COBOL - Output Procedure

To select, edit, or otherwise change sorted records before writing them from the sort work file into another file, use the OUTPUT PROCEDURE phrase of the SORT statement.

Each output procedure must be contained in either a section or a paragraph. An output procedure must include both of the following elements:

At least one RETURN statement or one RETURN statement with the INTO phrase
Any statements necessary to process the records that are made available, one at a time, by the RETURN statement

The RETURN statement makes each sorted record available to the output procedure. (The RETURN statement for a sort file is similar to a READ statement for an input file.)

You can use the AT END and END-RETURN phrases with the RETURN statement. The imperative statements in the AT END phrase are performed after all the records have been returned from the sort file. The END-RETURN explicit scope terminator delimits the scope of the RETURN statement.

If you use RETURN INTO instead of RETURN, the records will be returned to WORKING-STORAGE, LOCAL-STORAGE, or to an output area.

Example:

The following example shows a coding technique that ensures that the RETURN statement encounters the AT END condition before the program finishes running. The RETURN statement, coded with the AT END phrase, is executed until the AT END condition occurs.

IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
DATA DIVISION.
FILE SECTION.
SD  OUR-FILE.
01  OUR-SORT-REC.
    03  SORT-KEY                PIC X(10).
    03  FILLER                  PIC X(70).
. . .
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
01  WS-SORT-REC                 PIC X(80).
01  END-OF-SORT-FILE-INDICATOR  PIC X VALUE 'N'.
    88  NO-MORE-SORT-RECORDS          VALUE 'Y'.
. . .
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
A-CONTROL SECTION.
    SORT OUR-FILE ON ASCENDING KEY SORT-KEY
      INPUT PROCEDURE IS B-INPUT
      OUTPUT PROCEDURE IS C-OUTPUT.
    . . .
B-INPUT SECTION.
    MOVE . . .. . .. TO WS-SORT-REC.
    RELEASE OUR-SORT-REC FROM WS-SORT-REC.
    . . .
C-OUTPUT SECTION.
    DISPLAY 'STARTING READS OF SORTED RECORDS: '.
    RETURN OUR-FILE
      AT END
        SET NO-MORE-SORT-RECORDS TO TRUE.
    PERFORM WITH TEST BEFORE UNTIL NO-MORE-SORT-RECORDS
      IF SORT-RETURN = 0 THEN
        DISPLAY 'OUR-SORT-REC = ' OUR-SORT-REC
        RETURN OUR-FILE
          AT END
            SET NO-MORE-SORT-RECORDS TO TRUE
      END-IF
    END-PERFORM.

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