DISPLAY Statement

DISPLAY statement prints the variable contents to the output device, from left to right. 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 -

Full Example

 ...
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 -

Full Example

 ...
 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 -

Full Example

 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