Hi E2,
You could use insertion chars, then INSPECT REPLACING. I know it works w/mainframe COBOL; I'm pretty sure it's supported in other COBOL flavors. Give it a try, for ex:
Define a recving field:
You have a choice of 3 chars: "/ B 0". I'll use "/".
01 OLD-NBR PIC X(10) VALUE '2176252115'.
01 NEW-NBR PIC X(3)/X(3)/X(4).
MOVE OLD-NBR TO NEW-NBR
INSPECT NEW-NBR REPLACING ALL '/' BY '-'
That's all there is to it. It's a shame IBM never bothered to include a dash insertion char. I've run across more situations that required a dash than any of the others, including the /.
Anyway, after the move NEW-NBR contains '217/625/2115'; after the INSPECT it contains '217-625-2115'
HTH, Jack.