| Introduction | Migrating from 16-bit | |
This chapter goes through the features you might be using in your existing MERANT Micro Focus COBOL system and describes what changes are needed to use the nearest equivalent in Net Express.
For a development tool, this chapter tells you how it has changed or what to use instead. For a run-time feature that you might be using in an existing application, this chapter tells you what changes you need to make if you want to be able to compile and run the application with Net Express.
Areas covered in their own chapters are not mentioned in this chapter.
Several complete categories of components that are in Object COBOL and Workbench have been omitted from Net Express:
Net Express is for graphical applications. However, the COBOL language extensions Enhanced ACCEPT/DISPLAY feature (Adis) and windowing syntax are supported, and the utilities to configure Adis are included. The Panels feature is included too. The ANSI ACCEPT/DISPLAY statements are of course supported.
Net Express is for developing applications to run on a personal computer.
All editing and animation facilities are completely integrated into the IDE. All important features are included, with many enhancements.
The Data File Structure Editor has been renamed Record Layout Editor.
The above components don't have entries in this chapter unless there is some specific remark to be made.
The entries in this chapter generally recommend what to use for future applications. However, we will make one such statement here, rather than repeating it throughout the chapter: for future Web and intranet applications, we recommend Form Designer; for future Windows-style GUI applications, we recommend Dialog System.
Features are listed alphabetically. If a feature isn't mentioned, we believe no change is needed. Subheadings used in each entry are:
The software that creates the Workbench desktop, which is the top-level window or development environment, of Workbench.
Workbench V4.0.
Not available.
You cannot use use a Workbench project in Net Express. You need to create a Net Express project from scratch.
The development environment of Net Express is called the Integrated Development Environment (IDE). In it you can edit, animate, check, and create projects. There is no desktop and you do not create icons. You get into the IDE from your Windows 95 or Windows NT Start menu. The development tools are on the pulldown menus of the IDE.
Also, from the Start menu you can start a command line session with the Net Express environment set up. Some development tools can also be run here by entering commands at the prompt.
Facilities for source-level debugger.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0, Visual Object COBOL V1.0.
Built into the IDE. In some earlier products the GUI version is called Animator V2, and the character version is called Animator. The IDE includes all significant features of the GUI version. They are mainly on the Animate menu.
One minor difference will affect you if compiling a program from the Net Express Command Prompt. In Net Express, the ANIM directive does not by itself cause a .int file to be created. To get an .int file you must also specify the NOGNT directive. If compiling within the IDE (the normal method) this will not affect you as the files created are defined by the build type you select.
Utility to make entries in a configuration file controlling the run-time properties of an application's character-mode display, for example color. Can also be called from an application, to change properties at run-time.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0.
Not available.
If your application does not call Mfconfig, but simply uses a configuration (.cfg) file created by Mfconfig, no change is needed. Net Express supports .cfg files for backward compatibility. If you need to update the .cfg file, you can edit it using the IDE or any text editor. Its format is in the Programmer's Guide to Writing Programs that came with your Object COBOL or Workbench.
If your application calls Mfconfig, you will have to remove the call and redesign your application so that it does not change its display properties at run time. Net Express does not support the changing of display properties at run time for character-mode displays.
Utility to create a trigger program to start an application consisting of .lbr library files. Both character and graphical versions exist.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0.
Not available.
In the earlier COBOL systems, you can distribute an application as .int or .gnt files, possibly packaged in .lbr files. You include a small .exe file, called a trigger, to start the application. You use the Build utility to create this, and packaging an application in this way is called building. Alternatively, you can compile to .obj files and then link these into .dll and .exe files to distribute.
In Net Express, you distribute applications linked into .exe and .dll files. .int and .gnt files are only for running within the IDE for debugging. Options in your project for the application specify whether you are creating .int files, .gnt files, or .obj files linked into .dll and .exe files. You can create .lbr files, but these are intended only to contain data files.
In Net Express, the term "build" is used differently than in the earlier systems. Instead of meaning packaging an application in .lbr files as opposed to linking it into .dll and .exe files, it is used to mean the whole process of creating a distributable product from your source files, including compiling and linking.
