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COBOL TABLE Clause - Quick Reference

The TABLE clause in COBOL is used to define table structures and arrays for organizing related data elements. It provides a way to create structured data collections that can be efficiently accessed and manipulated using index variables and OCCURS clauses.

Primary Use

Define table structures and arrays

Division

DATA DIVISION

Type

Data structure clause

Status

Optional clause

Overview

The TABLE clause is used in COBOL to define structured data arrays and tables. It is typically used in conjunction with the OCCURS clause to create organized collections of related data elements. TABLE structures provide efficient access to data through indexing and are particularly useful for storing lookup tables, configuration data, and collections of similar records. They offer better data organization compared to individual fields and enable structured data processing.

Syntax

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level-number table-name OCCURS integer TIMES.
 
* Examples:
01  SIMPLE-TABLE.
    05  TABLE-ITEM OCCURS 10 TIMES PIC 9(3).
 
01  COMPLEX-TABLE.
    05  TABLE-ENTRY OCCURS 100 TIMES.
        10  ENTRY-ID      PIC 9(5).
        10  ENTRY-NAME    PIC X(20).
        10  ENTRY-VALUE   PIC 9(7)V99.
 
01  LOOKUP-TABLE.
    05  LOOKUP-ITEM OCCURS 50 TIMES.
        10  LOOKUP-CODE   PIC X(3).
        10  LOOKUP-DESC   PIC X(30).

Practical Examples

Basic TABLE Usage

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* Basic TABLE structure example
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. BASIC-TABLE-EXAMPLE.
 
DATA DIVISION.
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
01  SIMPLE-ARRAY.
    05  ARRAY-ELEMENT OCCURS 5 TIMES PIC 9(3).
 
01  INDEX-VARIABLE    PIC 9(2) VALUE 1.
 
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
MAIN-LOGIC.
    * Initialize table elements
    MOVE 100 TO ARRAY-ELEMENT(1)
    MOVE 200 TO ARRAY-ELEMENT(2)
    MOVE 300 TO ARRAY-ELEMENT(3)
    MOVE 400 TO ARRAY-ELEMENT(4)
    MOVE 500 TO ARRAY-ELEMENT(5)
    
    * Display all elements
    PERFORM VARYING INDEX-VARIABLE FROM 1 BY 1 
        UNTIL INDEX-VARIABLE > 5
        DISPLAY "Element " INDEX-VARIABLE ": " ARRAY-ELEMENT(INDEX-VARIABLE)
    END-PERFORM
    
    * Calculate sum of all elements
    MOVE 0 TO WS-SUM
    PERFORM VARYING INDEX-VARIABLE FROM 1 BY 1 
        UNTIL INDEX-VARIABLE > 5
        ADD ARRAY-ELEMENT(INDEX-VARIABLE) TO WS-SUM
    END-PERFORM
    
    DISPLAY "Sum of all elements: " WS-SUM
    
    STOP RUN.

Explanation: This example demonstrates basic TABLE usage with a simple array. The program defines a table with 5 elements, initializes each element with a value, displays all elements using a loop, and calculates the sum of all elements. This shows how TABLE structures provide organized storage and efficient access to related data elements using index variables.

Complex TABLE Structure

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* Complex TABLE structure example
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. COMPLEX-TABLE-EXAMPLE.
 
DATA DIVISION.
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
01  EMPLOYEE-TABLE.
    05  EMPLOYEE-ENTRY OCCURS 10 TIMES.
        10  EMP-ID        PIC 9(5).
        10  EMP-NAME      PIC X(30).
        10  EMP-DEPT      PIC X(10).
        10  EMP-SALARY    PIC 9(7)V99.
        10  EMP-HIRE-DATE PIC 9(8).
 
01  TABLE-INDEX         PIC 9(2) VALUE 1.
01  SEARCH-ID           PIC 9(5).
01  FOUND-FLAG          PIC X VALUE 'N'.
    88  EMPLOYEE-FOUND  VALUE 'Y'.
 
