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Introduction to Cobol Trivia Quiz

I spent over 20 year in the data processing field working for a major bank. As a programmer most of my programs were coded in cobol. These questions are a basic introduction to the language.

A multiple-choice quiz by denmarks. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
denmarks

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
233,871

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
794

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. The word COBOL is an acronym for what? Hint

It is not an acronym.

COmputer Basic Operating Language

COmmon Business Oriented Language

Common OBservation Official Language

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Question 2 of 10

2. There are 4 divisions in a cobol program. Which of the following is not one of them? Hint

Procedure Division

Identification Division

Linkage Division

Data Division

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Question 3 of 10

3. Cobol is self-documenting.

True

False

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Question 4 of 10

4. On a cobol coding form what was the meaning of an asterisk in column 7? Hint

The line is a comment.

A data definition follows.

The last line is continued.

None of the items listed.

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Question 5 of 10

5. User defined names must follow which one of the following rules? Hint

Names must contain at least 1 alpha character in any position.

Names must be lower case.

Names must be 10 or less characters.

Multiple word names must be separated with an underscore.

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Question 6 of 10

6. Cobol paragraphs contain sentences. A sentence must end in a period and can contain multiple statements.

True

False

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Question 7 of 10

7. Sentences and statements must start on a new line.

True

False

8. When defining a file layout it is placed in the file section of the data division. Each record begins with an "01", a space, and the record name. Fields within a record traditionally began with 05? If you see a level 10 after the 05 what would this mean? Hint

All of these answers.

This is an alternate name for the 05 name.

This is a breakdown of the 05 field.

This is another format for the field.

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Question 9 of 10

9. Condition names are names associated with a field that take on a true/false status depending on whether their value is equal to the field value. They are indicated by a level number of what? Hint

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Question 10 of 10

10. If a field is defined as Pic s9(6)v99 comp-3, it uses 5 bytes of storage.

True

False

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The word COBOL is an acronym for what?

Answer: COmmon Business Oriented Language

The language is the Common Business Oriented Language and was developed for ease of doing financial reporting.

2. There are 4 divisions in a cobol program. Which of the following is not one of them?

Answer: Linkage Division

There is no linkage division. The fourth one is the Environment Division.

3. Cobol is self-documenting.

Answer: True

Cobol was designed to allow non programmers to read and understand it. The idea was to use names that were self explanatory and consistant between files, records, and programs.

4. On a cobol coding form what was the meaning of an asterisk in column 7?

Answer: The line is a comment.

Column 7 contains an asterisk to indicate a comment.

5. User defined names must follow which one of the following rules?

Answer: Names must contain at least 1 alpha character in any position.

Any alphanumeric character is valid and a hyphen can be used to separate words. The maximum size is 30 characters. Underline is not valid. With 30 characters and hyphens you could better self document the program. Fields are normally named filename-recordname-fieldname. You then use the same names to refer to the same fields in different files and records.

6. Cobol paragraphs contain sentences. A sentence must end in a period and can contain multiple statements.

Answer: True

A sentence consists of multiple statements and has to end in a period. It is very easy to create an IF THEN ELSE statement and forget the period at the end. This would cause the next statement to only run with the else. To be safe it is always good to put a period at the end of each statement and only omit them when statements are part of a structure such as IF THEN ELSE.

7. Sentences and statements must start on a new line.

Answer: False

Even though this is false it is highly recommended to follow this recommendation to make the program more readable. You use a combination of new lines and indents to allow others to easily follow the logic.

Answer: This is a breakdown of the 05 field.

Even though any number greater than 01 is valid, fields were usually given the 05 level. Subfields are level 10. You then continue by 5 for each subfield. For example: an "05 date" has "10 month", 10 day", and "10 year" under it.

9. Condition names are names associated with a field that take on a true/false status depending on whether their value is equal to the field value. They are indicated by a level number of what?

Answer: 88

The 66 level indicates a rename. A 77 level is used for storage varables that are not part of a record. The way condition names were used was to define one for each value used. If the field was "05 line-flag pic 9", you could have "88 end-of-line value 1". In the code you could then write "if end-of-line ..." instead of "if line-flag = 1" ... This makes the program more readable.

10. If a field is defined as Pic s9(6)v99 comp-3, it uses 5 bytes of storage.

Answer: True

Comp-3 or computational 3 describes a binary coded decimal field that is stored as packed. This means that each digit takes 1/2 byte of storage. The given format indicates a 8 digit signed number with a virtual decimal point where indicated. The sign is the last digit position.

For example +1234 would be stored as 01234C. When looking at a core dump you could see the decimal numbers within a hexadecimal printout. To save more space you could define the field as computational (without the 3) and it will be stored in binary.

Source: Author denmarks

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor crisw before going online.
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