The following table lists context-sensitive words, which are words that are reserved in the specified language construct when the specified dialect is chosen.
Specifying individual directive options (such as, MF and OSVS) results in the accumulative adding of reserved words; that is, both MF and OSVS context-sensitive words are reserved. However, specifying DIALECT(xxx) will set only those reserved words in the specified dialect, and remove all others; for example, DIALECT"OSVS" sets the equivalent of OSVS, NOMF, NOVSC2, NOACU, etc...
Reserved words turned on by ILGEN or JVMGEN (that is, MGD) are a special case - these are words additionally required for either .NET COBOL or JVM COBOL that are not available in 'standard' dialects, and so ILGEN and a language directive/dialect would need to be set.
If a context-sensitive word is used where a context-sensitive word is permitted in the general format, the word is treated as a keyword; otherwise, it is treated as a user-defined word. The dialect codes have the same meanings as in the section Reserved Words Table
| Context-sensitive Word | Language Context or Construct | Dialect Code |
|---|---|---|
| 3-D | ACU | |
| ACTION | ACU | |
| ACTIVE-X | ACU | |
| ADJUSTABLE-COLUMNS | ACU | |
| ALIGNMENT | ACU | |
| ARITHMETIC | OPTIONS paragraph | I2 |
| ASSEMBLY | MGD | |
| ASYNC | METHOD-ID paragraph | MGD |
| ASYNC-VALUE | METHOD-ID paragraph | MGD |
| ASYNC-VOID | METHOD-ID paragraph | MGD |
| ATTRIBUTES | MF16, ENT | |
| AUTO | screen description entry | I2, XO, MF3, MS2, ACU |
| AUTO-DECIMAL | ACU | |
| AUTO-SPIN | ACU | |
| AX-EVENT-LIST | ACU | |
| BACKGROUND | ACU, RM | |
| BACKGROUND-COLOR | screen description entry | I2, XO, MF3, MS2, ACU |
| BACKGROUND-COLOUR | screen description entry | I2, MF3, ACU |
| BAR | ACU | |
| BELL | screen description entry and SET attribute statement | I2, XO, MF3, MS2, ACU |
| BINARY | MF1, 74, 85, I2, OS, DVS, VS(4), C370, MVS, DG, OS390, XO, RM, MS2, ENT, ACU | |
| BITMAP | ACU | |
| BITMAP-END | ACU | |
| BITMAP-HANDLE | ACU | |
| BITMAP-NUMBER | ACU | |
| BITMAP-RAW-HEIGHT | ACU | |
| BITMAP-RAW-WIDTH | ACU | |
| BITMAP-SCALE | ACU | |
| BITMAP-START | ACU | |
| BITMAP-TIMER | ACU | |
| BITMAP-TRAILING | ACU | |
| BITMAP-WIDTH | ACU | |
| BLINK | screen description entry and SET attribute statement | I2, XO, MF3, RM, MS2, ACU |
| BLOB | MF1, 74, 85, I2, OS, DVS, VS(4), C370, MVS, DG, OS390, XO, RM, MS2, ENT, ACU | |
| BLOB-FILE | MF1, 74, 85, I2, OS, DVS, VS(4), C370, MVS, DG, OS390, XO, RM, MS2, ENT, ACU | |
| BLOB-LOCATOR | MF1, 74, 85, I2, OS, DVS, VS(4), C370, MVS, DG, OS390, XO, RM, MS2, ENT, ACU | |
| BUSY | ACU | |
