COBOL IF-ELSE Statement is used for conditional processing in COBOL.
IF-ELSE​
IF-ELSE performs the various set of tasks-
- The statement inside the IF block will execute if the condition of IF statement is true
- The statement inside IF block will not execute when the condition of IF statement is false. If we code ELSE block, in this case, the statement will execute
- Nesting of ‘IF-ELSE’ statements can be done that means one or more ‘IF-ELSE’ statements can be coded inside an ‘IF-ELSE’ statement
Syntax
IF condition
[statement-1/s]ELSE
[statement-2/s]
END-IF
Most used IF Format/Example 1​
IF condition-is-true
{Statement/s}
END-IF.
Example:
IF MALE
  DISPLAY “HE IS A MALE”
END-IF.
Most used IF-ELSE Format/Example 2
IF condition-is-true
{Statement/s}/{CONTINUE/NEXT SENTENCE}
ELSE
{Statement/s}{CONTINUE/NEXT SENTENCE}
END-IF.
Example:
IF MALE
  DISPLAY “HE IS A MALE”
ELSE
  DISPLAY “SHE IS A FEMALE”
END-IF.
IF NOT MALE
   DISPLAY “SHE IS A FEMALE”
ELSE
   DISPLAY “HE IS A MALE”
END-IF.
IF A = B
  DISPLAY “BOTH ARE EQUAL”
ELSE
  DISPLAY “BOTH ARE NOT EQUAL”
END-IF.
IF AÂ IS EQUAL TO B
  DISPLAY “BOTH ARE EQUAL”
ELSE
  DISPLAY “BOTH ARE NOT EQUAL”
END-IF.
IF AÂ = B
  DISPLAY “BOTH ARE EQUAL”
ELSE
  DISPLAY “BOTH ARE NOT EQUAL”
END-IF.
IF AÂ IS NOT EQUAL TO B
  DISPLAY “BOTH ARE NOT EQUAL”
ELSE
  DISPLAY “BOTH ARE EQUAL”
END-IF.
IF A > B
  DISPLAY “A IS GREATER”
ELSE
  DISPLAY “B IS GREATER”
END-IF.
IF A IS NEGATIVE
  DISPLAY “NEGATIVE”
ELSE
  DISPLAY “POSITIVE”
END-IF.
IF A IS NUMERIC
  MOVE 9 TO A
ELSE
  DISPLAY “A IS NOT NUMERIC”
END-IF.
Most used Nested IF-ELSE Format/Example 3​
IF condition-is-true
  {Statement/s}/{CONTINUE/NEXT SENTENCE}
  IF condition-is-true
    {Statement/s}/{CONTINUE/NEXT SENTENCE}
  ELSE
    {Statement/s}{CONTINUE/NEXT SENTENCE}
  END-IF
ELSE
  IF condition-is-true
    {Statement/s}/{CONTINUE/NEXT SENTENCE}
  ELSE
    {Statement/s}{CONTINUE/NEXT SENTENCE}
  END-IF
END-IF.
Example:
IF A = 5 AND B = 10
  DISPLAY “RIGHT VALUES”
  MOVE 15 TO C
ELSE
  IF A = 5
   MOVE 10 TO B
  ELSE
   MOVE 5 TO A
  END-IF
END-IF.
Sample COBOL Program to show IF-ELSE conditional processing​
Output
