Data items that you declare as USAGE COMP-5 are represented in storage as binary data. However, unlike USAGE COMP items, they can contain values of magnitude up to the capacity of the native binary representation (2, 4, or 8 bytes) rather than being limited to the value implied by the number of 9s in the PICTURE clause
But VMS COB REF:
" BINARY is a synonym for COMPUTATIONAL and COMP.
On Alpha and I64 systems, except for restrictions on the PICTURE clause, COMPUTATIONAL-5 and COMPUTATIONAL-X are synonyms for COMPUTATIONAL and COMP."
BINARY-ALTERNATIVE...
Syntax Rule (Format 1) 6. The PICTURE clause is required for every elementary item except an item specified by the USAGE IS BINARY-CHAR, BINARY-SHORT,
But in practice it is not supported
( HP COBOL V2.9-1453 on OpenVMS IA64 V8.3-1H1 )
01 a_word USAGE IS BINARY-SHORT.
.....................^
%COBOL-F-SYN4, Invalid USAGE clause
at line number 8 in file SYS$SYSDEVICE:[HEIN]TMP.COB;11
01 a_word USAGE IS BINARY-SHORT.
...^
%COBOL-E-PICREQ, PICTURE clause required - PIC X or PIC 9 assumed, depending on usage
Here is how you can 'just do it', as per DEBUGGER output...
$ run tmp
DBG> go
comp_5=2767 a_comp=2767 a_hack=2767
DBG> ex/word comp_5, a_comp, a_hack
MY_MAIN_PROGRAM\MY_MAIN_PROGRAM\COMP-5: +32767
MY_MAIN_PROGRAM\MY_MAIN_PROGRAM\A-COMP: +32767
A-HACK of MY_MAIN_PROGRAM\MY_MAIN_PROGRAM\ : +32767
$ type tmp.cob
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. my-main-program.
DATA DIVISION.
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
01 comp_5 PIC 9(4) USAGE COMP-5.
01 a_comp PIC 9(4) USAGE COMP.
* 01 a_word USAGE IS BINARY-SHORT.
01 a_long PIC 9(9) USAGE COMP.
01 REDEFINES a_long.
03 a_hack PIC 9(4).
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
MY_MAIN SECTION.
MAIN.
MOVE 32767 TO comp_5.
MOVE 32767 TO a_comp.
* MOVE 32767 TO a_word.
MOVE 32767 TO a_long.
DISPLAY " comp_5=", comp_5 WITH CONVERSION,
" a_comp=", a_comp WITH CONVERSION,
* " a_word=", a_comp WITH CONVERSION,
" a_hack=", a_comp WITH CONVERSION.
STOP RUN.
