This helps to specify non-character data values for use on other, non-COBOL, and server platforms.
In addition to the '@xx@' syntax, an alternative method of specifying non-character literal values uses the syntax '\xdd' where the reverse oblique '\' followed by 'x' indicates the start of a hexadecimal constant and 'cc' are hexadecimal digits. This is a variation of the general escape notation which can be used to include other non-printable characters in string literals such as '\n' for newline, '\t' for tab and so on. No reinterpretation or translation of the hexadecimal digits occurs.
Note: The runtime implementation of the meaning of escaped characters such as ‘\n’ (newline), ‘\t’ (horizontal tab), and so on is outside the scope of this documentation. Wherever necessary, suitable code needs to be generated to enact the meaning of the embedded escaped character.