Iterators

An iterator is a section of code that returns an ordered sequence of values. You can create an iterator by defining a member as an iterator, using iterator-id.

iterator-specification

iterator-header procedure-division

iterator-header

iterator-id-signatureThe method signature enables you to specify passing parameters and returning items within the header of certain elements. You must omit the procedure division header within the method if you use this signature. Extension Methods and Operator Overloading Extension methods enable you to add methods to existing types thereby providing additional functionality without the need to edit or recompile the code. access-modifier attribute-clause Generics - Managed Syntax Generic types and methods can be defined in COBOL with the USING phrase.

Example

Here we use an iterator-id paragraph GetEven to return the even numbers in the m-FibonacciArray

       class-id Fibonacci.Class1 static.

       data division.
       working-storage section.
       01 m-FibonacciArray binary-long occurs any static.
       method-id FibEvens static.
       procedure division.
        set content of m-FibonacciArray to (1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144)

        display "Even numbers in the Fibonacci sequence:"         
        perform varying evenNumber as binary-long through self::GetEven
            display evenNumber
        end-perform
           goback.
       end method.

       iterator-id GetEven yielding res as binary-long static.

        perform varying i as binary-long through m-FibonacciArray
            if i b-and 1 = 0
                set res to i
                goback
            end-if
        end-perform
        stop iterator *> stops the iterator explicitly
       end iterator.  *> end of method stops the iterator implicitly 
       end class.

The following is a similar example, but uses the self syntax to allow iteration directly through the current class (that is, the class in which the iterator appears).

       class-id Fibonacci.Class2.
       method-id main static (args as string occurs any).
           try
               declare max as binary-long = binary-long::Parse(args[0])
               declare fibs = new Fibonacci(max)
               perform varying i as binary-long through fibs
                   display i
               end-perform
           catch
               display "Bad command line"
           end-try
       end method.
       end class.

       class-id Fibonacci.
       01 MaxNumber binary-long.

       method-id new (#max as binary-long).
           set MaxNumber to #max
       end method.

       iterator-id self yielding res as binary-long.
           set res to 1
           exit iterator
           declare frst as binary-long = 0
           declare second as binary-long = 1
           perform until exit
               compute res = frst + second
               if res > MaxNumber
                   stop iterator
               end-if
               move second to frst
               move res to second
               exit iterator
           end-perform
       end iterator.
       end class.

See also the Iterators sample, which is available from Start > All Programs > Micro Focus Enterprise Developer > Samples > Visual COBOL Samples, under COBOL for JVM.

Further information

If you specify parameters in the iterator header, you must not include a procedure division header in the body of the iterator.

The STOP ITERATOR statement stops the iteration.

This statement is not needed if the next statement is END ITERATOR.