| BUTTONS | ACU | |
| CALENDAR-FONT | ACU | |
| CANCEL-BUTTON | ACU | |
| CELL-COLOR | ACU | |
| CELL-DATA | ACU | |
| CELL-FONT | ACU | |
| CELL-PROTECTION | ACU | |
| CENTER | COLUMN clause | I2, ACU |
| CENTERED-HEADINGS | ACU | |
| CHAR | MF1, 74, 85, I2, OS, DVS, VS(4), C370, MVS, DG, OS390, XO, RM, MS2, ENT, ACU | |
| CHECK-BOX | ACU | |
| CICS | MF16 | |
| CLEAR-SELECTION | ACU | |
| CLOB | MF1, 74, 85, I2, OS, DVS, VS(4), C370, MVS, DG, OS390, XO, RM, MS2, ENT, ACU | |
| CLOB-FILE | MF1, 74, 85, I2, OS, DVS, VS(4), C370, MVS, DG, OS390, XO, RM, MS2, ENT, ACU | |
| CLOB-LOCATOR | MF1, 74, 85, I2, OS, DVS, VS(4), C370, MVS, DG, OS390, XO, RM, MS2, ENT, ACU | |
| COLORS | ACU | |
| COLOURS | ACU | |
| COLUMN-COLOR | ACU | |
| COLUMN-DIVIDERS | ACU | |
| COLUMN-FONT | ACU | |
| COLUMN-HEADINGS | ACU | |
| COLUMN-PROTECTION | ACU | |
| COMBO-BOX | ACU | |
| CONSTRUCTOR | MGD | |
| CONTROLS-UNCROPPED | ACU | |
| COPY-SELECTION | ACU | |
| CURSOR-COL | ACU | |
| CURSOR-COLOR | ACU | |
| CURSOR-FRAME-WIDTH | ACU | |
| CURSOR-ROW | ACU | |
| CURSOR-X | ACU | |
| CURSOR-Y | ACU | |
| CUSTOM-PRINT-TEMPLATE | ACU | |
| CUT-SELECTION | ACU | |
| CYCLE | EXIT statement | I2, MF7, ENT |
| DASHED | ACU | |
| DATA-COLUMNS | ACU | |
| DATA-POINTER | I2, MF15 | |
| DATA-TYPES | ACU | |
| DATE-ENTRY | ACU | |
| DATE-RECORD | MF1, 74, 85, I2, OS, DVS, VS(4), C370, MVS, DG, OS390, XO, RM, MS2, ENT, ACU | |
| DBCLOB | MF1, 74, 85, I2, OS, DVS, VS(4), C370, MVS, DG, OS390, XO, RM, MS2, ENT, ACU | |
| DBCLOB-FILE | MF1, 74, 85, I2, OS, DVS, VS(4), C370, MVS, DG, OS390, XO, RM, MS2, ENT, ACU | |
| DBCLOB-LOCATOR | MF1, 74, 85, I2, OS, DVS, VS(4), C370, MVS, DG, OS390, XO, RM, MS2, ENT, ACU | |
| DEFAULT-BUTTON | ACU | |
| DEFAULT-FONT | ACU | |
| DELETE-SELECTION | ACU | |
| DISPLAY-COLUMNS | ACU | |
| DISPLAY-FORMAT | ACU | |
| DIVIDER-COLOR | ACU | |
| DIVIDERS | MF16 | |
| DLI | ACU | |
| DOT-DASH | ACU | |
| DOTTED | ACU | |
| DRAG-COLOR | ACU | |
| DROP-DOWN | ACU | |
| DROP-LIST | ACU | |
| ELEMENT | XML-GENERATE statement | MF18, ENT |
| ENCODING | MF16, ENT | |
| END-COLOR | ACU | |
| ENGRAVED | ACU | |
| ENSURE-VISIBLE | ACU | |
| ENTRY-FIELD | ACU | |
| ENTRY-REASON | ACU | |
| EOL | ERASE phrase in screen description entry | I2, XO, MF7, RM, ACU |
| EOS | ERASE phrase in screen description entry | I2, XO, MF7, RM, ACU |
| ERASE | screen description entry | I2, XO, MF3, RM, MS2, ACU |
| ESCAPE-BUTTON | ACU | |
| EVENT-LIST | ACU | |
| EXCEPTION-VALUE | ACU | |
| EXCLUDE-EVENT-LIST | ACU | |
| EXPAND | ACU | |
| EXPANDS | CLASS phrase and INTERFACE phrase of the REPOSITORY paragraph | I2, MF12 |
| FIELD | ACU | |
| FILE-NAME | ACU | |
