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Status Submitted
Workspace COBOL Compilers
Categories z/OS
Created by Guest
Created on Feb 22, 2026

RELATED IDEAS

IBM Enterprise COBOL V6R5+ - A TYPEDEF declaration should be able to be made anywhere in the program's source code (before its use).

Hi,

IBM Enterprise COBOL V6R5 introduces support for TYPEDEF and TYPE declarations.

Currently, a TYPEDEF declaration can only be made in the FILE SECTION, WORKING-STORAGE SECTION, LOCALE-STORAGE SECTION, and LINKAGE SECTION of the DATA DIVISION.

This is overly restrictive and unnecessarily complicates implementation:

  • it depends on the SECTIONS declared in the program

  • during evolutionary maintenance, a declaration made in the WORKING-STORAGE SECTION will have to be moved to the FILE SECTION if a file is added and requires the TYPEDEF.

A TYPEDEF is not a "data-item". It does not make any memory reservations.
A TYPEDEF is a declaration, a form of contract, a kind of compilation directive, a prototype, or an extension to the COBOL base language.
It should be able to be declared anywhere in the program's source code before its use, including before the IDENTIFICATION DIVISION declaration.

This would allow, for example, all TYPEDEFs to be declared using Copybooks placed at the very beginning of the source code.

At a minimum, TYPEDEFs should be able to be declared immediately after the DATA DIVISION declaration and before any of its SECTIONS.

Thanks.

Idea priority Medium

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