Redefine clause of COBOL

Question

Accepted Answer

Redefine clause in COBOL allows a data item to be referenced by different names and formats.

Redefine clause is used to save memory space by sharing the same memory location for different data items.
It is used to define a new data item that shares the same storage area as an existing data item.
The new data item can have a different data type, length, or picture clause than the original data item.
Example: 01 EMPLOYEE-DETAILS. 05 EMPLOYEE-NAME PIC X(20). 05 EMPLOYEE-ID PIC 9(5). 01 EMPLOYEE-INFO REDEFINES EMPLOYEE-DETAILS. 05 EMPLOYEE-NAME-INFO PIC X(10). 05 EMPLOYEE-ID-INFO PIC 9(3).
In the above example, EMPLOYEE-INFO is redefined to share the same storage area as EMPLOYEE-DETAILS but with different data types and lengths.

Accepted Answer

The redifined caluse is used to save the storage space allocated by same memory multiple fields.

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