Identification Division:

The Identification Division is the first division of each and every COBOL source program. The paragraph PROGRAM-ID is necessary in most of the machines. The other paragraphs are elective.

The structure of Identification division is shown below:

IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.

PROGRAM-ID. Entry

[AUTHOR. entry.]

[INSTALLATION. entry.]

[DATE-WRITTEN. entry.] Optional

[DATA-COMPILED. entry.]

[SECURITY. entry.]

[REMARKS. entry.]

The division heading and paragraph names must be coded as A margin entries. The entries subsequent the paragraph headings should be terminated by a period. The entry in the PROGRAM-ID paragraph includes the program name to be used to identify the object program.

The entries in the other paragraphs are generally treated as comments and the programmer is free to write whatever thing for these entries. Only significant entries must be included in these places to provide better clarity and documentation.

The entry for the AUTHOR paragraph may include the name of the programmer. The entrance of the DATE-COMPILED paragraph may hold the date of compilation. If this entry is left blank, then the compiler inserts the real date in the listing of the source program which may be printed during the compilation.