Multiple choice technology mainframe

On a cobol coding form what was the meaning of an asterisk in column 7?

  1. The last line is continued.

  2. None of the items listed.

  3. A data definition follows.

  4. The line is a comment.

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D Correct answer
Explanation

In fixed-format COBOL, column 7 is the indicator area. An asterisk (*) in column 7 indicates that the entire line is a comment, which is ignored by the compiler. Other indicators include '-' for continuation and '/' for page eject.