| Introduction | New Features | |
This chapter describes changes that you need to be aware of if you developed applications using earlier versions of Micro Focus COBOL for UNIX. It describes features that you might be using in your existing Micro Focus COBOL system, and describes what changes you need to make to use the nearest equivalent in Server 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 compile and run the application with Server Express.
Areas that are covered in their own chapters are not mentioned in this chapter.
Tools that were available in previous products but which are no longer widely used have been omitted from this product.
Tools that were available in previous products but which have been deleted from this product are:
The above components do not have entries in this chapter unless there is some specific remark to be made.
Certain components have been removed from the product, but can be made available on request. These components are no longer part of the main product and are supplied without the support given to the rest of the product. They are supplied to enable forward migration on a temporary basis while you develop a more permanent solution. You cannot get fixes or enhancements for these components.
Specific components in this category are:
You should contact your Micro Focus representative for information on obtaining these tools.
Certain components and directories have changed in this product installation. If your development or production system relies on a specific product shape, check the following table. This table shows the product directory structure and contents for both Server Express and previous versions of Object COBOL for UNIX. All directories are created within the base $COBDIR directory.
| New Location |
Old Location |
Description |
|---|---|---|
| bin | bin and rts32 | All executables |
| lib | coblib | Libraries, shared objects, linker-related files |
| include | Some of src/ | C header files |
| etc | $COBDIR | cobver and defaults files |
| dynload | *.int/gnt/lbr | Micro Focus format dynamic loader files |
New product directories include the following:
| Directory |
Description |
|---|---|
| odbc | odbc drivers |
| odbc_t | Threadsafe odbc drivers |
On some UNIX systems, odbc is the only required directory.
The following sections list features present in earlier versions of Micro Focus COBOL for UNIX, and what you need to do to migrate your application to Server Express if that feature has been changed or removed.. If a feature is not mentioned, we believe no change is needed.
Analyzer is a utility used for program analysis.
Micro Focus Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
Removed.
Use the GNT Analyzer and Profiler utilities, which give extensive analytical information on program execution. Both utilities are described in the Utilities Handbook.
Animator is the Micro Focus COBOL debugger.
Micro Focus Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
Enhanced, with new features added and some older features removed.
The way in which you can debug your COBOL applications has changed, enabling you to debug all COBOL executable types, not just .int files. Changes have also been made to the way in which you use cross-session debugging. Additional enhancements have been made to Animator. For further information refer to your Debugging Handbook and User Guide, as well as your Getting Started book.
Various Animator features have been removed from Server Express. The following list shows features that have been removed and alternative methods where available:
Application Server is the product to use when deploying your COBOL applications to users.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1. (Previous versions of the product set referred to this feature as OSX.)
Enhanced. The way in which Application Server is distributed is more controlled. Application Server contains more features.
Theoretically, you should only need to recompile and relink your application, and bundle it with a copy of Application Server when you ship it to your users. However, as you can no longer link your application as a static executable, you might need to change how your application is built (see the section The Cob Utility).
Micro Focus has implemented an Application Server license tracking mechanism in this product, called AppTrack. This is intended to help application developers manage and maintain the correct number of licenses for their user-base. You therefore need to ensure you have sufficient licenses for the required number of end-users. For further information, see your Managing Application Server Licenses with AppTrack book.
In addition, before you distribute any new applications with Application Server, you should read the chapter FaultFinder in the Debugging Handbook manual. FaultFinder can help you diagnose problems in live applications.
The Btr2xfh module provides run-time support for mapping Btrieve I/O functions to Micro Focus file handler system calls.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
Removed.
You should migrate your application in one of the following ways:
Support for the Callable file handler.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
You can no longer rebuild the RTS to include a user callable file handler.
You should now relink your application using the -m cob flag. Also note that the module ufhtab.o is no longer required.
For example, you would previously have used a command similar to:
cob -xvo rts32 $COBDIR/ufhtab.o user-module -muixfile=user-file-handler
-m urlfile=rlfile -m usqfile=sqfile -muixfilev=ixfilev -m urlfilev=rlfilev
-m usqfilev=sqfilev -e ''
whereas you would now use:
cob -mixfile=user-file-handler -x callmyprog.cbl myprog1.cbl user-module.o
Run-time support for C-ISAM files.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
An integral part of the file handler.
Recode your application to use calls to the Micro Focus file handler or COBOL syntax.
