All host variables used in SQL statements must be explicitly declared prior to their first use.
The COBOL statements that are used to define the host variables should be preceded by a BEGIN DECLARE SECTION statement and followed by an END DECLARE SECTION statement. If a BEGIN DECLARE SECTION and END DECLARE SECTION are specified, all host variable declarations used in SQL statements must be between the BEGIN DECLARE SECTION and the END DECLARE SECTION statements.
All host variables within an SQL statement must be preceded by a colon (:).
Host variables cannot be records or elements.
To accommodate using dashes within a COBOL host variable name, blanks must precede and follow a minus sign.