MVSFORUMS.com

[Packi]

what would happen if we move Null Values or Spaces to a table field through a cobol program?

[Nic Clouston]

it would have null values or spaces in it
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Utility and Program control cards are NOT, repeat NOT, JCL.

[Nic Clouston]

of course the field should be defined to take such values - basically a PIC X field. If you are talking about columns in a table rather than the field in your program then the same applies - but the column may have been set up with NOT NULLS in which case you would get a negative sqlcode.

Same with any language I know, not just COBOL
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Utility and Program control cards are NOT, repeat NOT, JCL.

[dbzTHEdinosauer]

Packi,

you intermixing of keywords, fields, table, Null Value, is confusing.

fields are a program data definition.
a COBOL Table contains items comprising of fields.

columns are a DB2 definition of a discreet data area (could be thought of as a field, but it is called a column).
A DB2 Table contains Rows comprising of Columns.

NULL Value is not a COBOL term.
Low-values (hex '00') is the Reference used when MOVEing, comparing(IF/WHEN).
Enterprise Cobol allows for a NULL delimited string (hex '00') - (a variable length string) in order to be compatible with the PC world and the C language.

NULL Value is a DB2 term, meaning the Column contains no-value. As Nic said, the Column must be defined as NULLABLE.
You determine if a NULLABLE Column is NULL or contains a NULL Value thru

1. interrogation of the NULL-INDICATOR for that Column after retrieval of a row
2. comparison, setting to NULL in SQL

.
Moving Low-values to a Char column is not the same as setting the Value for a Column to NULL.

Spaces are spaces; considered character data in DB2, string or X-type data in COBOL.
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Dick Brenholtz
American living in Varel, Germany