Originally posted by: Cecilia_F
Extended source format is introduced in COBOL for AIX, V4.1. The new extended source format is divided into distinct areas as before, but permits lines varying in length from
a minimum of 0 bytes to a maximum of 252 bytes.
The following figures illustrate the key difference between the two formats:
Fixed source format:
Extended source format:
For both formats, lines shorter than the maximum length are logically extended with space to the maximum length.
You can use the SRCFORMAT option to indicate whether your COBOL source conforms to 72-column fixed source format or to 252-column extended source format. The syntax is as shown below:
The default of this option is SRCFORMAT(COMPAT).
For more information about the usage of this option, see the
SRCFORMAT option in the product documentation.