---
title: "Limitations of COBOL Intrinsic Functions"
description: "Rules you need to know on COBOL intrinsic functions."
url: https://srinimf.com/2015/10/15/limitations-of-cobol-intrinsic-functions/
date: 2015-10-15
modified: 2026-10-10
author: "Srini"
image: https://i0.wp.com/srinimf.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/pexels-photo-6045333.jpeg?fit=1880%2C1245&ssl=1
categories: ["Stratus COBOL"]
tags: ["COBOL intrinsic functions"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# Limitations of COBOL Intrinsic Functions

An intrinsic function is actually a call to a subroutine that acts like a data item. You can’t use an intrinsic function as the destination of a MOVE or in any command that attempts to use it as a destination type data item.

## An intrinsic function acts like a constant or a read-only value

The following statements are illegal because the intrinsic function is being used as the destination of a MOVE or STRING:

MOVE “199701011236174800000” TO FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE.
STRING “199701011236174800000” DELIMITED BY SIZE
INTO FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE.

Related[COBOL List of Top Date Functions](https://srinimf.com/2016/01/16/how-to-get-cobol-current-date-and-integer-of-date/)

An intrinsic function doesn’t actually modify the data item arguments that it operates on. Instead, it creates a temporary variable and acts on that.

In the following example, after the two statements are executed, ALPHA-FIELD still contains the lowercase “hello”, while OTHER-FIELD now contains “HELLO”.

The call to FUNCTION UPPER-CASE(ALPHA-FIELD) doesn’t modify the contents of ALPHA-FIELD:

```
MOVE "hello" TO ALPHA-FIELD.
MOVE FUNCTION UPPER-CASE(ALPHA-FIELD) TO OTHER-FIELD.
```

Related Posts

- [COBOL List of Top Date Functions](https://srinimf.com/2016/01/16/how-to-get-cobol-current-date-and-integer-of-date/)DateJanuary 16, 2016
- [Top COBOL Features That are Not Allowed in CICS](https://srinimf.com/2015/04/21/cobol-features-not-allowed-in-cics/)DateApril 21, 2015
- [Java Class Vs. COBOL Program The Interesting Differences](https://srinimf.com/2015/09/21/java-for-mainframe-coders-cobol-subroutine-vs-java-class/)DateSeptember 21, 2015

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