Illegal Values for Pointers

Data items that you define with usage POINTER or PROCEDURE-POINTER must contain valid addresses when they are used. Using a pointer that does not contain a valid address results in RTS error 114 ("Attempt to access item beyond bounds of memory"), because this COBOL system traps the error that would otherwise result in a general protection violation.

In the example below, data item undefined-pointer is defined as a pointer to a procedure, but is not given a value before it is used. As a result, the CALL statement fails, giving RTS error 114 ("Attempt to access item beyond bounds of memory").

 working-storage section.
 01 undefined-pointer  usage procedure-pointer.
 procedure division.
     call undefined-pointer
 stop run.