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COBOL Tutorial

COBOL WITH NO ADVANCING - Quick Reference

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Overview

WITH NO ADVANCING is a COBOL clause used with output operations (typically DISPLAY statements) to prevent automatic line advancement. It allows you to control the positioning of output on the screen or in output files, providing better formatting control and the ability to create custom layouts.

Purpose and Usage

  • Output formatting control
  • Custom layout creation
  • Line positioning control
  • Prevention of unwanted line breaks
  • Precise output placement

Syntax

WITH NO ADVANCING follows specific syntax patterns with output operations:

Basic Syntax

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* Basic WITH NO ADVANCING syntax
DISPLAY "Hello" WITH NO ADVANCING.
DISPLAY "World" WITH NO ADVANCING.
DISPLAY ".".
 
* Multiple items on same line
DISPLAY "Name: " WITH NO ADVANCING.
DISPLAY customer-name WITH NO ADVANCING.
DISPLAY " Age: " WITH NO ADVANCING.
DISPLAY customer-age.
 
* Formatting with spacing
DISPLAY "Item: " WITH NO ADVANCING.
DISPLAY item-name WITH NO ADVANCING.
DISPLAY " Price: " WITH NO ADVANCING.
DISPLAY item-price WITH NO ADVANCING.
DISPLAY " USD".

WITH NO ADVANCING prevents line advancement after output operations.

Comparison with Default Behavior

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* Default behavior (with line advancement)
DISPLAY "Line 1".
DISPLAY "Line 2".
DISPLAY "Line 3".
 
* Output:
* Line 1
* Line 2
* Line 3
 
* WITH NO ADVANCING behavior
DISPLAY "Line 1" WITH NO ADVANCING.
DISPLAY "Line 2" WITH NO ADVANCING.
DISPLAY "Line 3".
 
* Output:
* Line 1Line 2Line 3
 
* Mixed usage
DISPLAY "Name: " WITH NO ADVANCING.
DISPLAY customer-name.
DISPLAY "Address: " WITH NO ADVANCING.
DISPLAY customer-address.

Practical Examples

Here are some practical uses of WITH NO ADVANCING in COBOL:

Formatted Output Display

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* Formatted output with WITH NO ADVANCING
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
DISPLAY-CUSTOMER-INFO.
    * Display customer information in formatted layout
    DISPLAY "Customer Information:".
    DISPLAY "=====================".
    
    DISPLAY "ID: " WITH NO ADVANCING.
    DISPLAY customer-id.
    
    DISPLAY "Name: " WITH NO ADVANCING.
    DISPLAY customer-name.
    
    DISPLAY "Address: " WITH NO ADVANCING.
    DISPLAY customer-address.
    
    DISPLAY "Phone: " WITH NO ADVANCING.
    DISPLAY customer-phone.
    
    DISPLAY "Balance: " WITH NO ADVANCING.
    DISPLAY "$" WITH NO ADVANCING.
    DISPLAY customer-balance.
    
    DISPLAY "Status: " WITH NO ADVANCING.
    IF customer-active
        DISPLAY "ACTIVE"
    ELSE
        DISPLAY "INACTIVE"
    END-IF.
 
* Output example:
* Customer Information:
* =====================
* ID: 123456
* Name: John Doe
* Address: 123 Main St
* Phone: (555) 123-4567
* Balance: $1,234.56
* Status: ACTIVE

Formatted customer information display using WITH NO ADVANCING.

Progress Indicators

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* Progress indicators with WITH NO ADVANCING
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
PROCESS-RECORDS.
    DISPLAY "Processing records...".
    
    * Process records with progress display
    PERFORM UNTIL end-of-file
        READ input-file
            AT END
                MOVE "Y" TO end-of-file-flag
            NOT AT END
                PERFORM process-record
                ADD 1 TO record-counter
                
                * Display progress every 100 records
                IF FUNCTION MOD(record-counter, 100) = 0
                    DISPLAY "Processed " WITH NO ADVANCING.
                    DISPLAY record-counter WITH NO ADVANCING.
                    DISPLAY " records..."
                END-IF
        END-READ
    END-PERFORM.
    
    * Final count
    DISPLAY "Total records processed: " WITH NO ADVANCING.
    DISPLAY record-counter.
 
* Output example:
* Processing records...
* Processed 100 records...
* Processed 200 records...
* Processed 300 records...
* Total records processed: 325

Progress indicators using WITH NO ADVANCING for better formatting.

Best Practices

  • Use WITH NO ADVANCING for better output formatting control.
  • Combine WITH NO ADVANCING with regular DISPLAY for mixed formatting.
  • Use WITH NO ADVANCING to create custom layouts and forms.
  • Consider readability when using WITH NO ADVANCING extensively.
  • Test output formatting on different devices and screen sizes.
  • Document complex formatting logic for maintenance.

Common Pitfalls

  • Forgetting to add line breaks when needed, causing output to run together.
  • Overusing WITH NO ADVANCING, making output hard to read.
  • Not considering different output devices and their formatting requirements.
  • Creating overly complex formatting that is difficult to maintain.
  • Not testing output formatting thoroughly.

Test Your Knowledge

1. What is WITH NO ADVANCING in COBOL?

  • A file operation
  • An output formatting option
  • A data declaration
  • A program structure

2. What does WITH NO ADVANCING do?

  • Prevents line advancement after output
  • Advances to the next line
  • Skips lines
  • Deletes lines

3. When is WITH NO ADVANCING typically used?

  • With file operations
  • With DISPLAY statements for formatting
  • With arithmetic operations
  • With data declarations

4. What is the default behavior without WITH NO ADVANCING?

  • No line advancement
  • Automatic line advancement
  • Random line advancement
  • Conditional line advancement

5. What is the primary benefit of using WITH NO ADVANCING?

  • Faster output
  • Better output formatting control
  • Reduced memory usage
  • Improved performance

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Concepts

DISPLAY Statement

Using DISPLAY for output operations.

Output Formatting

Formatting output in COBOL programs.

Screen Handling

Screen and terminal output handling.

Report Generation

Generating formatted reports.

User Interface

Creating user-friendly interfaces.

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