Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ptsfa.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!genrad!decvax!decwrl!amd!dual!ptsfa!dre
From: dre@ptsfa.UUCP (Doug East)
Newsgroups: net.lang
Subject: Re: How standard is COBOL ?
Message-ID: <368@ptsfa.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 14-Nov-84 01:23:40 EST
Article-I.D.: ptsfa.368
Posted: Wed Nov 14 01:23:40 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 15-Nov-84 03:45:08 EST
References: <440@ima.UUCP>
Organization: Pacific Bell, San Francisco
Lines: 38

> PS:  How many other languages let you write:
> 
> 	IF KICK-BACK GREATER THAN 10 AND LESS THAN 100 THEN ...

If I'm not mistake, which I could very well be, this particular nicety
is not ANSI standard but is implemented on many compilers.  It was on
the CDC Cyber 7xx compilers along with some other very nonstandard stuff
like reference modification (ala FORTRAN-like):

	MOVE THIS-IS-A-STRING ( 5 : 8 ) TO THIS-IS-A-SUBSTRING.

And a very nice END-IF statement for the IF-THEN-ELSE structure which
helps one keep track on the #?*% period.  It also closed off a nested
IF so that it would behave properly without the funky NEXT SENTENCE stuff:

	IF WHO-KNOWS-WHAT > ALOT THEN
		IF ALOT NOT > A-LITTLE THEN
			DISPLAY "ALOT IS TOO LITTLE"
		END-IF
	ELSE
		DISPLAY "WHO-KNOWS-WHAT KNOWS LITTLE"
	END-IF.

Rather than:

	IF WHO-KNOWS-WHAT > ALOT THEN
		IF ALOT NOT > A-LITTLE THEN
			DISPLAY "ALOT IS TOO LITTLE"
		ELSE
			NEXT SENTENCE
	ELSE
		DISPLAY "WHO-KNOWS-WHAT KNOWS LITTLE"
	END-IF.

However, all in all, I'm glad I don't program in it any more.

	Doug East (Pacific*Bell -- San Francisco)
	{ihnp4,ucbvax,cbosgd,decwrl,amd70,fortune,zehntel}!dual!ptsfa!dre