Package it as .dll and .exe files. This is very easy using the application's project, as the default options for projects cause it to be done this way.
Alternatively, you could write a trigger program yourself, calling the main .int or .gnt file explicitly. You would link just the trigger program as a .exe file.
Use projects to create your applications.
Utility to create a map file to enable entry points to be found at run time.
Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0.
Not available.
This facility makes entry points in a .gnt or .lbr file visible, so they can be found when you are animating the application. Instead, you can make them visible by calling the file before any entry point in it is referenced. In a linked application, which is what you normally create in Net Express for production running, the problem does not arise because references are resolved at link time.
Command-line utility to link an application.
Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0.
Unchanged, but unlikely to be used directly.
Linking is normally done in Net Express via projects, which automate most of the process and call Cbllink for you. Alternatively, you can call Cbllink from the Net Express command line using the cbllink command.
Tool for viewing and editing object-oriented COBOL programs and class libraries.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0, Visual Object COBOL V1.0.
The Browse function is as in Visual Object COBOL V1.0.
Use Browse on the Search menu in the IDE. It is the same class browser as in Visual Object COBOL V1.0. It is similar to the one in Object COBOL and Workbench, but with an improved interface.
A library of predefined classes which you can use in your object-oriented applications.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0, Visual Object COBOL V1.0.
Enhanced. The Class Library in Net Express has three parts: the Base Class Library, the GUI Class Library, and the OLE Class Library. All classes in Visual Object COBOL are included with no incompatible changes. Some classes have incompatible changes from Object COBOL and Workbench.
To migrate from Visual Object COBOL, no change is needed. To migrate from Object COBOL or Workbench, see the list of incompatible changes in the chapter Class Library.
Command-line utility to link an application.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4.
Replaced by Cbllink; but this is unlikely to be used directly.
Linking is normally done in Net Express via projects, which automate most of the process and call Cbllink for you. Alternatively, you can call Cbllink from the Net Express command line using the cbllink command.
A library of routines which you can call from your applications.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0, Visual Object COBOL V1.0.
Included. All routines in Visual Object COBOL are included with no incompatible changes. Some routines that are in Object COBOL and Workbench are not included.
To migrate from Visual Object COBOL, no change is needed. To migrate from Object COBOL or Workbench, see the list of incompatible changes in the chapter COBOL Library System Routines.
An interface between Micro Focus COBOL and certain database precompilers. For a program with embedded SQL statements, it enables you to debug the original source.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0.
Included in Net Express 2.0 onward for backward compatibility and for applications for UNIX. Unlike in the earlier products, it supports only Oracle Pro*COBOL Version 1.8 and Sybase Open Client Embedded SQL/COBOL Version 11.1. It was not available in Net Express 1.0. See the chapter Embedded SQL Applications for details.
Use COBSQL if your application developed with an earlier Micro Focus COBOL product already uses either of the two supported precompilers, or if you are creating an application that will be deployed on UNIX platforms and needs to access either Oracle or Sybase relational databases.
For any other type of embedded SQL application development, we recommend that you use OpenESQL. OpenESQL enables you to quickly and easily develop applications which can access ODBC data sources using embedded SQL.
Library of routines for communication between applications, using particular protocols.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0, Visual Object COBOL V1.0. In Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0, and Visual Object COBOL V1.0, only the protocols TCP/IP and Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) are supported.
Included with few changes (see Details below), but the interface is not documented and a higher-level interface called Client/Server Bindings is provided. CCI is used by Fileshare.
Net Express provides the NetBEUI, TCP/IP, DDE and Novell IPX protocols. The other protocols (Named Pipes and Named Pipes on UNIX) are not supported.
In Net Express you can configure the timeout period dynamically. In the earlier products, applications coded using the CCI-TIMEOUT verb default to a timeout period of 120 seconds for all subsequent CCI verbs. In Net Express, the CCI-TIMEOUT verb accepts the value passed to it.
