IDENTIFICATION DIVISION

The Identification Division is: Ø        First division of a Cobol program. Ø        Identifies program name to operating system. P...

The Identification Division is:

Ø       First division of a Cobol program.

Ø       Identifies program name to operating system.

Provides documentation about program.        

Ø       Paragraph ‘PROGRAM-ID’ followed by a user-defined name is compulsory. Other paragraphs are optional but essential for documentation.

Ø       Should begin in Area A.

Ø       Length of PROGRAM-ID differs from compiler to compiler.

            For example, in the case of IBM COBOL, it is 8 characters.

SYNTAX OF IDENTIFICATION DIVISION

   IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.

     PROGRAM-ID. PROGRAM NAME.

     AUTHOR.COMMENT ENTRY.

     INSTALLATION.COMMENT ENTRY.

     DATE-WRITTEN.COMMENT ENTRY.

     DATE-COMPILED.COMMENT ENTRY.

     SECURITY.COMMENT ENTRY.

Security here does not pertain to the operating system security, 

but the information that is passed to the user of the program about the 

Security features of the program.