A, B, and E were valid signs for an IF NUMERIC compare in OS/VS COBOL Release 1, but the current release allows only C, D, and F as valid signs for an IF NUMERIC compare. Because some users might depend on the COBOL NUMERIC CLASS TEST, which includes A, B, and E as valid numeric signs, you can apply a provided superzap (IGZWZA3) as a user modification to add A, B, and E as valid numeric signs.

In any case, incorrect data in a data item used for a numeric class comparison is accepted as valid if its hexadecimal notation contains a valid sign. (For example, EBCDIC 'A', or X'C1', is a valid numeric sign for external decimal; and EBCDIC '%', or X'6C', is a valid numeric sign for internal decimal.)