If your COBOL application already exists, and if it must access a relational database that already exists, you may have to work around differences in the names of the fields, as well as naming conventions imposed by the RDBMS. For example, your program might use the name EMPLOYEE-NO while the database uses the name EMP-NUMBER for the same item of information.
Resolving name conflicts
If naming differences exist, you need not rename your COBOL fields, and you need not change the database. This is because the ACUCOBOL-GT compiler's -Fx option builds data dictionaries that map your COBOL fields to the correct database fields. The mapping is automatic if the names are the same. If the COBOL name differs from the database name, you enable the compiler to make the correct mapping by adding a NAME directive to your COBOL code.
Directives can also be used to produce other effects when data is mapped from COBOL to the database. The "Using Directives" chapter describes directives in detail.