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
MAIN-LOGIC.
    * Initialize employee table
    PERFORM INITIALIZE-EMPLOYEE-TABLE
    
    * Search for employee by ID
    MOVE 10001 TO SEARCH-ID
    PERFORM SEARCH-EMPLOYEE
    
    IF EMPLOYEE-FOUND
        DISPLAY "Employee found: " EMP-NAME(TABLE-INDEX)
        DISPLAY "Department: " EMP-DEPT(TABLE-INDEX)
        DISPLAY "Salary: " EMP-SALARY(TABLE-INDEX)
    ELSE
        DISPLAY "Employee not found"
    END-IF
    
    * Display all employees in a department
    PERFORM DISPLAY-DEPARTMENT-EMPLOYEES
    
    STOP RUN.
 
INITIALIZE-EMPLOYEE-TABLE.
    * Initialize first employee
    MOVE 10001 TO EMP-ID(1)
    MOVE "John Smith" TO EMP-NAME(1)
    MOVE "IT" TO EMP-DEPT(1)
    MOVE 75000.00 TO EMP-SALARY(1)
    MOVE 20200101 TO EMP-HIRE-DATE(1)
    
    * Initialize second employee
    MOVE 10002 TO EMP-ID(2)
    MOVE "Jane Doe" TO EMP-NAME(2)
    MOVE "HR" TO EMP-DEPT(2)
    MOVE 65000.00 TO EMP-SALARY(2)
    MOVE 20200215 TO EMP-HIRE-DATE(2)
    
    * Continue for other employees...
 
SEARCH-EMPLOYEE.
    PERFORM VARYING TABLE-INDEX FROM 1 BY 1 
        UNTIL TABLE-INDEX > 10 OR EMPLOYEE-FOUND
        IF EMP-ID(TABLE-INDEX) = SEARCH-ID
            SET EMPLOYEE-FOUND TO TRUE
        END-IF
    END-PERFORM.
 
DISPLAY-DEPARTMENT-EMPLOYEES.
    DISPLAY "Employees in IT department:"
    PERFORM VARYING TABLE-INDEX FROM 1 BY 1 
        UNTIL TABLE-INDEX > 10
        IF EMP-DEPT(TABLE-INDEX) = "IT"
            DISPLAY "  " EMP-NAME(TABLE-INDEX) " - " EMP-SALARY(TABLE-INDEX)
        END-IF
    END-PERFORM.

Explanation: This example shows a complex TABLE structure for employee data. The table contains multiple fields for each employee (ID, name, department, salary, hire date). The program demonstrates how to initialize the table, search for specific employees, and display employees by department. This illustrates how TABLE structures can organize complex related data and provide efficient access patterns for business applications.

Lookup TABLE

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* Lookup TABLE example
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. LOOKUP-TABLE-EXAMPLE.
 
DATA DIVISION.
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
01  STATE-CODE-TABLE.
    05  STATE-ENTRY OCCURS 50 TIMES.
        10  STATE-CODE    PIC X(2).
        10  STATE-NAME    PIC X(20).
 
01  LOOKUP-INDEX         PIC 9(2) VALUE 1.
01  SEARCH-CODE          PIC X(2).
01  FOUND-STATE          PIC X(20).
01  FOUND-FLAG           PIC X VALUE 'N'.
    88  STATE-FOUND      VALUE 'Y'.
 
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
MAIN-LOGIC.
    * Initialize state code lookup table
    PERFORM INITIALIZE-STATE-TABLE
    
    * Look up state names by code
    MOVE "CA" TO SEARCH-CODE
    PERFORM LOOKUP-STATE
    IF STATE-FOUND
        DISPLAY "State code " SEARCH-CODE " is " FOUND-STATE
    ELSE
        DISPLAY "State code " SEARCH-CODE " not found"
    END-IF
    
    MOVE "NY" TO SEARCH-CODE
    PERFORM LOOKUP-STATE
    IF STATE-FOUND
        DISPLAY "State code " SEARCH-CODE " is " FOUND-STATE
    ELSE
        DISPLAY "State code " SEARCH-CODE " not found"
    END-IF
    
    STOP RUN.
 
