The .NET CLR is type-sensitive and generates or throws an error if an exact match on a data type does not occur. At run time, ACUCOBOL-GT attempts to convert data types to the format expected by the CLR. For the best possible results, when passing data as parameters to .NET functions, use the table below to determine what parameter to pass.
For example, when the COPY file says "int", pass "SIGNED-INT" for the parameter type in your COBOL program. The ACUCOBOL-GT runtime converts this to "System.Int32" before passing it to the .NET assembly. The "int", "SIGNED-INT", and "System32.Int32" parameters all represent a 4-byte field holding signed binary data. The runtime also converts PIC s999 to a SIGNED-INT field.
| COPY File Parameter | Parameter to Pass | Converted to .NET |
| BSTR - TYPE 8 | PIC X(n) | System.String |
| int - TYPE 3 | SIGNED-INT | System.Int32 |
| unsigned int - TYPE 19 | UNSIGNED-INT | System.UInt32 |
| single - TYPE 4 | FLOAT | System.Single |
| double - TYPE 5 | DOUBLE | System.Double |
| short - TYPE 2 | SIGNED-SHORT | System.Int16 |
| unsigned short - TYPE 18 | UNSIGNED-SHORT | System.UInt16 |
| unsigned char - TYPE 17 | PIC X | System.Byte |
Be aware that the compiler does not always know which method declaration to use when methods are overloaded. In your COBOL program, be sure to use COBOL types that match the COPY file method declaration.