IBM Mainframe Forum

Could someone please explain why the correct answer is B.60 instead of C.90?
Initially A=30, B=60

What is the output of the program?

A.
30

B.
60

C.
90

D.
Can’t perform the operation
Coded

I think it's 42, because that's the answer to everything.

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wandilly (Thu Jun 02, 2016 8:25 pm)

In the future, please enclose code, data, etc. in Code tags so as to maintain alignment.

Now, as to the answer: Where does the next sentence begin after the NEXT SENTENCE clause?

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wandilly (Thu Jun 02, 2016 8:26 pm)

prino wrote:I think it's 42, because that's the answer to everything.

Not true; I've been thanked 42 times, but I don't have the answer to everything

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wandilly (Thu Jun 02, 2016 8:36 pm)

This is a good example of the potential problems with mixing NEXT SENTENCE and scope delimiters in the same program. Personally, I stopped using NEXT SENTENCE years ago in favor of scope delimiters. I also code only 2 periods per paragraph; one for the paragraph name and the other to end the paragraph.

The Enterprise COBOL Language Reference manual should be your FIRST reference for such questions (if you don't have it bookmarked in your browser, you should), wandilly, and it says

NEXT SENTENCE
The NEXT SENTENCE phrase transfers control to an implicit CONTINUE statement immediately following the next separator period.
When NEXT SENTENCE is specified with END-IF, control does not pass tothe statement following the END-IF. Instead, control passes to the
statement after the closest following period.

These users thanked the author Robert Sample for the post:

wandilly (Thu Jun 02, 2016 8:35 pm)

Thanks everyone who commented on my question )

I just copied and pasted the code from a online test that I was taking sometime ago

I am not sure if the code for that question was incorrect or if I was mistaking to think
that the "NEXT SENTENSE" should transfer control to the command immediately after the END-IF.

Thanks to Robert sample, I now know that the control passes to the
statement after the closest following period.

Again, thank you all very much !