CCITCP2 can be run as an NT service. Use the -i option to install it to run as a service (you must be logged on as a user with Administrator privilege). If a debug console is required, use the -c option instead. To uninstall, use the -u option. Use -? to list the available options. Once CCITCP2 is installed as a service you can use the usual NT service GUI (started from the Windows Control Panel) to monitor and control its behavior.
If CCITCP2 is installed as an NT service, it will be started automatically when the NT system is restarted. If you have added CCITCP2 Server to the Startup group on your Start menu, you should remove it and run it only when needed. Otherwise Windows NT will try to start a second instance of CCITCP2.
If your application uses NetBEUI, TCP/IP, DDE or IPX, no change is needed (but see the chapter Migrating from 16-bit).
We recommend you use Client/Server Bindings.
COBOL syntax for sending messages between programs.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0.
Not available.
Replace your Communications syntax by calls to Client/Server Bindings. It is a set of routines for communication between applications (similar to CCI, but higher level).
We recommend you use Client/Server Bindings.
Development tool for checking syntax and converting it to a runnable format.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0, Visual Object COBOL.
Included unchanged. However, compiling is normally done in Net Express via projects, which automate most of the process and call the compiler for you. The compiler has not changed, but many details of its behavior can be set using directives. The default settings of some of these may have changed - see the chapter Directives.
Use projects to create your applications.
You can also run the compiler via the Compile Program function which is on the Project menu and the toolbar in the IDE.
Alternatively, you can call the compiler from the Net Express command line using the cobol command.
Utility to provide a graphical interface for setting compiler directives.
Workbench V3.4, Workbench V4.0.
Not available.
If you right-click on a .cbl file in a project window in Net Express, a popup menu appears. On this menu, the Project Properties function brings up a dialog box where you can specify directives for every compilation in the project. The Build Settings function brings up a dialog box where you can specify directives for compiling an individual .cbl file.
Application generator for creating applications to process and query COBOL data files and produce reports.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0.
Not available.
An application produced using Co-Writer is self-contained, and cannot be updated except through Co-Writer. Therefore it should not be migrated to Net Express.
Environment for running COBOL programs concurrently in the same process. (Don't confuse this with the COBOL system library routines for concurrency, such as cbl_create_run_unit.)
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4.
Not available.
You will have to redesign your application so that it does not use concurrency.
Recode your application to use multithreading.
Facility to run several development functions simultaneously.
Workbench V3.4.
Not available.
Using multiple windows in the IDE enables you to run many functions simultaneously. However, you cannot compile and debug simultaneously.
Program providing graphical facilities for listing directories and loading and saving files. Can be called from an application. The character version is called Directory Facility and the graphical version is called Directory Facility Version 2.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0.
Not available.
Use the FileOpen and FileSave common dialog boxes provided by Windows 95 and Windows NT. (See the Win32API demo in Net Express for an example.)
Run-time support for mapping logical filenames to physical ones, and for reading and writing environment variables from a COBOL program.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0.
Included unchanged for backward compatibility. Not documented.
No change is needed.
Character-mode utility for finding the differences between two files. Both character and graphical versions exist.
Workbench V3.4, Workbench V4.0.
Not available.
Microsoft's Win32 Software Development Kit, included with Net Express, provides WinDiff.
Utility to search multiple directories for a specified file or files.
Workbench V3.4, Workbench V4.0.
Not available.
The dir command in Windows 95 and Windows NT V4.0 provides all the facilities that Mffinder does (use dir /s to search subdirectories), except that it does not look inside .lbr files. There is no facility for this, but .lbr files are not used much in Net Express.
Character-mode screen painter for creating character-mode screen displays.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0.
Not available.
No change is needed. If you need to update the screen-handling code generated by Forms, you can edit it yourself. It is standard COBOL, included in the Data Division.
Utility to convert a C header file into a COBOL copyfile.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0.
Included unchanged. To continue using it, call it from the Net Express command line, using the h2cpy command.
Utility to list and edit files, in hexadecimal.
Workbench V3.4, Workbench V4.0.
Not available.
No equivalent facility is provided.
Utility to package files in a .lbr file.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0, Visual Object COBOL V1.0.
