• Develop mission-critical COBOL applications for HPUX, PA Risc workstations
• Take advantage of extensive multi-vendor database support (SQL access to Oracle, Sybase and Ingres)
• Maintain compatibility with existing code based on support for popular vendor extensions (IBM and Micro Focus) and compliance with ANSI and ISO standards
• Full COBOL85 syntax
• Direct access to Oracle Application Server
• CBL_routines
• Provides integration with PowerFORM for running graphical, COBOL-driven reports on the HPUX platform. (Forms are developed under Windows but can run under UNIX.)

The rich complement of functions built into NetCOBOL serves as the basis for fast-turnaround development efforts. Industry extensions compatible with those from Micro Focus and IBM ensure broad compatibility and a full choice of powerful functions.

NetCOBOL offers a number of features to help speed application development as well as execution times. Because program links are automatically reconstructed following compilation, errors are usually easily identifiable.

In the debug tool, you can view data in the watch data window, set break points, and view I/O in the program I/O window. As a result, you complete your work faster and produce higher quality code.

Detailed Features and Benefits

Standards Compliant

• ANSI Standard COBOL X3.23 1985, ISO-1989-1985
• ANSI '74 COBOL X3.23-1974

Full ANSI 85 Compliant to Include:

• Nucleus
• Sequential/Relative/Indexed File
• Inter-Program Communication
• Sort/Merge
• Source Text Manipulation

Support for ANSI'85 Supplement:

• Intrinsic Functions

Fujitsu Extensions

• National language programming
• National character handling
• Extended Indexed File -- Multiple key items, reverse order access
• National character printing
• Sort/Merge of National characters
• Floating-point data
• Bit handling
• Constant section
• Functions for system program description -- pointer, etc.

XPG4 Specification (X/OPEN Extensions)

• Line/Sequential file handling
• Inter-language communications -- passing parameters by value, special register Return-Code
• File sharing and record locking
• Screen handling
• Access to command-line arguments
• Concatenated expressions

Compatibility Support

• OS/VS COBOL
• VS COBOL II
• Micro Focus

SQL

• Most databases using VORTEX from Trifox (www.trifox.com)
• Oracle (using Oracle Pro*COBOL)
• SymfoWARE/RDB (using SymfoWARE/RDB precompiler)

IBM OS/VS COBOL Compatibility Features Supported

• Special registers for date, time, return code, sort, etc.
• System directing statements (example EJECT, SKIP)
• REMARKS paragraph
• EXAMINE statement
• GOBACK statement
• BASIS statement

IBM VS COBOL II Compatibility Features Supported

• POINTER variables

Micro Focus COBOL Extensions

• Enhanced ACCEPT and DISPLAY verbs to permit video terminal screen I/O with full control over data positioning on output and protected/unprotected on input fields
• Full-screen output and multiple-field input; validation of input with a single COBOL statement
• Enhanced file I/O with additional-line-sequential organization to handle text files

Programming-Staff (COBOL Development Environment)

• User-selectable program editor
• Framework for program compilation
• MAKE function
• Program development tools and utilities -- Debug tool; search to focus on source line in error
• Support for WYSIWYG character-mode screen designer

Debug Tool Capabilities

• Setting/removing complex breakpoints
• Displaying variables
• Recording and playing back a debugging procedure to retest user's code
• Performing batch debugging and automated debugging operations
• Reversing code execution
• Stepping over and through statements

An In-Depth Look at NetCOBOL for HPUX

The following sequence of screen captures lets you see the features of NetCOBOL at work.

Programming-Staff (Project Manager)
Configuration Management
NetCOBOL Editor
Building Applications
Debugging Applications
Designing Screens
COBOL File Utility
Using Prototype HTML
New HP-UX Features in the Latest Release

Points to watch for in the NetCOBOL for HPUX walk-through include:

• Managing sources and projects using Programming-Staff
• Integrated configuration management
• Editor tailored to NetCOBOL source code
• Debugging with control
• Screen designing
• COBOL File Utility
• Simplified HTML templates
  
  

Programming-Staff
Programming Staff provides you with a central point for invoking NetCOBOL tools and building your application. It provides for:

• Editing source files
• Compiling programs
• Jumping to compile errors
• Creating and executing Make files
• Debugging programs
• Setting environment variables

NetCOBOL Editor
Fujitsu's COBOL editor:

• Provides editing functions
• Integrates with other NetCOBOL tools such as P-STAFF

• Constructs a make file
• Only uses changed components
• Displays a summary of results
• Takes you to build errors (shown below)
• Builds modules or entire projects
  
  
  

Debugging Applications
The NetCOBOL Debugger is a full-function, source code debugger. Some of the features available are:

• Source window (shown below)
• Watch data window (shown below)
• Break window
• User program standard I/O window (shown below)
• Passage count window
• Stamp window (for recording timing information)

• Design screens interactively based on screen display images
• Generate COBOL source code for a SCREEN SECTION

COBOL File Utility
The COBOL File Utility manipulates files without using COBOL programs. It can be used in both screen and command modes. The COBOL File Utility has functions that allow you to:

• Convert a text file to a variable length sequential file and vice versa
• Create or expand a sequential, relative, or indexed file from a sequential file and vice versa
• Display the contents of records
• Print the contents of records
• Edit a record (shown below)
• Expand a file
• Sort records according to a key and output them to a variable length sequential file
• Display the attribute of an indexed file
• Recover an indexed file
• Reorganize an unused area of an indexed file

Using Prototype HTML
Part of the Fujitsu COBOL CGI support is the prototype HTML feature. This reduces the programming burden when you need to output HTML to Internet clients.

The Debugger and Editor windows shown below show standard HTML (in the Editor) with a prototype variable inserted ("//COBOL//GET-TEXT//COBOL//") and the lines required (in the Debugger) to set the prototype variable to the string to be displayed (in this case "Fujitsu COBOL").

Other Features
NetCOBOL for HPUX also provides the following features:

New HP-UX Features in the Latest Release
Version upgrade of FLEXlm from v2.4c to v6.1 - Even if the license server is not changed, it is necessary to obtain a new license password when the license daemon changes from an old version (v2.4c etc.) to v6.1.

Support for HP-UX 11.0 – NetCOBOL for HPUX now runs on HP-UX 11.0.

Run-time libraries for initial threads - The run-time libraries for initial threads are provided for HP-UX 11.0. COBOL applications linked with these libraries can be run on initial threads.

Support for CBL_ routines - Some CBL_ routines are supported for compatibility with Micro Focus functions. The list of supported functions can be found in the CBL_Routines manual.

Supports CALL BY VALUE literal-3 - The CALL statement with BY VALUE literal-3 is now supported.

Supports the PowerFORM form descriptor - The new version of form descriptor content created by PowerFORM on the Windows platform is now supported.

Force writing of output files - Each time the DISPLAY, COUNT, or TRACE functions are executed, COBOL force writes output files from the buffers to the output media.

Destination of trace information - Customers can change the destination of trace information by specifying the environment variable CBR_TRACE_FILE.

Overriding the key definition file - The key definition file can be overridden by the environment variable information TERMINATOR, and, in addition, you can change information on the key.

Platforms Supported
NetCOBOL for HPUX runs on PA Risc hardware executing one of the following versions of HP-UX:

• HP-UX® Version 10.x
• HP-UX® Version 11.x