| FILE-POS | ACU | |
| FILL-COLOR | ACU | |
| FILL-COLOR2 | ACU | |
| FILL-PERCENT | ACU | |
| FINISH-REASON | ACU | |
| FIXED-FONT | ACU | |
| FIXED-WIDTH | ACU | |
| FLAT | ACU | |
| FLAT-BUTTONS | ACU | |
| FOREGROUND | RM, ACU | |
| FOREGROUND-COLOR | screen description entry | I2, XO, MF3, MS2, ACU |
| FOREGROUND-COLOUR | screen description entry | I2, MF3, ACU |
| FOREVER | RETRY phrase | I2 |
| FRAME | ACU | |
| FRAMED | ACU | |
| FULL | screen description entry | I2, XO, MF3, MS2, ACU |
| FULL-HEIGHT | ACU | |
| GO-BACK | ACU | |
| GO-FORWARD | ACU | |
| GO-HOME | ACU | |
| GO-SEARCH | ACU | |
| GRIP | ACU | |
| GROUP-VALUE | ACU | |
| HAS-CHILDREN | ACU | |
| HEADING-COLOR | ACU | |
| HEADING-DIVIDER-COLOR | ACU | |
| HEADING-FONT | ACU | |
| HEAVY | ACU | |
| HEIGHT-IN-CELLS | ACU | |
| HELP-CURSOR | ACU | |
| HIDDEN-DATA | ACU | |
| HIGH | ACCEPT statement and DISPLAY statement | RM, ACU |
| HIGH-COLOR | ACU | |
| HIGHLIGHT | screen description entry and SET attribute statement | I2, XO, MF3, MS2 |
| HORIZONTAL | ACU | |
| HOT-TRACK | ACU | |
| HSCROLL | ACU | |
| HSCROLL-POS | ACU | |
| IGNORING | READ statement | I2 |
| INHERITED | MGD | |
| INITIALIZED | ALLOCATE statement | MF19, I2, ENT |
| INSERT-ROWS | ACU | |
| INSERTION-INDEX | ACU | |
| INTRINSIC | function-specifier of the REPOSITORY paragraph | I2 |
| ITEM | ACU | |
| ITEM-BOLD | ACU | |
| ITEM-HELP | ACU | |
| ITEM-ID | ACU | |
| ITEM-TEXT | ACU | |
| ITEM-TO-ADD | ACU | |
| ITEM-TO-DELETE | ACU | |
| ITEM-TO-EMPTY | ACU | |
| ITEM-VALUE | ACU | |
| LABEL-OFFSET | ACU | |
| LARGE-FONT | ACU | |
| LAST-ROW | ACU | |
| LC_ALL | SET statement | I2 |
| LC_COLLATE | SET statement | I2 |
| LC_CTYPE | SET statement | I2 |
| LC_MESSAGES | SET statement | I2 |
| LC_MONETARY | SET statement | I2 |
| LC_NUMERIC | SET statement | I2 |
| LC_TIME | SET statement | I2 |
| LEADING-SHIFT | ACU | |
| LEFT-TEXT | ACU | |
| LINES-AT-ROOT | ACU | |
| LIST-BOX | ACU | |
| LM-RESIZE | ACU | |
| LOC | MF21, ENT | |
| LONG-DATE | ACU | |
| LONG-VARBINARY | All dialects, except RM | |
| LONG-VARCHAR | All dialects, except RM | |
| LOW | ACCEPT statement and DISPLAY statement | RM, ACU |
| LOS-COLOR | ACU | |
| LOWERED | ACU | |
| LOWLIGHT | screen description entry and SET attribute statement | I2, XO, MF7 |
| MANUAL | LOCK MODE clause | I2, MF1, MS2 |
| MAX-HEIGHT | ACU | |
| MAX-LINES | ACU | |
| MAX-PROGRESS | ACU | |
| MAX-SIZE | ACU | |
| MAX-TEXT | ACU | |
| MAX-VAL | ACU | |
| MAX-WIDTH | ACU | |
| MEDIUM-FONT | ACU | |
| MIN-HEIGHT | ACU | |
| MIN-LINES | ACU | |
| MIN-SIZE | ACU | |
| MIN-VAL | ACU | |
| MIN-WIDTH | ACU | |
| MULTILINE | ACU | |
