The CODE clause specifies a two-character literal that identifies each print line as belonging to a specific report. 
General Format
 
Syntax Rules
- Literal-1 must be a two-character nonnumeric literal. 
 Literal-1 may be replaced by a mnemonic-name specified in the special-names paragraph. See the OS/VS COBOL Language Reference for additional details. Literal-1 may be replaced by a mnemonic-name specified in the special-names paragraph. See the OS/VS COBOL Language Reference for additional details.
 
- If the CODE clause is specified for any report in a file, it must be specified for all reports in that file. 
General Rules
- When the CODE clause is specified, literal-1 is automatically placed in the first two character positions of each report writer logical record. 
- The positions occupied by literal-1 are not included in the description of the print line, but are included in the logical record size.