Re: newbie question on cobol syntax

docdwarf@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
In article <1177272149.938765.13260@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Mayer <mayer.goldberg@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hello:


[snip]


Can someone please explain to me the function of the period in cobol,
what is the basis for the difference in syntax, and what is
recommended.


To work backwards... what is recommended is starting with the style of code on your job-site (or learning what your instructor instructs you to do), there is no 'the basis' but, quite possibly, a few different bases and the function of the period is what, for the most part, what The Manual says it to be.

(Even the term used to define this particular bit of punctuation varies from one group to the next; some adherents to a primitive language which serves as a basis for a bit of what Americans speak will insist on using two words ('full stop') to describe it, rather than the one ('period') which can be found in citations as early as the seventeenth century... their reasons for doing this are still unknown but they are, at times, *most* insistent.)

DD

Very insistent, us folks from the 'Mother country'. Not sure of origins, but in days of telegrams :-

'WILL BE LEAVING BY FLIGHT AC 124. STOP. PLANE ARRIVES CALGARY 13.05 LOCAL TIME. STOP'.

Same sort of thing using teleprinters in military to send signals :-

'FROM C-IN-C MEAF TO AOC-IN-C IRAQ. STOP. FOR UK EYES ONLY. STOP. YOUR A12345 12 SEPTEMBER 1954. STOP. GOD HELP US WHEN THE YANKS TAKE OVER. STOP.'

For your edification, something else which amuses North Americans, "If you like I'll knock you up". NOT to be translated as, "If you like I'll leave a bun in your oven".

Saw the latter's origins on TV. Back in yon days of the Industrial Revolution and the 'dark Satanic Mills', when the poor sods, disenfranchised from their farms worked in the grimy mills starting work at 05:00 or 06:00 so the mill owner could save on lighting. It takes me all my effort to be awake by 08:00, so they had a similar problem with their times too.

For about a penny per week/month each household would pay somebody to knock them up. This man went down the rows of dingy terraced houses with a long stick and tapped(knocked) at the window immediately above the front door.

Another interesting one from TV. Do you know the origins of 'freelance' ?

BTW - Afterthought. You refer to hiring agencies as those 'pimps' Don't disagree with your conclusion/description. However, if a pimp is trying to gain you useful paid employment does that make you an whore (or in line with Imus an 'ho') ?

Jimmy
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Stop Interdimensional Meddling!
    ... fact some basis for universal good and evil - i.e., ... What you are suggesting is that morality is a materialistic thing. ... origins of the body, then that should also give an account for the ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Liam Plunkett replaces Welshman on tour of Pakistan
    ... he is almost entirely a product of Durham. ... I find it amazing that people can speculate on origins on the basis of name Just because Shahzad has an Asian name doesn't make him any less a Yorkshireman.. ...
    (uk.sport.cricket)
  • Re: newbie question on cobol syntax
    ... To work backwards... ... code on your job-site (or learning what your instructor instructs you to ... do), there is no 'the basis' but, quite possibly, a few different bases ... *most* insistent.) ...
    (comp.lang.cobol)