How to optimize the strings management.

Operations on alphanumeric items, such as INSPECT and UNSTRING, can be optimized by compiling the COBOL program with -b option. This option causes isCOBOL to handle the data item using a byte array instead of an object, making the string management faster.  The -b option is applied by default in versions 2023R2 and later.

Example:

iscc -b myprogram.cbl

or

java com.iscobol.compiler.Pcc -b myprogram.cbl

NOTE: The -b option does not affect national data items, only standard alphanumeric data items.

Article ID: 245
Created: April 20, 2015
Last Updated: December 19, 2025
Author: Support KB Author

Online URL: https://support.veryant.com/phpkb/article.php?id=245