Thank you all for input.  I still need help, here... I tried the following,
per suggestions on the listserv:

 *   fd  IN-FILE.
+1   01  IN-RECORD.
+2       05  IN-A                      pic x(6).
+3       05  IN-TOTAL                  pic s9(27) comp-3.

but when I tried to compile it using  COB85XLK COBTEST,COBTEST1,$NULL  I
received this:

PAGE 0001  COBOL II/iX HP31500A.04.19  [85] Copyright Hewlett-Packard CO.
1987


LINE #   SEQ # COL ERROR SEV            TEXT
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
 00030  002022  46  122  Q  MORE THAN 18 DIGITS IN A NUMERIC PICTURE.

0 ERROR(s), 1 QUESTIONABLE, 0 WARNING(s)

    DATA AREA IS      6FC BYTES.
    CPU TIME = 0:00:00.  WALL TIME = 0:00:00.
End Run
END OF COMPILE
HP Link Editor/iX (HP30315A.05.26) Copyright Hewlett-Packard Co 1986

LinkEd> link ;to=COBTEST1

END OF LINK


And then, when I tried run the program:

RUN COBTEST1

Filename: INFILE
File status is 39
File's fixed attributes differ from program [39] RECORD SIZE (COBERR 648
)
Program file: COBTEST1.EBEN.AIHBETA
END OF FILE  (FSERR 0)

+-F-I-L-E---I-N-F-O-R-M-A-T-I-O-N---D-I-S-P-L-A-Y+
!  FILE NAME IS Z1.EBEN.AIHBETA                  !
!  FOPTIONS: SYS,ASCII,FORMAL,F,NOCCTL,FEQ       !
!            NOLABEL                             !
!  AOPTIONS: INPUT,NOMR,NOLOCK,DEF,BUF,NOMULTI   !
!            WAIT,NOCOPY                         !
!  DEVICE TYPE: 3      DEVICE SUBTYPE: 8         !
!  LDEV: 40       DRT: 8         UNIT: 0         !
!  RECORD SIZE: 20     BLOCK SIZE: 1280  (BYTES) !
!  EXTENT SIZE: 20     MAX EXTENTS: 1            !
!  RECPTR: 0           RECLIMIT: 28              !
!  LOGCOUNT: 0            PHYSCOUNT: 0           !
!  EOF AT: 28          LABEL ADDR: %00000000000  !
!  FILE CODE: 1084     ULABELS: 12               !
!  FILE OWNER: MGR.AIHBETA                       !
!  PHYSICAL STATUS: 0000000000000000             !
!  ERROR NUMBER: 0     RESIDUE: 0                !
!  BLOCK NUMBER: 0            NUMREC: 64         !
+------------------------------------------------+
**** COB_QUIT 648 ****

ABORT: COBTEST1.EBEN.AIHBETA
NM SYS   a.00aa1288 dbg_abort_trace+$24
NM USER  18c.00f16394 COB_QUIT+$b8
NM PROG  3d1.0000599c _start+$12c
Program terminated in an error state. (CIERR 976)
End Run

-----Original Message-----
From: John Zoltak [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 1999 7:55 AM
To: [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
Subject: RE: [HP3000-L] HOW TO DEFINE P28 field in COBOL
WORKING-STORAGE?


Eben,

05 in-total pic s9(27) comp-3. This assumes decimal place the the end. If
you're using dollars and cents then it would be pic s9(25)v9(2) comp-3.

John Zoltak
North American Mfg Co
Cleveland Ohio

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Eben Yong [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, October 14, 1999 10:35 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [HP3000-L] HOW TO DEFINE P28 field in COBOL WORKING-STORAGE?
>
>
> Hi folks,
>
> Here's the SUPRTOOL file layout:
>
>     File: Z1.EBEN.AIHBETA     (SD Version B.00.00)
>        Entry:                     Offset
>           A                    X6      1
>           ST-TOTAL-1           P28     7
>     Limit: 28  EOF: 28  Entry Length: 20  Blocking: 64
>
> how do I define the ST-TOTAL-1 field in the COBOL program?
>
> +7   file-control.
> +8       select     IN-FILE         assign to "INFILE".
> +9       select     OUT-FILE        assign to "OUTFILE".
> 10   data                              division.
> 11   file                              section.
> 12   fd  IN-FILE.
> 13   01  IN-RECORD.
> 14       05  IN-A                      pic x(6).
> 15       05  IN-TOTAL                  pic ?????????.
> 16
>