[GNU-COBOL] Procedure Division Format Question

[Laura Tweedy <ltweedy@bellatlantic.net>]

Cobol Gurus!

The standard claims the following are both valid format for the
procedure division:

Format 1:
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
{ section-name SECTION.
[ paragraph-name.
	[sentence]... ]... }...

Format 2:
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
{ paragraph-name.
	[sentence]... }...

I read this as meaning that IF you're going to have sections, the first
thing in the Procedure division MUST be a section line.  And, that IF
the first thing you have is a paragraph, you can not have section
definitions later.

Is this right?  By that I mean, do most compilers enforce this?  Is it
enforced at all?  What does the section definition mean here?  I can't
find a description of what declaring sections in the procedure division
gets you.

For those of you with a standard, the above appears on page VI-51.

laura
--
Laura Tweedy .. ltweedy@bellatlantic.net

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