.
 
DATA DIVISION.
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
*> International customer data
01 WS-INTL-CUSTOMER.
   05 WS-CUSTOMER-ID        PIC X(10).
   05 WS-CUSTOMER-NAME.
      10 WS-FIRST-NAME      PIC N(20).
      10 WS-LAST-NAME       PIC N(30).
   05 WS-COMPANY-NAME       PIC N(50).
   05 WS-ADDRESS-INTL.
      10 WS-STREET          PIC N(40).
      10 WS-CITY            PIC N(25).
      10 WS-REGION          PIC N(25).
      10 WS-POSTAL-CODE     PIC N(15).
      10 WS-COUNTRY         PIC N(25).
   05 WS-CONTACT-INFO.
      10 WS-EMAIL           PIC N(60).
      10 WS-PHONE           PIC N(20).
      10 WS-WEBSITE         PIC N(80).
 
*> Multi-language product catalog
01 WS-PRODUCT-INTL.
   05 WS-PRODUCT-ID         PIC X(12).
   05 WS-PRODUCT-NAMES OCCURS 5 TIMES.
      10 WS-LANGUAGE-CODE   PIC X(2).
      10 WS-PRODUCT-NAME    PIC N(40).
      10 WS-DESCRIPTION     PIC N(200).
      10 WS-KEYWORDS        PIC N(100).
   05 WS-PRICE-DISPLAY      PIC N(15).
   05 WS-CURRENCY-SYMBOL    PIC N(3).
 
*> International address formatter
01 WS-ADDRESS-FORMATTER.
   05 WS-FORMAT-TYPE        PIC X(10).
   05 WS-FORMATTED-ADDRESS  PIC N(300).
   05 WS-ADDRESS-LINES OCCURS 6 TIMES.
      10 WS-LINE-CONTENT    PIC N(50).
 
*> Unicode text processing
01 WS-TEXT-PROCESSOR.
   05 WS-INPUT-TEXT         PIC N(1000).
   05 WS-OUTPUT-TEXT        PIC N(1000).
   05 WS-CHAR-COUNT         PIC 9(4).
   05 WS-WORD-COUNT         PIC 9(4).
   05 WS-BYTE-COUNT         PIC 9(6).
 
*> Language-specific formatting
01 WS-FORMATTING-RULES.
   05 WS-DATE-FORMAT        PIC N(20).
   05 WS-TIME-FORMAT        PIC N(15).
   05 WS-NUMBER-FORMAT      PIC N(25).
   05 WS-CURRENCY-FORMAT    PIC N(20).
 
*> Character encoding conversions
01 WS-CONVERSION-FIELDS.
   05 WS-ASCII-DATA         PIC X(100).
   05 WS-UNICODE-DATA       PIC N(100).
   05 WS-UTF8-DATA          PIC X(300).
   05 WS-CONVERSION-STATUS  PIC X(2).
 
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
MAIN-NATIONAL-DEMO.
    DISPLAY "=== COBOL NATIONAL DATA TYPE DEMONSTRATION ==="
    DISPLAY SPACES
    
    PERFORM DEMONSTRATE-BASIC-NATIONAL
    PERFORM DEMONSTRATE-INTL-CUSTOMER-DATA
    PERFORM DEMONSTRATE-MULTILANG-PRODUCT
    PERFORM DEMONSTRATE-ADDRESS-FORMATTING
    PERFORM DEMONSTRATE-TEXT-PROCESSING
    PERFORM DEMONSTRATE-UNICODE-OPERATIONS
    
    DISPLAY "=== NATIONAL DATA DEMO COMPLETE ==="
    STOP RUN.
 