The class clibrary is a library of predefined classes which you can use in object-oriented applications.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
Enhanced. Some classes have incompatible changes from previous products.
To migrate from previous products, see the list of incompatible changes in the OO Programming with Object COBOL manual.
The Cob utility is the COBOL system command line interface to the compiler and linker.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
Included and enhanced. Some functionality is no longer available.
You can no longer create statically linked executables. The -B option has, therefore, been removed. To create a linked executable you should:
-B [static | dynamic] option.Instead of creating a statically linked executable, you could package your programs in a callable shared object. For details of the new callable shared object executable, see the chapters Packaging Applications and Callable Shared Objects in your Server Express User Guide.
You do not need to explicitly specify that cob should create code
suitable for debugging during the syntax check phase; in Server Express,
this happens by default. cob always creates a program suitable for
debugging unless either the -i or the -C noanim
options are specified. For example:
cob -u a.cbl
produces a.idy with Server Express, but did not with previous COBOL for UNIX products. The resultant a.int and a.gnt files can both be used by Animator.
Flags to cob such as -i, -L, and -x
are known as options. Some options such as -L take an
argument, for example: -L/usr/lib/X11. The /usr/lib/X11
is known as the option argument. An option and its option argument can,
optionally, be separated by white space.
cob supports additional functionality for the -I, -d
and -X options. You can now specify one of the following:
-Isymname[,symname]* -I:filename White space is permissible between the option and the start of the option argument, but not in the option argument (unless quoted or escaped). The following examples are valid:
-I "fred,boris,fred bloggs" -I:filename -I :filename -Iname1,name2,name" "3
The following are invalid:
-I: filename -Iname1, name2 -Iname1 ,name2 -Iname1,na me2
filename should contain one symbol name per line.
Blank lines and lines starting with # are ignored.
Cob flags which have been removed in this product are:
-F. Redundant option; the functionality provided by
this option in previous products is now enabled by default.-G. Programs are now compiled for animation by
default.+u, +z and +Z. The code
generator produces PIC code by default.The method of creating shared objects and shared libraries has been enhanced for this product. cob offers two new endpoints:
For new cob functionality, you should refer to the chapters COBOL System Interface (cob), and Descriptions of cob Flags in your Server Express User Guide.
For details of the new callable shared object executable, see the chapters Packaging Applications and Callable Shared Objects in your Server Express User Guide.
The COBOL system library routines are a library of routines which you can call from your applications.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
Included. Some routines that are in previous products are not included.
To migrate from previous products, see the list of incompatibilities in the chapter COBOL System Library Routines.
cobrun.c and cobrun.h are trigger programs for intermediate and generated code files.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
Not available.
You can link the programs in your application as a system executable. Alternatively, if you want your programs to remain as separate .int, .gnt, .lbr and/or callable shared object files, then you can create a trigger executable which calls the required file. For example, the program trigger.cbl could contain the statement:
chain "myapp".
You could then use cob to create the system executable trigger:
cob -vxU trigger.cbl
If your directory contained the file myapp.so, when you ran trigger, control would pass to myapp.so.
COBSQL provides 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 Developer Suite V4.1.
Included for backward compatibility and for applications for UNIX.
Use COBSQL if one of the following is true:
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.
The Common Communications Interface (CCI) is a library of routines for communication between applications, using particular protocols.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
Included with few changes (see below), but the interface is not documented and a higher-level interface called client/server bindings is provided. CCI is used by Fileshare.
This product provides the TCP/IP and named pipes on UNIX protocols.
In this product 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 this product, the CCI-TIMEOUT verb accepts the value passed to it.
If your application uses TCP/IP or Named Pipes on UNIX, no change is needed, but we recommend that you read your Communications book.
We recommend you use Client/Server Bindings.
The Communications Module enabled you to send messages between programs.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
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.
The Compiler is a development tool for checking syntax and converting it to an executable format.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
Included unchanged.
The default settings of some Compiler directives might have changed; see the chapter Compiler Directives and Dialects for details.
The Conversion Series Utilities are tools that enable conversion between Micro Focus and RM/DG COBOL formats.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
Removed from product. If necessary for backward compatibility you can request these utilities from MERANT .
Co-Writer is an application generator for creating applications to process and query COBOL data files and produce reports.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
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 this product.
Support for DB2.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier. Implementation involved relinking rts32 using the IBM-supplied file db2mkrts.args.
DB2 support is implemented in Server Express V1.0 as a callable shared object. You no longer need relink the run-time system. The file db2mkrts.args supplied as part of DB2 is not required.
