Column positions in edit macros are not the same as they appear on the panel; they refer only to the editable portions of the data. When number mode is on, sequence numbers are not part of the data, and thus are not editable. For example, if NUMBER COBOL ON mode is in effect, the first six positions of each line contain the sequence number. The first data character is in position 7, which is considered relative column 1. When number mode is off, the line number portion is editable, so here position 1 becomes column 1 and position 7 becomes column 7. These are not the column values displayed on the edit panel. This discrepancy can influence the use of column numbers as parameters from the keyboard. Column numbers must be converted according to number mode. See Edit boundaries for the conversions.

If your macro must access the sequence numbers as data, include statements that save the current number mode, set number mode off, and then restore the original number mode.

When a macro retrieves the current cursor position, a relative column number of zero is returned if the cursor is outside the data portion of the line. When a macro sets the cursor column to zero, the cursor is placed in the Line Command field on the left side of the designated line.