Language Reference

Branching

You can also alter the normal execution sequence by branching. A branch transfers control from one statement to a labeled branch target statement in the same scoping unit. A branch target statement can be any executable statement except a CASE, ELSE, or ELSE IF statement.

The following statements can be used for branching:

• Assigned GO TO

  transfers program control to an executable statement, whose statement label is designated in an ASSIGN statement. See GO TO (Assigned) for syntax details.

• Computed GO TO

  transfers control to possibly one of several executable statements. See GO TO (Computed) for syntax details.

• Unconditional GO TO

  transfers control to a specified executable statement. See GO TO (Unconditional) for syntax details.

• Arithmetic IF

  transfers control to one of three executable statements, depending on the evaluation of an arithmetic expression. See IF (Arithmetic) for syntax details.

The following input/output specifiers can also be used for branching:

• the END= end-of-file specifier

  transfers control to a specified executable statement if an endfile record is encountered (and no error occurs) in a READ statement.

• the ERR= error specifier

  transfers control to a specified executable statement in the case of an error. You can specify this specifier in the BACKSPACE, ENDFILE, REWIND, CLOSE, OPEN, READ, WRITE, and INQUIRE statements.

• the EOR= end-or-record specifier

  transfers control to a specified executable statement if an end-of-record condition is encountered (and no error occurs) in a READ statement.