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COBOL Tutorial

SKIP3 - Insert Three Blank Lines

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Usage

SKIP3 adds three blank lines—a strong visual separator—commonly before report-wide summaries or between chapters.

COBOL Implementation

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WRITE PRINT-REC AFTER ADVANCING 3 LINES

Guard for page end

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IF LINE-COUNTER > PAGE-LIMIT - 3
    WRITE PRINT-REC AFTER ADVANCING PAGE
END-IF
WRITE PRINT-REC AFTER ADVANCING 3 LINES

Non-Code Scenarios

  • Before a grand summary at the very end of the report
  • Between yearly sections in a consolidated report

Quick Reference

ActionSyntaxNote
Three blanksWRITE ... AFTER ADVANCING 3 LINESStrong separator
GuardIF LINE-COUNTER > PAGE-LIMIT - 3Advance PAGE first

Test Your Knowledge

1. COBOL equivalent of SKIP3?

  • WRITE AFTER ADVANCING 3 LINES
  • DISPLAY AT 3,1
  • READ NEXT 3
  • COMPUTE

2. What to check before SKIP3?

  • Remaining lines on page
  • Sort sequence
  • SQLCODE
  • DATE FORMAT

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Concepts

REPORT-WRITER

Declarative layout & spacing.

ADVANCING PAGE

Manual spacing.

LINE-COUNTER

Track current line.

Related Pages

SKIP2STANDARD-BINARY