The "N" literal
Another format of literal, equivalent to the DBCS literal, is used in COBOL/370 and the MIA COBOL specification.
General Format
Syntax Rules
- An N-literal can contain no more than 18 DBCS-characters, and can not be split over two lines.
- An N-literal can contain only double-byte characters for your computer's Double Byte Character Set.
- Any double-byte quotation marks used in the literal should be written twice. For example, in order to express a double-byte
quotation mark in the literal, you should write:
N"ABC""DEF"
- N-literal specification and behavior can be modified in exactly the same way as G-literals using the APOST Compiler directive to replace a quotation (double-line) by an apostrophe (single-line) character.
General Rules
- The N-literal can be used in conjunction with ALL to make a figurative constant (see the section Figurative Constants.
- All characters must be double-byte characters.