COBOL binds by calling the core library like any other external routine, using the CALL statement with BY VALUE and BY REFERENCE as appropriate. This works on distributed COBOL — Micro Focus, GnuCOBOL and similar — where a USB device is physically reachable.
Where this applies, and where it does not
To be straightforward: this is for COBOL running on Windows, Linux or a Unix where a USB dongle can be attached. If your COBOL runs on z/OS, a USB device in a laptop is not the answer to your licensing question and we will not pretend otherwise.
Where it does apply, the usual situation is a vendor-supplied COBOL business application installed at customer sites, where the licensed instance count has drifted over the years and nobody can prove what it should be. A dongle per installation makes that countable again without rewriting anything.
