COBOL-74 Language Manual

This document, the COBOL-74 Language Manual (January 1979), serves as a complete reference for the COBOL-74 programming language as implemented by Digital Equipment Corporation on the TOPS-10 and TOPS-20 operating systems.

Key contents include: * System Overview: Details on the compiler, object-time system (C74OTS), and utility programs (ISAM, LIBARY, COBDDT, RERUN). * Language Structure: Extensive definitions for the IDENTIFICATION, ENVIRONMENT, DATA, and PROCEDURE divisions. * Data Management: Detailed sections on file organization (Sequential, Relative, Indexed-Sequential) and simultaneous update protocols. * Utilities & Performance: Documentation for ISAM file maintenance, source library management via LIBARY, and program debugging/optimization techniques using COBDDT. * Appendices: A comparison of COBOL-74 vs. COBOL-68, a comprehensive list of reserved words, and character set conversion tables (ASCII, SIXBIT, EBCDIC).