DEMONSTRATE-BASIC-NATIONAL.
    DISPLAY "=== BASIC NATIONAL DATA USAGE ==="
    DISPLAY SPACES
    
    DISPLAY "Unicode character examples:"
    
    *> Initialize with Unicode literals
    MOVE N"José María" TO WS-FIRST-NAME
    MOVE N"García-Rodríguez" TO WS-LAST-NAME
    MOVE N"Société Générale" TO WS-COMPANY-NAME
    
    DISPLAY "  Customer name: " WS-FIRST-NAME " " WS-LAST-NAME
    DISPLAY "  Company: " WS-COMPANY-NAME
    
    *> International symbols and currencies
    MOVE N"€1,234.56" TO WS-PRICE-DISPLAY
    MOVE N"€" TO WS-CURRENCY-SYMBOL
    DISPLAY "  Price: " WS-PRICE-DISPLAY " (" WS-CURRENCY-SYMBOL ")"
    
    *> Asian characters
    MOVE N"東京都" TO WS-CITY
    MOVE N"日本" TO WS-COUNTRY
    DISPLAY "  Location: " WS-CITY ", " WS-COUNTRY
    
    *> Arabic/RTL text
    MOVE N"الرياض" TO WS-CITY
    MOVE N"المملكة العربية السعودية" TO WS-COUNTRY
    DISPLAY "  Arabic location: " WS-CITY ", " WS-COUNTRY
    
    DISPLAY SPACES.
 
DEMONSTRATE-INTL-CUSTOMER-DATA.
    DISPLAY "=== INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMER DATA ==="
    DISPLAY SPACES
    
    DISPLAY "Processing international customer records..."
    
    *> European customer
    MOVE "CUST001" TO WS-CUSTOMER-ID
    MOVE N"François" TO WS-FIRST-NAME
    MOVE N"Müller-Schmidt" TO WS-LAST-NAME
    MOVE N"Café René S.À R.L." TO WS-COMPANY-NAME
    MOVE N"15 Rue de la Paix" TO WS-STREET
    MOVE N"Paris" TO WS-CITY
    MOVE N"Île-de-France" TO WS-REGION
    MOVE N"75001" TO WS-POSTAL-CODE
    MOVE N"France" TO WS-COUNTRY
    MOVE N"françois.müller@caferene.fr" TO WS-EMAIL
    MOVE N"+33 1 42 96 87 65" TO WS-PHONE
    
    DISPLAY "European customer:"
    DISPLAY "  ID: " WS-CUSTOMER-ID
    DISPLAY "  Name: " WS-FIRST-NAME " " WS-LAST-NAME
    DISPLAY "  Company: " WS-COMPANY-NAME
    DISPLAY "  Address: " WS-STREET
    DISPLAY "           " WS-CITY ", " WS-REGION " " WS-POSTAL-CODE
    DISPLAY "           " WS-COUNTRY
    DISPLAY "  Email: " WS-EMAIL
    DISPLAY "  Phone: " WS-PHONE
    DISPLAY SPACES
    
    *> Asian customer
    MOVE "CUST002" TO WS-CUSTOMER-ID
    MOVE N"田中" TO WS-FIRST-NAME
    MOVE N"太郎" TO WS-LAST-NAME
    MOVE N"株式会社サンプル" TO WS-COMPANY-NAME
    MOVE N"東京都新宿区1-2-3" TO WS-STREET
    MOVE N"新宿区" TO WS-CITY
    MOVE N"東京都" TO WS-REGION
    MOVE N"160-0022" TO WS-POSTAL-CODE
    MOVE N"日本" TO WS-COUNTRY
    MOVE N"tanaka.taro@sample.co.jp" TO WS-EMAIL
    MOVE N"+81-3-1234-5678" TO WS-PHONE
    
    DISPLAY "Japanese customer:"
    DISPLAY "  ID: " WS-CUSTOMER-ID
    DISPLAY "  Name: " WS-FIRST-NAME " " WS-LAST-NAME
    DISPLAY "  Company: " WS-COMPANY-NAME
    DISPLAY "  Address: " WS-STREET
    DISPLAY "           " WS-CITY ", " WS-REGION " " WS-POSTAL-CODE
    DISPLAY "           " WS-COUNTRY
    DISPLAY "  Email: " WS-EMAIL
    DISPLAY "  Phone: " WS-PHONE
    DISPLAY SPACES.
 
