DISPLAY Statement
DISPLAY Statement
The DISPLAY statement is used to print the variable contents to the output device. The contents are displayed from left to right on the output device. It is mainly used to -
- Debug the program when no tools are available.
- To see the values of the variable at runtime.
Syntax -
DISPLAY [variable-name|literal]
[UPON output-device-env]
[WITH NO ADVANCING]
- variable-name - refers the variable name.
- literal - refers to the literal coded with double or single quotes.
- UPON output-device-env - optional. UPON clause specifies where the displayed information should appear. Common options include UPON CONSOLE or UPON DISPLAY. If the UPON clause is omitted, the compiler chooses the display device.
- WITH NO ADVANCING - optional. If coded, the cursor does not move to a new line after displaying the content.
Practical Example -
Scenario1 - Basic DISPLAY
Code -
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
01 WS-VAR.
05 WS-VAR1 PIC X(05) VALUE 'HELLO'.
05 WS-VAR2 PIC X(05) VALUE 'WORLD'.
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
* Simple DISPLAY
DISPLAY "MESSAGE1: " WS-VAR1.
DISPLAY "MESSAGE2: " WS-VAR2.
Output -
MESSAGE1: HELLO MESSAGE2: WORLD
Scenario2 - DISPLAY with multiple items
Code -
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
01 WS-VAR.
05 WS-VAR1 PIC X(05) VALUE 'HELLO'.
05 WS-VAR2 PIC X(05) VALUE 'WORLD'.
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
* Simple DISPLAY
DISPLAY "MESSAGE: " WS-VAR1 " " WS-VAR2.
Output -
MESSAGE: HELLO WORLD
Scenario3 - DISPLAY with no advancing
Code -
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
01 WS-VAR.
05 WS-VAR1 PIC X(05) VALUE 'HELLO'.
05 WS-VAR2 PIC X(05) VALUE 'WORLD'.
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
* DISPLAY WITH NO ADVANCING
DISPLAY WS-VAR1 WITH NO ADVANCING.
DISPLAY " " WS-VAR2.
Output -
HELLO WORLD