The instructions and comment statements must be written in the statement field. The statement field starts in the begin column and ends in the end column. The continuation-indicator field always lies in the column after the end column, unless the end column is column 80, in which case no continuation is possible. The identification-sequence field normally lies in the field after the continuation-indicator field. Any continuation lines needed must start in the continue column and end in the end column.

Blank lines are acceptable. For more information, see Blank lines.

These standard values can be changed by using the Input Format Control (ICTL) assembler instruction. The ICTL instruction can, for example, be used to reverse the order of the statement field and the identification-sequence field by changing the standard begin, end, and continue columns. However, all references to the begin, end, and continue columns in this manual refer to the standard values described above.