A PICTURE character-string defines the size and category of an elementary data item. A PICTURE character-string consists of certain symbols, which are composed of the currency symbol and certain other characters in the COBOL character set. A full description of the format of a PICTURE string is given when the PICTURE clause is described.
Any punctuation character that appears as part of a PICTURE string is not considered a punctuation character, but rather as a symbol used in the specification of that PICTURE string.