Meanings of Figurative Constants

I constantly use figurative constants in assigning initial values to data fields thus it is helpful to know what are these figurative constants and its meaning.

Figurative Constant     Meaning

SPACE(S)                    Fills the field with blank spaces
ZERO(S)                      Fills the field with zeroes
HIGH-VALUE(S)         Fills the field with the highest binary value the computer system being used is able to represent
LOW-VALUE(S)          Fills the field with the lowest binary value the computer system being used is able to represent

Figurative contants by the way are reserved words in COBOL. These have predefined meanings to the compiler.

Reference:
(1) Khan, M.B., Structured COBOL: First Course, 1996, boyd & fraser publishing company.