DEMONSTRATE-MULTILANG-PRODUCT.
    DISPLAY "=== MULTI-LANGUAGE PRODUCT CATALOG ==="
    DISPLAY SPACES
    
    DISPLAY "Creating multi-language product entries..."
    
    MOVE "PROD12345" TO WS-PRODUCT-ID
    
    *> English version
    MOVE "EN" TO WS-LANGUAGE-CODE(1)
    MOVE N"Premium Coffee Beans" TO WS-PRODUCT-NAME(1)
    MOVE N"High-quality arabica coffee beans from Colombia" TO WS-DESCRIPTION(1)
    MOVE N"coffee, premium, arabica, colombia" TO WS-KEYWORDS(1)
    
    *> Spanish version
    MOVE "ES" TO WS-LANGUAGE-CODE(2)
    MOVE N"Granos de Café Premium" TO WS-PRODUCT-NAME(2)
    MOVE N"Granos de café arábica de alta calidad de Colombia" TO WS-DESCRIPTION(2)
    MOVE N"café, premium, arábica, colombia" TO WS-KEYWORDS(2)
    
    *> French version
    MOVE "FR" TO WS-LANGUAGE-CODE(3)
    MOVE N"Grains de Café Haut de Gamme" TO WS-PRODUCT-NAME(3)
    MOVE N"Grains de café arabica de haute qualité de Colombie" TO WS-DESCRIPTION(3)
    MOVE N"café, haut de gamme, arabica, colombie" TO WS-KEYWORDS(3)
    
    *> Japanese version
    MOVE "JA" TO WS-LANGUAGE-CODE(4)
    MOVE N"プレミアムコーヒー豆" TO WS-PRODUCT-NAME(4)
    MOVE N"コロンビア産の高品質アラビカコーヒー豆" TO WS-DESCRIPTION(4)
    MOVE N"コーヒー, プレミアム, アラビカ, コロンビア" TO WS-KEYWORDS(4)
    
    *> Chinese version
    MOVE "ZH" TO WS-LANGUAGE-CODE(5)
    MOVE N"优质咖啡豆" TO WS-PRODUCT-NAME(5)
    MOVE N"来自哥伦比亚的高品质阿拉比卡咖啡豆" TO WS-DESCRIPTION(5)
    MOVE N"咖啡, 优质, 阿拉比卡, 哥伦比亚" TO WS-KEYWORDS(5)
    
    DISPLAY "Product " WS-PRODUCT-ID " in multiple languages:"
    PERFORM VARYING WS-CHAR-COUNT FROM 1 BY 1 UNTIL WS-CHAR-COUNT > 5
        DISPLAY "  " WS-LANGUAGE-CODE(WS-CHAR-COUNT) ": " 
                WS-PRODUCT-NAME(WS-CHAR-COUNT)
        DISPLAY "      " WS-DESCRIPTION(WS-CHAR-COUNT)
    END-PERFORM
    DISPLAY SPACES.
 
DEMONSTRATE-ADDRESS-FORMATTING.
    DISPLAY "=== INTERNATIONAL ADDRESS FORMATTING ==="
    DISPLAY SPACES
    
    DISPLAY "Formatting addresses for different countries..."
    
    *> Format US address
    MOVE "US" TO WS-FORMAT-TYPE
    MOVE N"John Smith" TO WS-LINE-CONTENT(1)
    MOVE N"123 Main Street, Apt 4B" TO WS-LINE-CONTENT(2)
    MOVE N"New York, NY 10001" TO WS-LINE-CONTENT(3)
    MOVE N"United States" TO WS-LINE-CONTENT(4)
    MOVE SPACES TO WS-LINE-CONTENT(5)
    MOVE SPACES TO WS-LINE-CONTENT(6)
    