| MULTIPLE | LOCK ON clause | All dialects, except RM |
| NAME | XML-GENERATE, INVOKE, and ACCEPT...FROM statements | MF3, ENT |
| NAMESPACE | MF16, ENT | |
| NAMESPACE-PREFIX | MF16, ENT | |
| NAVIGATE-URL | ACU | |
| NCLOB | All dialects, except RM | |
| NET-EVENT-LIST | ACU | |
| NEXT-ITEM | ACU | |
| NO-AUTO-DEFAULT | ACU | |
| NO-AUTOSEL | ACU | |
| NO-BOX | ACU | |
| NO-CELL-DRAG | ACU | |
| NO-CLOSE | ACU | |
| NO-DIVIDERS | ACU | |
| NO-ECHO | ACU | |
| NO-F4 | ACU | |
| NO-FOCUS | ACU | |
| NO-GROUP-TAB | ACU | |
| NO-KEY-LETTER | ACU | |
| NO-SEARCH | ACU | |
| NO-TAB | ACU | |
| NO-UPDOWN | ACU | |
| NONE | DEFAULT clause | I2 |
| NONNUMERIC | XML-GENERATE statement | MF18, ENT |
| NORMAL | STOP statement | I2 |
| NOTIFY | ACU | |
| NOTIFY-CHANGE | ACU | |
| NOTIFY-DBLCLICK | ACU | |
| NOTIFY-SELCHANGE | ACU | |
| NUM-COL-HEADINGS | ACU | |
| NUM-ROW-HEADINGS | ACU | |
| NUM-ROWS | ACU | |
| NUMBERS | COLUMN clause and LINE clause | I2 |
| OK-BUTTON | ACU | |
| ONLY | Object-view, SHARING clause, SHARING phrase and USAGE clause | I2, MF11, BS |
| OVERLAP-LEFT | ACU | |
| OVERLAP-TOP | ACU | |
| PAGE-SETUP | ACU | |
| PAGE-SIZE | ACU | |
| PAGED | ACU | |
| PANEL-INDEX | ACU | |
| PANEL-STYLE | ACU | |
| PANEL-TEXT | ACU | |
| PANEL-WIDTHS | ACU | |
| PARAGRAPH | EXIT statement | I2, MF7, ENT |
| PARAM | MGD | |
| PARAMETER | MGD | |
| PARENT | MGD, ACU | |
| PARSE | MF12, ENT | |
| PASTE-SELECTION | ACU | |
| PERMANENT | ACU | |
| PLACEMENT | ACU | |
| POSITION-SHIFT | ACU | |
| PREVIOUS | READ statement | I2, MF3 |
| PRINT-NO-PROMPT | ACU | |
| PRINT-PREVIEW | ACU | |
| PROGRESS | ACU | |
| PROP | MGD | |
| PROPERTIES | ACU | |
| PUSH-BUTTON | ACU | |
| QUERY-INDEX | ACU | |
| RADIO-BUTTON | ACU | |
| RAISED | ACU | |
| READ-ONLY | ACU | |
| RECORD-DATA | ACU | |
| RECORD-TO-ADD | ACU | |
| RECORD-TO-DELETE | ACU | |
| RECURSIVE | PROGRAM-ID paragraph | I2, MF12, C370, ENT |
| REFRESH | ACU | |
| REGION-COLOR | ACU | |
| RELATION | VALIDATE-STATUS clause | I2 |
| REQUIRED | screen description entry | I2, XO, MF3, MS2, ACU |
| RESET-GRID | ACU | |
| RESET-LIST | ACU | |
| RESET-TABS | ACU | |
| RESOURCE | ACU | |
| RESET-SET-LOCATOR | All dialects, except RM | |
| RETURN-VALUE | MGD | |
| REVERSE | ACCEPT statement and DISPLAY statement | RM |
| REVERSE-VIDEO | screen description entry and SET attribute statement | I2, XO, MF3, MS2 |
| RIGHT-ALIGN | ACU | |
| RIMMED | ACU | |
| ROW-COLOR | ACU | |
| ROW-COLOR-PATTERN | ACU | |
| ROW-DIVIDERS | ACU | |
| ROW-FONT | ACU | |
| ROW-HEADINGS | ACU | |
| ROW-PROTECTION | ACU | |
| ROWID | All dialects, except RM | |
| SAVE-AS | ACU | |
| SAVE-AS-NO-PROMPT | ACU | |
