The preprocessor can produce source code written in either VAX COBOL terminal format or ANSI format. The default is terminal format; if you require ANSI format, you should indicate so with the -a flag on the preprocessor command line. The COBOL code that the preprocessor generates for EQUEL statements follows the format convention you have chosen.

When you specify the -a flag, the preprocessor generates code using certain conventions. Indicators for comments and continued string literals are placed in column 7. The 01 level number for data declarations known to the preprocessor is output in Area A, starting at column 8. All other generated statements are placed in Area B, starting at column 12. No statements generated extend beyond column 72. Note that COBOL statements and declarations unknown to the preprocessor appear in the preprocessor output file unchanged from the input file.

The preprocessor does not generate any code in columns 1 - 6 (the Sequence Area) when you specify the -a flag. Do not, however, precede EQUEL statements with sequence numbers—the ## signal must always appear in the first two columns. Also, although the preprocessor never generates code beyond column 72 no matter which format you use, it does accept code in columns 73 - 80. Therefore, anything placed in that area on an EQUEL line must be valid EQUEL code.