Requirements and Options for Host Languages › Using SQL in a COBOL Application Program › Embedding SQL Statements › Placing an SQL Statement

Placing an SQL Statement

Where You Can Put Statements

These are the rules for placing an SQL statement in a COBOL program:

• The INCLUDE statement must be in the DATA DIVISION
• The WHENEVER can be in the DATA DIVISION or the PROCEDURE DIVISION
• The DECLARE CURSOR and DECLARE EXTERNAL CURSOR statements can be in the DATA DIVISION or the PROCEDURE DIVISION but must precede the OPEN statement that references the cursor
• All other statements must be in the PROCEDURE DIVISION

Versions Prior to VS COBOL II

If your program is written for a version of COBOL that is prior to VS COBOL II, observe these guidelines:

• Do not include an SQL statement within the scope of a COBOL IF statement
• Use the THRU construction for a PERFORM statement that references a section containing an SQL statement

COBOL Version Examples

This example is valid in VS COBOL II and later versions:

IF I < 100
  EXEC SQL
    SELECT EMP_LNAME,
           DEPT_ID
      INTO :EMP-LNAME,
           :DEPT-ID
      WHERE EMP_ID = :WK-EMP-ID
  END-EXEC.
  COMPUTE A = A + 1.

For a version of COBOL prior to VS COBOL II, the procedure above can be written:

IF I < 100
  PERFORM  PARAGRAPH-B THRU PARAGRAPH-B-END
  COMPUTE A = A + 1.

PARAGRAPH-B.
  EXEC SQL
    SELECT EMP_LNAME,
           DEPT_ID
      INTO :EMP-LNAME,
           :DEPT-ID
      WHERE EMP_ID = :WK-EMP-ID
  END-EXEC.
PARAGRAPH-B-END.