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COBSWAIT

Source: cbl/COBSWAIT.cbl

Type: Batch program

Purpose

COBSWAIT is a small batch utility program used in the CardDemo application to pause (delay) job execution for a configurable amount of time. It reads a wait duration (expressed in centiseconds) as input and delegates the actual wait/sleep logic to an external routine, MVSWAIT. It is run as the WAITSTEP.WAIT step of a batch job, presumably to introduce timing delays between job steps (e.g., for sequencing, throttling, or simulating processing time).

How it works

The program has no named paragraphs — all logic sits directly in the PROCEDURE DIVISION:

  • Read input — ACCEPT PARM-VALUE FROM SYSIN reads an 8-character value from the SYSIN input stream (typically supplied via JCL as a parameter card).

  • Convert value — MOVE PARM-VALUE TO MVSWAIT-TIME moves the value into a PIC 9(8) COMP numeric field, converting the alphanumeric input into a binary number representing centiseconds.

  • Perform wait — CALL 'MVSWAIT' USING MVSWAIT-TIME invokes an external subprogram (not part of this source file) that performs the actual wait based on the numeric value passed.

  • Terminate — STOP RUN ends the program immediately after the call returns.

There is no looping, conditional logic, or error handling — it's a straight-line, three-statement program.

Inputs & outputs

No files, copybooks, SQL tables, or CICS commands are used — this is confirmed by the parser facts (files: [], copybooks: [], sql_tables: [], cics_commands: []).

Things to know

  • No input validation. The value from SYSIN is moved directly into a numeric COMP field with no checks for non-numeric or malformed data. If PARM-VALUE contains non-numeric characters, this MOVE could produce undefined/garbage results or abend at runtime, since COBOL numeric-edited moves from alphanumeric fields don't validate content.

  • Fixed-size parameter. PARM-VALUE is PIC X(8), and MVSWAIT-TIME is PIC 9(8) COMP — the wait value must fit within 8 digits (centiseconds), limiting the maximum wait duration.

  • No error handling. There's no check on the success/failure of the CALL 'MVSWAIT', nor any return code handling. If MVSWAIT fails or isn't found at runtime, behavior depends entirely on the runtime environment's abend handling.

  • External dependency. The actual wait behavior lives in MVSWAIT, which is not part of this source and not verified by the parser — its implementation, units, and behavior can't be confirmed from this file alone (the comment states the parameter is in centiseconds, but this is only documented, not enforced in code).

  • No paragraphs/structure. The parser found zero named paragraphs, consistent with the flat, unstructured PROCEDURE DIVISION shown in the source — there's nothing to decompose or trace beyond the three statements.

  • Purely a utility/timing mechanism — it has no business logic, file I/O, or database interaction, aligning with its role as a generic "wait" step in a job stream.

Calls

MVSWAIT

Executed by

WAITSTEP.WAIT