    DISPLAY "US Address Format:"
    PERFORM VARYING WS-CHAR-COUNT FROM 1 BY 1 UNTIL WS-CHAR-COUNT > 4
        IF WS-LINE-CONTENT(WS-CHAR-COUNT) NOT = SPACES
           DISPLAY "  " WS-LINE-CONTENT(WS-CHAR-COUNT)
        END-IF
    END-PERFORM
    DISPLAY SPACES
    
    *> Format German address
    MOVE "DE" TO WS-FORMAT-TYPE
    MOVE N"Herr Hans Müller" TO WS-LINE-CONTENT(1)
    MOVE N"Muster GmbH" TO WS-LINE-CONTENT(2)
    MOVE N"Hauptstraße 123" TO WS-LINE-CONTENT(3)
    MOVE N"12345 München" TO WS-LINE-CONTENT(4)
    MOVE N"Deutschland" TO WS-LINE-CONTENT(5)
    MOVE SPACES TO WS-LINE-CONTENT(6)
    
    DISPLAY "German Address Format:"
    PERFORM VARYING WS-CHAR-COUNT FROM 1 BY 1 UNTIL WS-CHAR-COUNT > 5
        IF WS-LINE-CONTENT(WS-CHAR-COUNT) NOT = SPACES
           DISPLAY "  " WS-LINE-CONTENT(WS-CHAR-COUNT)
        END-IF
    END-PERFORM
    DISPLAY SPACES.
 
DEMONSTRATE-TEXT-PROCESSING.
    DISPLAY "=== UNICODE TEXT PROCESSING ==="
    DISPLAY SPACES
    
    DISPLAY "Processing international text..."
    
    *> Sample multilingual text
    MOVE N"Hello World! Hola Mundo! Bonjour le Monde! こんにちは世界! 你好世界!" 
         TO WS-INPUT-TEXT
    
    DISPLAY "Input text: " WS-INPUT-TEXT
    
    *> Count characters (logical length)
    MOVE FUNCTION LENGTH(WS-INPUT-TEXT) TO WS-CHAR-COUNT
    DISPLAY "Character count: " WS-CHAR-COUNT
    
    *> Simulate byte count (UTF-16 encoding)
    COMPUTE WS-BYTE-COUNT = WS-CHAR-COUNT * 2
    DISPLAY "Estimated byte count (UTF-16): " WS-BYTE-COUNT
    
    *> Text transformation example
    MOVE FUNCTION UPPER-CASE(WS-INPUT-TEXT) TO WS-OUTPUT-TEXT
    DISPLAY "Uppercase: " WS-OUTPUT-TEXT
    
    MOVE FUNCTION LOWER-CASE(WS-INPUT-TEXT) TO WS-OUTPUT-TEXT
    DISPLAY "Lowercase: " WS-OUTPUT-TEXT
    DISPLAY SPACES.
 
DEMONSTRATE-UNICODE-OPERATIONS.
    DISPLAY "=== UNICODE OPERATIONS ==="
    DISPLAY SPACES
    
    DISPLAY "Unicode data manipulation examples:"
    
    *> String concatenation with Unicode
    MOVE N"Café " TO WS-INPUT-TEXT
    STRING WS-INPUT-TEXT N"René " N"& " N"Müller" 
           DELIMITED BY SIZE INTO WS-OUTPUT-TEXT
    DISPLAY "  Concatenated: " WS-OUTPUT-TEXT
    
    *> Unicode string inspection
    MOVE N"Testing 测试 テスト" TO WS-INPUT-TEXT
    DISPLAY "  Mixed script text: " WS-INPUT-TEXT
    
    IF WS-INPUT-TEXT CONTAINS N"测试"
       DISPLAY "  ✓ Contains Chinese characters"
    END-IF
    
    IF WS-INPUT-TEXT CONTAINS N"テスト"
       DISPLAY "  ✓ Contains Japanese characters"
    END-IF
    
    *> Currency symbol handling
    MOVE N"Price: €123.45 or ¥15,678 or $100.00" TO WS-INPUT-TEXT
    DISPLAY "  Currency text: " WS-INPUT-TEXT
    
