ACCEPT and the SCREEN section

ACCEPT

ACCEPT reads a line from the input device into a field. On a terminal it waits for the user to type Enter; with input redirection it reads the next line of the file:

DISPLAY "Enter employee number: ". ACCEPT WS-EMP-NO.

ACCEPT FROM

ACCEPT FROM names the source: SYSIN for the standard input stream, ENVIRONMENT for an environment variable, and ARGUMENT for command-line values:

ACCEPT WS-COUNT FROM ENVIRONMENT "ROW-COUNT". ACCEPT WS-FIRST-ARG FROM ARGUMENT-VALUE.

SCREEN section

The SCREEN section of DATA DIVISION describes a form: field position, size, and default value. ACCEPT the screen to read it, and DISPLAY the screen to paint it. Terminal screens are legacy but still run on 3270 emulators.

Next: The Report Writer

Article author: Arthur Isaev