data division

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word data division. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word data division, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say data division in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word data division you have here. The definition of the word data division will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofdata division, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Noun

data division (plural data divisions)

  1. (computing) The part of a COBOL program in which the format and layout of external files and databases, and internally-used variables and constants are defined
    • 1971, Allen Kent, Harold Lancour, Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science:
      The data division is that portion of the program set aside to identify explicitly all the format characteristics of data received by the program, created within the program, and produced as output.
    • 1997, Peter Groves, Sourcebook on intellectual property law:
      It is best to define the variables within the data division before writing the procedure division.
    • 2002, Earl H. Parsons, Structured Programming with COBOL Examples:
      We use the data division to control the definition of these fields.

Usage notes

  • The term is capitalized (as DATA DIVISION) in the COBOL source code.