COBOL declaration and value of variable.

[HajiAmida]

Hello,

Suppose i am declaring

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05 temp-a.
     10 temp-b pic x(1)
      10 temp-c pic x(1)

If I give if temp-a = '1' , means it is equivalent to if temp-b = 1 right? Anyone please confirm.

[Robert Sample]

Actually, you are not quite correct. COBOL compares equal sizes of variables, so saying

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IF TEMP-A = '1'

is really comparing TEMP-A to '1 ' -- COBOL will add the blank after the one so the comparison values are the same size. So depending upon the value of temp-c, the IF TEMP-A = '1' statement you posted may or not work the same as IF TEMP-B = '1'.