    *> Unicode literal comparisons
    IF N"€" = N"€"
       DISPLAY "  ✓ Euro symbols match"
    END-IF
    
    IF N"¥" NOT = N"$"
       DISPLAY "  ✓ Yen and Dollar symbols differ"
    END-IF
    
    DISPLAY "Unicode features demonstrated:"
    DISPLAY "  ✓ Multi-byte character support"
    DISPLAY "  ✓ International character sets"
    DISPLAY "  ✓ Unicode literal handling"
    DISPLAY "  ✓ Character encoding conversion"
    DISPLAY "  ✓ Global application support"
    DISPLAY SPACES.

NATIONAL Data Type Features

Unicode Support
  • • UTF-16/UCS-2 character encoding
  • • Multi-byte character handling
  • • International character sets
  • • Unicode literal support (N"text")
Globalization Features
  • • Multi-language application support
  • • Cultural character representation
  • • Currency symbol handling
  • • International address formatting

Interactive Tutorial

Hands-On Exercise: International Application
Practice creating multi-language data structures using NATIONAL

Exercise 1: Multi-Language User Interface

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01 WS-UI-MESSAGES.
   05 WS-LANGUAGE-PACK OCCURS 4 TIMES.
      10 WS-LANG-ID          PIC X(2).
      10 WS-WELCOME-MSG      PIC N(30).
      10 WS-LOGIN-PROMPT     PIC N(20).
      10 WS-ERROR-MSG        PIC N(50).
      10 WS-SUCCESS-MSG      PIC N(40).
 
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
INITIALIZE-UI-MESSAGES.
    *> English messages
    MOVE "EN" TO WS-LANG-ID(1)
    MOVE N"Welcome to our application" TO WS-WELCOME-MSG(1)
    MOVE N"Please log in" TO WS-LOGIN-PROMPT(1)
    MOVE N"Invalid username or password" TO WS-ERROR-MSG(1)
    MOVE N"Login successful" TO WS-SUCCESS-MSG(1)
    
    *> Spanish messages
    MOVE "ES" TO WS-LANG-ID(2)
    MOVE N"Bienvenido a nuestra aplicación" TO WS-WELCOME-MSG(2)
    MOVE N"Por favor inicie sesión" TO WS-LOGIN-PROMPT(2)
    MOVE N"Usuario o contraseña inválidos" TO WS-ERROR-MSG(2)
    MOVE N"Inicio de sesión exitoso" TO WS-SUCCESS-MSG(2)
    
    *> French messages
    MOVE "FR" TO WS-LANG-ID(3)
    MOVE N"Bienvenue dans notre application" TO WS-WELCOME-MSG(3)
    MOVE N"Veuillez vous connecter" TO WS-LOGIN-PROMPT(3)
    MOVE N"Nom d'utilisateur ou mot de passe invalide" TO WS-ERROR-MSG(3)
    MOVE N"Connexion réussie" TO WS-SUCCESS-MSG(3)
    
    *> Japanese messages
    MOVE "JA" TO WS-LANG-ID(4)
    MOVE N"アプリケーションへようこそ" TO WS-WELCOME-MSG(4)
    MOVE N"ログインしてください" TO WS-LOGIN-PROMPT(4)
    MOVE N"ユーザー名またはパスワードが無効です" TO WS-ERROR-MSG(4)
    MOVE N"ログインに成功しました" TO WS-SUCCESS-MSG(4).
 
DISPLAY-MESSAGES.
    01 WS-SELECTED-LANG     PIC 9 VALUE 1.
    
    DISPLAY "UI Messages for language: " WS-LANG-ID(WS-SELECTED-LANG)
    DISPLAY "Welcome: " WS-WELCOME-MSG(WS-SELECTED-LANG)
    DISPLAY "Login: " WS-LOGIN-PROMPT(WS-SELECTED-LANG)
    DISPLAY "Error: " WS-ERROR-MSG(WS-SELECTED-LANG)
    DISPLAY "Success: " WS-SUCCESS-MSG(WS-SELECTED-LANG).

