1. In the PowerCOBOL Project Folder AND the PowerCOBOL Runtime Folder

Advantages:

• This option uses the PowerCOBOL and PowerFORM default behaviors so no special configuration needs to be performed.
• All your development work can be in a single folder - the PowerCOBOL project folder.

Disadvantages:

• You need to make sure that every time you update the PowerFORM descriptor you make sure that the updated descriptor is copied to both locations. It is very easy to forget to do this and have the two descriptors out-of-sync causing unexpected results.

Setup:

1. Place a copy of our PowerFORM descriptor in both the PowerCOBOL project folder and PowerCOBOL runtime folder.
2. Make sure that they are always updated at the same time.
   
   

2. Only in the PowerCOBOL project folder

Advantages:

• All your development pieces (e.g. PowerFORM descriptor, PowerCOBOL project) can be in the same folder.

Disadvantages:

• Not all the files you need to deliver with your application are in the PowerCOBOL runtime folder.

Setup:

1. Add the MEDDIR option to your printer information file. This option tells the PowerFORM runtime which folders to search for the descriptor files. The format of this option is:
   
   MEDDIR folder-name-1[;folder-name-2]...
   
   
2. Store your printer information file in the PowerCOBOL runtime folder.

3. Only in the PowerCOBOL runtime folder

Advantages:

All the files you need to deliver with your application (e.g. PowerCOBOL executables, PowerFORM descriptor file) can be in the PowerCOBOL runtime folder.

Disadvantages:

• Your main PowerFORM development file, the descriptor file, is being kept in the PowerCOBOL runtime folder.

Setup:

Use the FORMLIB compiler option by taking the following steps:

1. In PowerCOBOL expand the project tree by right clicking on the project and selecting "Expand All" from the pop-up menu.
2. Right click on the "(Script)(COBOL Script)" node (the parent node for all the COBOL "Scriptlet"s) and select Properties from the pop-up menu.
3. In the Options field of the Compile tab, enter:
   
   FORMLIB(PowerCOBOL-runtime-folder-name)
   
   Where: PowerCOBOL-runtime-folder-name can be an absolute or relative path to the PowerCOBOL runtime folder. For example, to specify a relative path, when the project Build Mode is set to DebugMode, you would enter "FORMLIB(debug)".
   
   
4. Click OK. The FORMLIB option will be used when any of the scriptlets are compiled.

4. In a separate PowerFORM folder

Advantages:

• You can keep your PowerFORM descriptor files separate from your PowerCOBOL projects.

Disadvantages:

• Not all the files you need to deliver with your application are in the PowerCOBOL runtime folder.
• Takes more setup than the other options.

Setup:

Use the FORMLIB compiler option by taking the following steps:

1. In PowerCOBOL expand the project tree by right clicking on the project and selecting "Expand All" from the pop-up menu.
2. Right click on the "(Script)(COBOL Script)" node (the parent node for all the COBOL "Scriptlet"s) and select Properties from the pop-up menu.
3. In the Options field of the Compile tab, enter:
   
   FORMLIB(PowerFORM-descriptor-folder-name)
   
   Where: PowerFORM-descriptor-folder-name can be an absolute or relative path to the PowerFORM descriptor folder. For example, to specify an absolute path to the folder C:\Pform-descriptors you would enter "FORMLIB(C:\Pform-descriptors)".
   
   
4. Click OK. The FORMLIB option will be used when any of the scriptlets are compiled. Add the MEDDIR option to your printer information file. This option tells the PowerFORM runtime which folders to search for the descriptor files.
   
   
5. The format of this option is:
   
   MEDDIR folder-name-1[;folder-name-2]...
   
   For example, to point to the folder C:\Pform-descriptors, you would include MEDDIR C:\Pform-descriptors in your printer information file.
   
   
6. Store your printer information file in the PowerCOBOL runtime folder.