INITIALIZE-STATE-TABLE.
    * Initialize state codes and names
    MOVE "AL" TO STATE-CODE(1)
    MOVE "Alabama" TO STATE-NAME(1)
    
    MOVE "AK" TO STATE-CODE(2)
    MOVE "Alaska" TO STATE-NAME(2)
    
    MOVE "AZ" TO STATE-CODE(3)
    MOVE "Arizona" TO STATE-NAME(3)
    
    MOVE "CA" TO STATE-CODE(4)
    MOVE "California" TO STATE-NAME(4)
    
    MOVE "NY" TO STATE-CODE(5)
    MOVE "New York" TO STATE-NAME(5)
    
    * Continue for other states...
 
LOOKUP-STATE.
    MOVE "N" TO FOUND-FLAG
    PERFORM VARYING LOOKUP-INDEX FROM 1 BY 1 
        UNTIL LOOKUP-INDEX > 50 OR STATE-FOUND
        IF STATE-CODE(LOOKUP-INDEX) = SEARCH-CODE
            MOVE STATE-NAME(LOOKUP-INDEX) TO FOUND-STATE
            SET STATE-FOUND TO TRUE
        END-IF
    END-PERFORM.

Explanation: This example demonstrates using a TABLE structure as a lookup table. The program defines a table that maps state codes to state names, initializes it with data, and provides a lookup function to find state names by their codes. This shows how TABLE structures can be used for data validation, code-to-description mapping, and other lookup operations that are common in business applications.

Multi-dimensional TABLE

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* Multi-dimensional TABLE example
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. MULTI-DIM-TABLE-EXAMPLE.
 
DATA DIVISION.
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
01  SALES-TABLE.
    05  SALES-ENTRY OCCURS 12 TIMES.  * Months
        10  PRODUCT-SALES OCCURS 5 TIMES.  * Products
            15  SALES-AMOUNT    PIC 9(7)V99.
            15  SALES-COUNT     PIC 9(5).
 
01  MONTH-INDEX         PIC 9(2) VALUE 1.
01  PRODUCT-INDEX       PIC 9(1) VALUE 1.
01  TOTAL-SALES         PIC 9(9)V99.
01  PRODUCT-TOTALS.
    05  PRODUCT-TOTAL OCCURS 5 TIMES PIC 9(8)V99.
 
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
MAIN-LOGIC.
    * Initialize sales table with sample data
    PERFORM INITIALIZE-SALES-TABLE
    
    * Calculate total sales for each product
    PERFORM CALCULATE-PRODUCT-TOTALS
    
    * Display product totals
    PERFORM DISPLAY-PRODUCT-TOTALS
    
    * Calculate grand total
    MOVE 0 TO TOTAL-SALES
    PERFORM VARYING PRODUCT-INDEX FROM 1 BY 1 
        UNTIL PRODUCT-INDEX > 5
        ADD PRODUCT-TOTAL(PRODUCT-INDEX) TO TOTAL-SALES
    END-PERFORM
    
    DISPLAY "Grand total sales: " TOTAL-SALES
    
    STOP RUN.
 
INITIALIZE-SALES-TABLE.
    * Initialize with sample sales data
    PERFORM VARYING MONTH-INDEX FROM 1 BY 1 
        UNTIL MONTH-INDEX > 12
        PERFORM VARYING PRODUCT-INDEX FROM 1 BY 1 
            UNTIL PRODUCT-INDEX > 5
            * Generate sample data
            COMPUTE SALES-AMOUNT(MONTH-INDEX, PRODUCT-INDEX) = 
                (MONTH-INDEX * 1000) + (PRODUCT-INDEX * 100)
            MOVE 50 TO SALES-COUNT(MONTH-INDEX, PRODUCT-INDEX)
        END-PERFORM
    END-PERFORM.
 
