Developing New Applications

If you are developing a new application and intend to use AcuBench tools that generate code, such as the Screen Designer or File Designer, there are several issues that you should consider before you create your project. Of tantamount importance is that you read and become thoroughly acquainted with Automatic Code Generation. This section provides essential information about the AcuBench code generation model, and it outlines the associated program organization and structure.

When creating a new project:

  1. Use the Tools > Options interface to set up code generation behavior, establish guidelines for building new project directory structures, and create the .ini file that will be used to standardize the development environment for the members of your development team. See The Tools > Options Dialog for more information about the Tools > Options interface. For information about the importance of the .ini file, see Version Control.
  2. Use File > New > Project to create, name, and assign directories for a new project. Detailed, step-by-step instructions for creating a new project in either a brand new workspace or an existing workspace can be found in Creating a Project.
  3. Establish the runtime, compiler, and environment settings that will be used by programs in this project. Multiple sets of settings, called modes, can be created for each project. In addition, modes created in one project can be imported by other projects. For more information, see Project Settings.
  4. Determine which data files will be used by programs in the project and create data layout files to define those data files for use with AcuBench code generation. When you create data layout files, AcuBench code insight features, as well as the Drag-and-Drop interface for quick screen and report design, among other features, are made significantly more useful. The process of creating data layout files is discussed in Defining Data Files for Use in Projects and Programs.
  5. Create new programs for your project with File > New > Program. This command creates a program structure file. When you generate the program for the first time, a .cbl source file is created.

    You can also add existing program structure files, COBOL source files, COPY files, resources, and so on to your project. All of these options are discussed in Working with Projects and Working with Programs.