For details of how to compile, link and run DB2 applications, see the DB2 chapter in your Database Access book.
Support for the file handler.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
Exists, with notable enhancements and updates.
If you have used the '&' function to detail the locations of both index and data files, you should note that this function has been replaced by the new configuration file options INDEXFILE and DATAFILE. For further information, see the chapter File Handler Configuration in your File Handling.
Fhutils are file handling utilities.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
Not available. These utilities have been superseded by an enhanced Rebuild utility.
Listed below are the original fhutils features, together with their equivalent Rebuild options. In most cases there is a one-to-one mapping of these features.
| fhinfo | Replaced by rebuild -n. Rebuild gives
organization, recording mode, record length, and key description whereas
fhinfo gave file information and index information. |
| fhrebuild | Replaced by rebuild filename ....
This is a direct equivalent. |
| fhvalidate | Replaced by rebuild -f. The new
interface provides greater functionality. For formats 3, 4 and C-ISAM,
it checks data file structure, free space list (FSL) structure, FSL
entries match data file, index file structure, index and data match and
checks all the keys against the data file. For other file formats, the
integrity checking is on the same level as fhvalidate. |
| fhconvert | Replaced by rebuild filename,filename....
It is a direct equivalent. |
| fhcreate | No equivalent in Rebuild. This function enabled you to create an empty indexed file. You must write a simple COBOL program to recreate this functionality. |
| fhreorg | Replaced by rebuild -x. This feature
enables you to reorganize an indexed file on any record key. This
differs from fhreorg in that fhreorg enabled you to reorganize ascending
or descending. |
| fhedit | This is replaced by the rebuild filename...
command line. With the -k option you can create your own key structure
as long as the key structure is wholly contained within the minimum
record length. |
As with the file handling utilities, Rebuild can be invoked using COBOL CALL syntax as well as from the command line. For further information on Rebuild, you should refer to the Rebuild chapter of your File Handling.
Forms-2 is a character-mode screen painter for creating character-mode screen displays.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
Not available.
No change is needed, unless you need to recompile your program.
If you need to update the screen-handling code generated by Forms-2, you can edit it yourself. It is standard COBOL, included in the Data Division. However, a program that was created using Forms-2 contains COPY statements that use copyfiles supplied with Forms-2; these statements are in the form:
COPY "$COBDIR/forms2/copyfile ".
Therefore, when you recompile your program you have to ensure that these copyfiles are accessible to Server Express. It is suggested that you copy the contents of the Forms-2 directory from your previous version of COBOL for UNIX to a new directory, and change the COPY statement to point to this directory.
As you can also see in the example above, Forms-2 created COPY statements that contained trailing spaces; to ensure that the correct file is located, you should delete any trailing spaces from the COPY statement.
A more effective method of developing user interfaces is to use Dialog System . For further information refer to your Programmer's Guide to Creating User Interfaces book.
Library is a utility that enables you to package files in a .lbr file.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
Available in this product for backward compatibility.
In this product, we recommend that you package your application using native UNIX system executable types. For more information refer to your Getting Started and Server Express User Guide.
The mkrts script.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
Not available.
The mkrts script is no longer required due to product shape changes. See the chapter COBOL System Library Routines for further information.
Object-oriented COBOL syntax enables you to write according to object-oriented methodology.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1.
Unchanged.
Object-oriented programs produced using the earlier products need to be recompiled before you can run them on this product.
Panels Version 2 is a library of routines for creating and manipulating on-screen graphical objects.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
Removed in Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and onward.
This feature is no longer supported.
Micro Focus recommends using Character Dialog System to create your user interfaces. For further information refer to your Programmer's Guide to Creating User Interfaces. Alternatively, to create Graphical User Interfaces, Micro Focus recommends you use the NetExpress product on the PC. Contact your Micro Focus Sales Representative for further details.
Screens is a character-mode screen painter for creating character-mode screen displays.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
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.
A more effective method of developing user interfaces is to use Dialog System. For further information, see your Programmer's Guide to Creating User Interfaces.
Structure Animator is a utility for analyzing program structure.
Object COBOL Developer Suite V4.1 and earlier.
Removed.
Analyze your programs use GNT Analyzer and Profiler instead. Both utilities are described in the Utilities Handbook
Copyright © 2000 MERANT International Limited. All rights reserved.
This document and the proprietary marks and names
used herein are protected by international law.
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