COBOL Developer Guide¶

COBOL Programming Language for SINTRAN III

Version: 1.0 (Placeholder)
Date: October 18, 2025
Status: Reference Guide

Installing COBOL¶

ND-500 COBOL only — no PD sheet exists for either article number, so everything below comes from the floppies themselves:

Older article — ND-10177 (product ND-10177), version ND-10177H00 — a 3-disk set with the middle disk (10177H00-2S, presumably the runtime library) missing from every source checked.
Later article (COBOL-85) — ND-210177 (product ND-210177), two versions found: ND-210177J02 (real Linkage-Loader :MODE scripts decoded straight from the floppy — the most verified of the two) and ND-210177K01 (no script on this disk, procedure adapted from J02, unverified).

Both articles ship as ND-500 domains loaded via the Linkage-Loader, not plain SINTRAN reentrant subsystems — install the ND-500 Linkage-Loader first if it isn't already present. Both articles also bundle an ISAM (indexed-file) add-on, corresponding to the separate product ND-10343.

Quick Start¶

See QUICK-START-EXAMPLES.md Section 6 for complete Hello World example.

Minimal Example¶

IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. HELLO.

PROCEDURE DIVISION.
    DISPLAY 'HELLO FROM COBOL!'.
    STOP RUN.

Build Process¶

@COBOL HELLO:COB            # Compile COBOL to BRF
@NRL                        # Start linker
*PROG-FILE "HELLO"
*LOAD HELLO
*EXIT
@HELLO                      # Run

Reference Manual¶

Complete COBOL language documentation:

Location: Reference-Manuals/ND-60.144.3 EN COBOL Reference Manual.md

Manual: ND-60.144.3 EN COBOL Reference Manual

Key Features¶

ANSI COBOL Standard: ANSI-74 COBOL compatible
Business Applications: Designed for business data processing
SINTRAN Integration: Full access to SINTRAN III facilities
Compiler: @COBOL for ND-100