A directive is a structured comment that is interpreted by the
  compiler.  All HP COBOL directives begin with the charaters "*DC",
  where the asterisk (*) signals the beginning of the structured
  comment to the compiler.  HP COBOL provides directives for
  ALIGNMENT only.

1 - ALIGNMENT Directives

  The syntax of the ALIGNMENT directives is as follows:

  *DC SET ALIGNMENT
  *DC SET NOALIGNMENT
  *DC END-SET ALIGNMENT

  You can use these ALIGNMENT directives to alter the current
  alignment for binary data by specifying new alignment information
  from within your source program.

  The SET ALIGNMENT directive specifies natural alignment.

  The SET NOALIGNMENT directive specifies OpenVMS VAX compatible
  alignment.

  The END-SET ALIGNMENT directive terminates the current SET ALIGNMENT
  (or SET NOALIGNMENT) directive.

  You can also nest these ALIGNMENT directives within a source program
  by specifying dirrerent alignments for a set of data items.

  For more information about the ALIGNMENT directives, see the online
  help on /ALIGNMENT and the COBOL User Manual.