2 Building Pro*COBOL Applications

Viewing the Available Options

To see a list of available options and their default values, enter the following at the command prompt:

C:\> procob

To see the option, defaults, and the restrictions (if any) on values, enter the following at the command prompt:

C:\> procob /?

Configuration Files

Pro*COBOL reads the configuration file for options before processing options supplied at the command line.

• For release 9.2.0, the configuration file is called pcbcfg.cfg. This file is located in the ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME \precomp\admin directory.

• For release 1.8.77, the configuration file is called pcccob.cfg. This file is located in the ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\precomp\admin directory.

The configuration file has the following two options:

• COMP–5= yes | no

• include=ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\precomp\public

COMP-5 Option

Check the following to determine whether you should change the value of COMP-5:

If you are using MERANT Micro Focus COBOL, COMP-5 can be set to yes (COMP-5=yes) or no (COMP-5=no).

• If COMP-5=yes:

  • All COMP data items (if they are potential host variables) are converted to COMP–5.

  • All data items generated by the precompiler will be declared as COMP–5.

• If COMP-5=no:

  • The precompiler ignores COMP–5 host variables.

  • Precompiled files generally do not run on Intel platforms.

For a workaround during the compilation stage, use the MERANT Micro Focus COBOL compiler directive:

MAKESYN "COMP–5" = "COMP"

This statement directs the compiler to treat COMP items as if they are COMP–5 items.

INCLUDE Option

The INCLUDE option enables the provided .cob files in the ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\precomp\public directory to be included without an explicit INCLUDE= option at the command line.

How to Use the IDE

A program generated by Pro*COBOL can be compiled and executed from within the MERANT Micro Focus NetExpress IDE. Simply add the .cbl file generated by Pro*COBOL to a Net Express project. To avoid potential inconsistencies when calling routines in the Oracle libraries the program should be compiled using the directive:

MAKESYN "COMP-5" = "COMP"

This directive can be specified in the build setting for the source file, the project settings or through a $SET line at the start of the source file. When you select Rebuild or Rebuild All the IDE generates an executable ready to Run or Animate.

How to Use the Animator

Programs can be compiled and executed from within the MERANT Micro Focus COBOL debugger, Animator V2.

To avoid potential inconsistencies when calling routines in the Oracle libraries, select the menu option Compiler Directives, and enter:

MAKESYN "COMP-5" = "COMP"

This step is required because MERANT Micro Focus COBOL stores binary numbers in Big Endian format. Oracle libraries expect binary numbers to be stored in Little Endian format (machine format).

The COBOL and CBLLINK Commands

COBOL and CBLLINK can be used to build programs in two ways, depending on whether the Pro*COBOL runtime is to be statically linked or accessed through a DLL at runtime.

For dynamic linking, the commands are:

COBOL sample1 /MAKESYN"COMP-5"="COMP";
 CBLLINK sample1

For static linking, the commands are:

COBOL sample1 /LITLINK /MAKESYN"COMP-5"="COMP";
 CBLLINK sample1 ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\precomp\lib\orasql9.lib

The previous commands produce sample1.exe, which can be executed like any other Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows 98 program.

The COBSQL Command

COBSQL can be used to simplify preprocessing and debugging. To use COBSQL, specify the following directive to the COBOL compiler:

PREPROCESS(COBSQL) COBSQLTYPE=ORACLE8 ENDP

or the short form:

P(COBSQL) CSQLT=ORA8 ENDP

COBSQLTYPE should be set to ORACLE or ORA for versions of Pro*COBOL prior to release 8.0. The directive may be set with a $SET line at the start of the source file, on the COBOL command line, in program build settings or project settings for NetExpress, or with SQL compiler directives settings for Animator. At compile time, COBSQL runs Pro*COBOL as a background task and passes its output to the COBOL compiler together with additional information required to enable Animator to track execution using the .pco file rather than .cbl file.

When using COBSQL there is no need to deal directly with the .cbl file. Instead, add the .pco file to a NetExpress project, or open it with Animator.

makeit.bat

The makeit.bat for release 9.2.0 contains the following:

procob iname=%1.pco ireclen=132 
cobol %1 /anim /litlink makesyn "COMP-5" = "COMP"; 
cbllink %1 /M%1 ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\precomp\lib\orasql9.lib

For release 1.8.77, this batch file contains the following:

procob18 iname=%1.pco ireclen=132
cobol %1 /anim /litlink makesyn "COMP-5" = "COMP";
cbllink %1 /M%1 ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\precomp\lib\orasql9.lib