COBOL Signed BINARY Data Type

This group of values are integer signed data type. They can be from 1 to 8 bytes with maximum range from -9223372036854775808 to 9223372036854775807. Signed integers are represented 0 in the leftmost bit for positive values and 1 for negative ones. The summary of signed BINARY data type can be found in COBOL Data Types article.

Storage Description

BINARY 1 (1 byte)

Bit 7	Bit 6	Bit 5	Bit 4	Bit 3	Bit 2	Bit 1	Bit 0
Sign	Bit value	Bit value	Bit value	Bit value	Bit value	Bit value	Bit value

BINARY 2 (2 bytes)

Bit 15	Bit 14	Bit 13	...	Bit 3	Bit 2	Bit 1	Bit 0
Sign	Bit value	Bit value	...	Bit value	Bit value	Bit value	Bit value

BINARY 4 (4 bytes)

Bit 31	Bit 30	Bit 29	...	Bit 3	Bit 2	Bit 1	Bit 0
Sign	Bit value	Bit value	...	Bit value	Bit value	Bit value	Bit value

BINARY 8 (8 bytes)

Bit 63	Bit 62	Bit 61	...	Bit 3	Bit 2	Bit 1	Bit 0
Sign	Bit value	Bit value	...	Bit value	Bit value	Bit value	Bit value

Sample 1

35,791 value

Byte 4	Byte 3	Byte 2	Byte 1
0000 0000	0000 0000	1000 1011	1100 1111

Explanation

Bit 31	...	Bit 16	Bit 15	Bit 14	Bit 13	Bit 12	Bit 11	Bit 10	Bit 9	Bit 8	Bit 7	Bit 6	Bit 5	Bit 4	Bit 3	Bit 2	Bit 1	Bit 0
0	...	0	32768	0	0	0	2048	0	512	256	128	64	0	0	8	4	2	1

35791 = 32768 + 2048 + 512 + 256 + 128 + 64 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 1

Sample 2

-35,791 value

Byte 4	Byte 3	Byte 2	Byte 1
1111 1111	1111 1111	0111 0100	0011 0001

Explanation

Bit 31	...	Bit 15	Bit 14	Bit 13	Bit 12	Bit 11	Bit 10	Bit 9	Bit 8	Bit 7	Bit 6	Bit 5	Bit 4	Bit 3	Bit 2	Bit 1	Bit 0
2147483648	...	0	16384	8192	4096	0	1024	0	0	0	0	32	16	0	0	0	1

-35791 = -([maximum of unsigned 4 byte integer: 4294967295] - [2147483648...16384+8192+4096+1024+32+16+1] + 1)

COBOL Representation Samples

01 VAR-BINARY PIC S9(5) USAGE COMP.
01 VAR-BINARY PIC S9(05) USAGE COMP.
01 VAR-BINARY PIC S9(5) COMP.
01 VAR-BINARY PIC S9(5) USAGE COMP.

Resources

ebcdic-parser tool for converting of mainframe EBCDIC data into Unicode ASCII delimited text

Storage Description

Sample 1

Sample 2

COBOL Representation Samples

Resources

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