Column and Field in COBOL program:
In COBOL there are 2 types of entries termed as margin A and margin B entries. The Margin A entries start from the column 8, 9, 10 or 11 and margin B entries start from the column 12 or anywhere after 12.
An asterisk (*) in the column 7 specifies a comment line and the entry is not compiled to produce the object code. The Comment lines are actually some notes revealing the intentions of the programmer. As the compiler ignores them, anything can be included as comments. The Comment lines can appear anywhere after the first line of the COBOL program. The comment line can also be indicated by using the character slash ( / ) in the column 7. But in this case the comment line will be printed after causing a page ejection (that is, after skipping to the top of the next page).