CALCULATE-PRODUCT-TOTALS.
    PERFORM VARYING PRODUCT-INDEX FROM 1 BY 1 
        UNTIL PRODUCT-INDEX > 5
        MOVE 0 TO PRODUCT-TOTAL(PRODUCT-INDEX)
        PERFORM VARYING MONTH-INDEX FROM 1 BY 1 
            UNTIL MONTH-INDEX > 12
            ADD SALES-AMOUNT(MONTH-INDEX, PRODUCT-INDEX) 
                TO PRODUCT-TOTAL(PRODUCT-INDEX)
        END-PERFORM
    END-PERFORM.
 
DISPLAY-PRODUCT-TOTALS.
    DISPLAY "Product Sales Totals:"
    PERFORM VARYING PRODUCT-INDEX FROM 1 BY 1 
        UNTIL PRODUCT-INDEX > 5
        DISPLAY "Product " PRODUCT-INDEX ": " PRODUCT-TOTAL(PRODUCT-INDEX)
    END-PERFORM.

Explanation: This example demonstrates a multi-dimensional TABLE structure for sales data. The table has two dimensions: months (12) and products (5). The program shows how to initialize a multi-dimensional table, calculate totals across dimensions, and display summary information. This illustrates how TABLE structures can handle complex data relationships and provide efficient access to multi-dimensional data for business analysis and reporting.

Best Practices and Considerations

Important Considerations

TABLE structures allocate memory for all occurrences
Use appropriate index variables for access
Consider memory usage for large tables
Validate index bounds to prevent errors
Use meaningful names for table elements

Advantages

Organized data storage and access
Efficient indexed access to elements
Structured data processing
Better data organization
Supports complex data relationships

Limitations

Fixed size allocation for all occurrences
Memory usage increases with table size
Requires index validation
May not be suitable for dynamic data
Can be complex for very large tables

Best Practices

• Use meaningful names for table elements
• Validate index bounds before access
• Consider memory usage for large tables
• Use appropriate data types for table elements
• Document table structure and usage

Test Your Knowledge

1. What is the primary purpose of the TABLE clause in COBOL?

To create database tables
To define table structures and arrays for data organization
To create file tables
To define table relationships

2. In which COBOL division is the TABLE clause typically used?

IDENTIFICATION DIVISION
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
DATA DIVISION
PROCEDURE DIVISION

3. What is the relationship between TABLE and OCCURS?

They are the same thing
TABLE is used with OCCURS to define arrays
OCCURS is used with TABLE to define arrays
They are completely unrelated

4. What are the main benefits of using TABLE structures?

Reduced memory usage
Better data organization and structured access
Faster file operations
Enhanced error handling

5. How do you access elements in a COBOL table?

Using array notation like other languages
Using subscript notation with parentheses
Using index variables with OCCURS
All of the above

COBOL Tutorial

COBOL TABLE Clause - Quick Reference

Primary Use

Division

Type

Status

Overview

Syntax

Practical Examples

Basic TABLE Usage

Complex TABLE Structure

Lookup TABLE

Multi-dimensional TABLE

Best Practices and Considerations

Important Considerations

Advantages

Limitations

Best Practices

Test Your Knowledge

Related Concepts

OCCURS Clause

Table Handling and Searching

Data Types

Data Division

Data Organization

Related Pages

COBOL Tutorial

COBOL TABLE Clause - Quick Reference

Primary Use

Division

Type

Status

Overview

Syntax

Practical Examples

Basic TABLE Usage

Complex TABLE Structure

Lookup TABLE

Multi-dimensional TABLE

Best Practices and Considerations

Important Considerations

Advantages

Limitations

Best Practices

Test Your Knowledge

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Concepts

OCCURS Clause

Table Handling and Searching

Data Types

Data Division

Data Organization

Related Pages