COBOL Unsigned BINARY Data Type

This group of values are integer unsigned data type. They can be from 1 to 8 bytes with maximum range from 0 to 18446744073709551615. Unsigned integers don't reserve a bit for a sign and they occupy entire storage with value bits. The summary of unsigned 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
Bit value	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
Bit value	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
Bit value	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
Bit value	Bit value	Bit value	...	Bit value	Bit value	Bit value	Bit value

Sample 1

255 value

Byte 1
1111 1111

Explanation

Bit 7	Bit 6	Bit 5	Bit 4	Bit 3	Bit 2	Bit 1	Bit 0
128	64	32	16	8	4	2	1

255 = 128 + 64 + 32 + 16 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 1

Sample 2

35,791 value

kuY%ta25F

Byte 2	Byte 1
1000 1011	1100 1111

Explanation

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
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

COBOL Representation Samples

01 VAR-BINARY PIC 9(5) USAGE COMP.
01 VAR-BINARY PIC 9(05) USAGE COMP.
01 VAR-BINARY PIC 9(5) COMP.
01 VAR-BINARY PIC 9(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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