Not available.
See the entry for Build.
Utility for monitoring your application's memory usage.
Workbench V3.4.
Not available.
Windows 95 and Windows NT V4.0 provide various utilities which you can use for monitoring memory. Microsoft's Win32 Software Development Kit, included with Net Express, provides Pview95. There is no way of obtaining more COBOL-specific information.
Interface to third party source control system from some Workbench tools.
Workbench V3.4.
Not available.
Make source all source files are on your local machine before beginning a build.
Syntax to enable you to write according to object-oriented methodology.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0, Visual Object COBOL V1.0.
Included with minor changes:
Object-oriented programs produced using the earlier products need to be recompiled before you can run them on Net Express.
The software that creates the Workbench desktop, which is the top-level window or development environment, of Workbench.
Workbench V3.4
Not available.
See the entry for Advanced Organizer.
Library of routines for creating and manipulating character-mode screen displays.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0.
Included unchanged for backward compatibility. It is documented in the backward compatibility help, as it is not recommended for new applications.
No change is needed.
Run-time layer to interface Panels V2 to a character-mode screen, imitating graphical objects by constructing similar shapes from character-mode symbols.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0.
Not available.
Use Panels V2 instead. The interface is the same. In your initialization call, just set the flag for GUI instead of character.
Utility for monitoring your application's memory usage.
Workbench V3.4.
Not available.
Windows 95 and Windows NT V4.0 provide various utilities which you can use for monitoring memory. Microsoft's Win32 Software Development Kit, included with Net Express, provides Pview95. There is no way of obtaining more COBOL-specific information.
Facility enabling different programs to have the same EXTERNAL file mapped to different physical files when the physical filename is picked up from an environment variable.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0.
Included unchanged for backward compatibility. Not documented.
No change is needed.
Facility to guide the compiling and linking of an application.
Visual Object COBOL V1.0
Enhanced.
No change is needed.You can use your Visual Object COBOL projects in Net Express.
Facility to guide the compiling and linking of an application.
Workbench V3.4, Workbench V4.0.
Projects are central to Net Express, but they are different from Workbench projects.
Create a Net Express project.
Facility to set run-time options.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0.
The standard set of run-time options that can be configured in Net Express are those available in the IDE. For other options you may have been using, the appropriate tunables are included for backward compatibility. See Run-time Tunables in the index of the Help. The run-time tunable program_environment_mapper is included unchanged but is not documented.
Where possible, set run-time options via the IDE - click Properties on the Project menu, then click Application. Otherwise continue to use run-time tunables as before.
Set run-time options via the IDE.
Utility controlling central storage of source code, providing locking and version control so that successive revisions can be reconstructed.
Workbench V3.4.
Not available. Net Express includes PVCS to provide source code control.
Character-mode screen painter for creating character-mode screen displays.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0.
Not available.
No change is needed. If you need to update the screen-handling code generated by Screens, you can edit it yourself. It is standard COBOL, included in the Screen Section.
Utility to install an application.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0.
Not available. This character-mode Setup is the utility used to install the earlier products. It is script-driven, and you can also distribute it with a script to install your own application. Net Express is installed using a new graphical Setup, which you cannot distribute with your own applications.
Tools for creating graphical installation utilities are available from several companies, for example InstallShield Corporation.
Utility to sort a file.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0.
A new version is included, which emulates IBM's Dfsort product, Release 14.
To use it, call it from the Net Express command line using the mfsort command.
The new version is fully compatible with the old version, except that the key type FI now means signed binary (as for Dfsort) and not DISPLAY with trailing sign. For DISPLAY fields with trailing sign, you should now specify TI, or ZD as for Dfsort.
COBOL syntax to create on-screen boxes using text characters.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4, Object COBOL V4.0, Workbench V4.0, Visual Object COBOL V1.0.
Included unchanged for backward compatibility. It is documented in the backward compatibility help, as it is not recommended for new applications.
No change is needed.
Utility to run DOS applications in >640kb of memory.
Object COBOL V3.4, Workbench V3.4.
Not available.
No equivalent. Only applicable on DOS.
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