VB Support

COBOL Analyzer supports Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0. Follow the steps below to analyze VB applications in COBOL Analyzer.

  1. Use the XDL.exe utility shipped with CA to generate Library Description files for ActiveX components referenced in VB Project files but not contained in the projects themselves. For more information, see "Generating Library Description Files."
    Note: COBOL Analyzer provides Library Description files for ActiveX system libraries in the CA \Templates\VB directory.
  2. Register the VB application in COBOL Analyzer. The following objects must be registered:
    • VB project files (.vbp)
    • System Library Description files (.xdl) in the CA \Templates\VB directory
    • Generated Library Description files (.xdl)
    • Source files (.bas, .cls, .ctl, .frm)
  3. Specify the resource types for method calls your application uses to interface with databases, message queues, or other resources on the Workspace Options > Boundary Decisions tab.
  4. Verify Library Description files and VB project files.
    Note: Library Description files must be verified before VB project files. As long as you verify the entire project for your Visual Basic application, CA parses the source files in appropriate order, taking account of the dependencies between file types.

    Bear in mind that dependencies between CA projects are not taken into account. If VB Project1 references VB Project2, VB Project2 must be verified first. To check for dependency-related verification errors, run verification iteratively, verifying only those files in each project that have not been verified successfully. If the number of unsuccessfully verified files does not decrease after a run, the remaining issues are not dependency-related.

Important: Before registering VB sources, see "Restrictions on Visual Basic Support" for limitations in COBOL Analyzer support that may affect your project.