Exercise 2: International Product Catalog

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01 WS-INTL-PRODUCT-CATALOG.
   05 WS-PRODUCT-ENTRY OCCURS 3 TIMES.
      10 WS-PRODUCT-CODE     PIC X(8).
      10 WS-PRODUCT-INFO OCCURS 3 TIMES.
         15 WS-LOCALE        PIC X(5).
         15 WS-PRODUCT-NAME  PIC N(40).
         15 WS-DESCRIPTION   PIC N(100).
         15 WS-PRICE-TEXT    PIC N(20).
 
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
SETUP-PRODUCT-CATALOG.
    *> Product 1 - Coffee
    MOVE "COFFEE01" TO WS-PRODUCT-CODE(1)
    
    *> English
    MOVE "en-US" TO WS-LOCALE(1, 1)
    MOVE N"Premium Coffee Blend" TO WS-PRODUCT-NAME(1, 1)
    MOVE N"Rich, full-bodied coffee with chocolate notes" TO WS-DESCRIPTION(1, 1)
    MOVE N"$24.99" TO WS-PRICE-TEXT(1, 1)
    
    *> French
    MOVE "fr-FR" TO WS-LOCALE(1, 2)
    MOVE N"Mélange de Café Premium" TO WS-PRODUCT-NAME(1, 2)
    MOVE N"Café riche et corsé avec des notes de chocolat" TO WS-DESCRIPTION(1, 2)
    MOVE N"24,99 €" TO WS-PRICE-TEXT(1, 2)
    
    *> Japanese
    MOVE "ja-JP" TO WS-LOCALE(1, 3)
    MOVE N"プレミアムコーヒーブレンド" TO WS-PRODUCT-NAME(1, 3)
    MOVE N"チョコレートの香りがする濃厚でフルボディのコーヒー" TO WS-DESCRIPTION(1, 3)
    MOVE N"¥3,299" TO WS-PRICE-TEXT(1, 3).
 
DISPLAY-PRODUCT-INFO.
    01 WS-PROD-IDX          PIC 9 VALUE 1.
    01 WS-LOCALE-IDX        PIC 9 VALUE 1.
    
    DISPLAY "Product: " WS-PRODUCT-CODE(WS-PROD-IDX)
    DISPLAY "Locale: " WS-LOCALE(WS-PROD-IDX, WS-LOCALE-IDX)
    DISPLAY "Name: " WS-PRODUCT-NAME(WS-PROD-IDX, WS-LOCALE-IDX)
    DISPLAY "Description: " WS-DESCRIPTION(WS-PROD-IDX, WS-LOCALE-IDX)
    DISPLAY "Price: " WS-PRICE-TEXT(WS-PROD-IDX, WS-LOCALE-IDX).

Best Practices

Knowledge Check

Test Your Understanding

Question 1: NATIONAL vs ALPHANUMERIC

What are the key differences between NATIONAL and regular alphanumeric fields?

Answer: NATIONAL uses Unicode encoding (typically UTF-16) with 2 bytes per character, supporting international characters. ALPHANUMERIC uses single-byte encoding, limited to specific character sets like ASCII or EBCDIC. NATIONAL enables global applications and multi-language support.

Question 2: Unicode Literals

How do you specify Unicode literal values in COBOL?

Answer: Use the N prefix before quoted strings: N"Hello World" or N"こんにちは". This tells the compiler to treat the literal as Unicode text rather than single-byte characters, enabling international character representation in source code.

Question 3: Storage Requirements

How does NATIONAL data type affect storage requirements?

Answer: NATIONAL typically requires 2 bytes per character (UTF-16 encoding), doubling storage compared to single-byte character fields. A PIC N(20) field uses 40 bytes. This affects file sizes, memory usage, and I/O performance considerations.

Related Concepts

Unicode Support

International character encoding and standards

Character Encoding

EBCDIC, ASCII, and Unicode character sets

Internationalization

Multi-language application development