Simply set some ws variable to the index and display that.
I follow the scentence and code such program.
05-ws-num1 pic s9(4) comp-3.
05 ws-num2 pic s9(4) comp.
05 ws-num3 pic s9(4).
05 ws-num4 pic 9(4).
SET index to 1.
SET index up by 2.
MOVE index TO WS-NUM1 WS-NUM2 WS-NUM3 WS-NUM4.
DISPLAY' INDEX-VARIABLE' WS-NUM1 WS-NUM2 WS-NUM3 WS-NUM4.
The SYSOUT is 'INDEX-VARIABLE 00030003000B0003'
But still i believe this is not the internal value of the INDEX-VARIABLE, this value is just like subscript.
Index variable is S9(8) comp, takes up one word, it means the physical address in the main storage.
How does this relate to the question?
I think the internal value of INDEX variable is physical address, so how can we display the physical address
though, to a COBOL PROGRAMMER, the knowledge of internal representation of of an index is of no importance.