| SCROLL-BAR | ACU | |
| SEARCH-OPTIONS | ACU | |
| SEARCH-TEXT | ACU | |
| SECONDS | RETRY phrase | I2 |
| SECURE | screen description entry | I2, XO, MF3, MS2, ACU |
| SELECT-ALL | ACU | |
| SELECT-ALL-SELECTION | ACU | |
| SELECTION-INDEX | ACU | |
| SELECTION-TEXT | ACU | |
| SELF-ACT | ACU | |
| SEPARATION | ACU | |
| SHADING | ACU | |
| SHORT-DATE | ACU | |
| SHOW-LINES | ACU | |
| SHOW-NONE | ACU | |
| SHOW-SEL-ALWAYS | ACU | |
| SIGNED | USAGE clause | I2, MF12 |
| SMALL-FONT | ACU | |
| SORT-ORDER | ACU | |
| SPINNER | ACU | |
| SQL | All dialects, except MGD | |
| SQL-BFILE | All dialects, except MGD | |
| SQL-BLOB | All dialects, except MGD | |
| SQL-CLOB | All dialects, except MGD | |
| SQL-CURSOR | All dialects, except MGD | |
| SQL-NCLOB | All dialects, except MGD | |
| SQL-ROWID | All dialects, except MGD | |
| SQUARE | ACU | |
| START-X | ACU | |
| START-Y | ACU | |
| STATIC-LIST | ACU | |
| STATUS-BAR | ACU | |
| STATUS-TEXT | ACU | |
| STEP | OCCURS clause | I2 |
| STOP-BROWSER | ACU | |
| STRONG | TYPEDEF clause | I2 |
| SYMBOL | CURRENCY clause | I2, MF12, OS390, ENT |
| TAB-CONTROL | ACU | |
| TAB-TO-ADD | ACU | |
| TAB-TO-DELETE | ACU | |
| TEMPORARY | ACU | |
| TERMINATION-VALUE | ACU | |
| THUMB-POSITION | ACU | |
| TILED-HEADINGS | ACU | |
| TIME-RECORD | All dialects, except MGD | |
| TIMESTAMP | All dialects, except MGD | |
| TIMESTAMP-OFFSET | All dialects, except MGD | |
| TIMESTAMP-OFFSET-RECORD | All dialects, except MGD | |
| TIMESTAMP-RECORD | All dialects, except MGD | |
| TITLE-POSITION | ACU | |
| TRACK-THUMB | ACU | |
| TRADITIONAL-FONT | ACU | |
| TRAILING-SHIFT | ACU | |
| TRANSPARENT | ACU | |
| TRANSPARENT-COLOR | ACU | |
| TREE-VIEW | ACU | |
| UCS-4 | ALPHABET clause | I2 |
| UNBOUNDED | MF17, ENT | |
| UNDERLINE | screen description entry and SET attribute statement | I2, XO, MF3, MS2 |
| UNDO | ACU | |
| UNFRAMED | ACU | |
| UNSIGNED | USAGE clause | I2, MF12 |
| UNSORTED | ACU | |
| USE-ALT | ACU | |
| USE-RETURN | ACU | |
| USE-TAB | ACU | |
| USER-COLORS | ACU | |
| USER-GRAY | ACU | |
| USER-WHITE | ACU | |
| UTF-8 | ALPHABET clause | I2 |
| UTF-16 | ALPHABET clause | I2 |
| VALIDATING | MF16, ENT | |
| VALUE-FORMAT | ACU | |
| VARBINARY | All dialects, except MGD | |
| VARIANT | ACU | |
| VERTICAL | ACU | |
| VERY-HEAVY | ACU | |
| VIRTUAL-WIDTH | ACU | |
| VPADDING | ACU | |
| VSCROLL | ACU | |
| VSCROLL-BAR | ACU | |
| VSCROLL-POS | ACU | |
| VTOP | ACU | |
| WEB-BROWSER | ACU | |
| WIDTH-IN-CELLS | ACU | |
| X | ACU | |
| XML-DECLARATION | MF16, ENT | |
| Y | ACU | |
| YYYYDDD | ACCEPT statement | all dialects |
| YYYYMMDD | ACCEPT statement | all dialects |