Easiest way to do date validation in a cobol program

karthik_sripal · Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 12:21 pm

Hi all,

I jus want to know, what is the Easiest way to do date validation in a cobol program??
By validation i jus mean a valid date like below nothing more
for eg:5/31/2009 --> valid
5/32/2009 ---> invalid
4/31/2009 -->invalid

sorry if this is a repeated question.i couldn't find anything crisp and clear inside

please point me if there is any good discussion on a similar note earlier.

Thanks in advance !!

dbzTHEdinosauer · Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 2:42 pm

I would ask your peers, check with application support, read your site documentation.

Unless your shop has just started writing code,
somewhere, someplace there is a 'DATE' module.
This module would be called by any program that needs to

validate a date
convert calender to julian - or reverse
determine difference between two dates
calculate a date based on an increment and a date
determine application holidays

As changes in software (LE for instance) occur, newer, faster, more accurate methods are available
to make date calculations/manipulations/conversion
and only one module needs to be changed to take advantage of the upgrades

If such a module does not exist,
earn points by writing/suggesting such a module
and help your site/shop enter the computer age.

My tone may sound a little harsh,
but I doubt that you have explored all the options of your shop
or this site. This topic has been discussed often,
results being a repetition of the above and somebody providing a specific routine.
More than likely Language Environment has a routine.
LE overview
LE Manuals

Bill O'Boyle · Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:58 am

Dick is correct as Language Environment does offer a Callable Service routine for date validation.

Click below -

ibmmainframes.com/viewtopic.php?p=119165&highlight=#119165

If your compiler supports INTRINSIC FUNCTIONS (COBOL/370 and greater), do not attempt to use the FUNCTION equivalent of CEEDAYS, which is either INTEGER-OF-DATE (CCYYMMDD format) or INTEGER-OF-DAY (CCYYDDD format) to validate a date, because if the date-passed is invalid, your program will crash and burn as the date-passed is expected to be valid.

CEEDAYS can also be used to determine whether a particular year is a leap-year or not.

Language Environment is available for all versions of COBOL.

Please refer to Dick's link for further LE documentation.

Regards,