Error in evaluate statement with Next sentence

sbalajibe · New User Joined: 15 Aug 2005 Posts: 62

Hi All,

can u please help me out ... i am getting error in the following evaluate statement on NEXT SENTENCE ..

EVALUATE TRUE

WHEN SQLCODE = 00

NEXT SENTENCE

WHEN OTHER

<do error routine?>

END-EVALAUTE.

thanks in advance
Balaji

ofer71 · Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 2:48 pm

It would be helpfull if you can give us the exact error message. Thanks. :-)

O.

sbalajibe · New User Joined: 15 Aug 2005 Posts: 62

Hi Ofer71 ,
i am getting error like

?The "NEXT SENTENCE" phrase was invalid in this context

thanks
Balaji

ofer71 · Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 4:14 pm

As far as I know (and I'm not a COBOL expert) - The NEXT SENTENCE clause is part of the SEARCH and IF statements only.

O.

priyesh.agrawal · Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 10:30 pm

Code "CONTINUE" in place of "NEXT SENTENCE"... that will solve your problem...

Regards,

Priyesh.

lordholnapult · New User Joined: 01 Feb 2006 Posts: 5 Location: Italy

I think NEXT SENTENCE was a cobol '86 code version of the CONTINUE code command, created in COBOL 2.
or am I Wrong ?

cevelavl · New User Joined: 20 Feb 2006 Posts: 4

1) Clause NEXT SENTENCE is valid only in IF and SEARCH statements.
2) Non-conditional statement CONTINUE from ANSI Cobol 85 is possible everywhere.
3) So it can be in EVALUATE statement and in other conditional statements inclusive IF and SEARCH too.

DARAPRADEEP · New User Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 7

hi,
you can code like this

EVALUATE TRUE

WHEN SQLCODE not = 00

<do error routine?>
WHEN OTHER

CONTINUE

END-EVALUATE.

I think if the condetions are one or two use IF is better.

thanks,
pradeep.

umeshkmrsh · New User Joined: 21 Sep 2005 Posts: 79 Location: India

Hi frnds,

Let me add this point to your discussion.

CONTINUE is a replacement of NEXT SENTENCE in COBOL-II. As older one NEXT SENTENCE doesn?t understands key worlds like END-IF, END-SEARCH, END-STRING, etc which are used to terminate a sentence. In Cobol-I only way to terminate a sentence was '.' .

Now coming to why EVALUATE doesn?t supports NEXT SENTENCE? Reason is -- the EVALUATE statement was introduced with COBOL-II.

Using NEXT SENTENCE in place of CONTINUE can be dangerous if you are using COBOL-II.

I have not tried explaining everything...but I hope it will help you guys.

Correction's always welcome.

small_world · New User Joined: 22 Jul 2005 Posts: 24 Location: pune

COBOL II introduced the CONTINUE verb, which means "do nothing."
But wait a minute -- isn't that what NEXT SENTENCE means?

No, not quite. NEXT SENTENCE is actually an unconditional branch to whatever follows the next period. In effect, it is a restricted form of GO TO.

Consider the following fragment:

[ warning: bad code ahead ]

IF NOT INPUT-EOF
IF INPUT-REC-TYPE = '55'
PERFORM 2100-PROCESS-WTN
ELSE
NEXT SENTENCE
END-IF
ADD +1 TO INPUT-COUNT.

Quick, now: when INPUT-REC-TYPE is '00', what happens to INPUT-COUNT? Answer: nothing. NEXT SENTENCE branches around the ADD statement.
If you're used to thinking of NEXT SENTENCE as "do nothing," this result may come as a surprise. Before COBOL II, we not only didn't have CONTINUE, we also didn't have END-IF, or any of its kindred. The kind of situation shown above didn't arise.

With COBOL II and its successors, however, these situations can arise. Our old reflexes are no longer reliable.

Conclusions
Do not code NEXT SENTENCE. Ever.
If you really mean "do nothing," code CONTINUE.

If you really mean "branch to the next sentence," code a GO TO, or otherwise rearrange the code. If you insist on a GO TO, code it explicitly -- don't disguise it.