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MOVE is COBOL's universal assignment. Its behavior depends on the target's PIC.

Number to number

       01 A PIC 9(5)    VALUE 12345.
       01 B PIC 9(3).
           MOVE A TO B.        *> B = '345' (truncated from right)

       01 C PIC 9(7).
           MOVE A TO C.        *> C = '0012345' (zero-padded)

Numbers align right. Truncation drops leading digits; padding adds leading zeros.

String to string

       01 X PIC X(10) VALUE "Ada Lovelace".
       01 Y PIC X(5).
           MOVE X TO Y.        *> Y = 'Ada L' (left-truncated)

       01 Z PIC X(15).
           MOVE X TO Z.        *> Z = 'Ada Lovelace   ' (right-padded with spaces)

Strings align left. Truncation drops trailing characters; padding adds trailing spaces.

MOVE between types

       01 NUM   PIC 9(3) VALUE 42.
       01 TXT   PIC X(5).
           MOVE NUM TO TXT.    *> TXT = '042  ' (numeric becomes string of digits)

INITIALIZE

       01 RECORD-IN.
           05 NAME      PIC X(20).
           05 AGE       PIC 9(3).
           05 SALARY    PIC 9(7)V99.

           INITIALIZE RECORD-IN.
           *> NAME    = '                    ' (20 spaces)
           *> AGE     = '000'
           *> SALARY  = '0000000.00'

Resets every field to its type's default — spaces for strings, zeros for numbers.

Selective:

           INITIALIZE RECORD-IN REPLACING NUMERIC BY ZEROS
                                          ALPHANUMERIC BY SPACES.

VALUE clause

Initial values at declaration:

       01 COUNTER    PIC 9(5)   VALUE 0.
       01 STATUS     PIC X(10)  VALUE 'PENDING'.
       01 PRICES.
           05 P PIC 9(5) OCCURS 3 TIMES VALUE 100.    *> all three are 100

Special figurative constants

• SPACES — fill with spaces
• ZEROS / ZEROES — fill with zeros
• LOW-VALUES — fill with \x00 (binary low)
• HIGH-VALUES — fill with \xFF (binary high)
• QUOTES — fill with " characters

           MOVE SPACES TO NAME.
           MOVE ZEROS TO COUNTER.
           IF FIELD = LOW-VALUES THEN ...

MOVE CORRESPONDING

For groups with same-named subfields:

       01 FROM-PERSON.
           05 NAME    PIC X(20).
           05 AGE     PIC 9(3).
           05 EMAIL   PIC X(40).

       01 TO-PERSON.
           05 NAME    PIC X(20).
           05 AGE     PIC 9(3).

           MOVE CORRESPONDING FROM-PERSON TO TO-PERSON.
           *> Copies NAME and AGE; ignores EMAIL (not in destination)

Useful for record-to-record copies. Saves listing every field.

MOVE is the workhorse — every COBOL program is full of them. Get familiar with the truncation/padding rules; they bite if you're not paying attention.