💻 COBOL

COBOL GO TO Statement

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COBOL GO TO Statement

The GO TO statement transfers control unconditionally to another paragraph or section.

Syntax

GO TO paragraph-name
GO TO paragraph-1 paragraph-2 ... DEPENDING ON identifier

Example Program

       IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
       PROGRAM-ID. GOTO-DEMO.

       DATA DIVISION.
       WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
       01 WS-OPTION      PIC 9 VALUE 2.

       PROCEDURE DIVISION.
       MAIN-PARA.
           DISPLAY 'Starting program...'

      * GO TO DEPENDING ON
           GO TO OPTION-1 OPTION-2 OPTION-3
               DEPENDING ON WS-OPTION

           GO TO END-PARA.

       OPTION-1.
           DISPLAY 'Option 1 selected'
           GO TO END-PARA.

       OPTION-2.
           DISPLAY 'Option 2 selected'
           GO TO END-PARA.

       OPTION-3.
           DISPLAY 'Option 3 selected'
           GO TO END-PARA.

       END-PARA.
           DISPLAY 'Program ending...'
           STOP RUN.

Expected Output

Starting program...
Option 2 selected
Program ending...

Key Points

GO TO transfers control unconditionally
GO TO DEPENDING ON provides multi-way branch
Modern COBOL prefers PERFORM and EVALUATE
Excessive GO TO creates "spaghetti code"
Use sparingly for error handling or exits