Created On:  26 January 2012

Problem:

Is there an executable object that can be called from a COBOL program to produce SHA-256 code?

Resolution:

We do not provide an implementation of SHA-256 for customer use, but there are many available.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa376217(v=vs.85).aspx

The C code in the article could be amended so it can be called as a sub-routine or a COBOL sub-routine code could be written, for example, Copy & COBOL paste = COBOLization of the code.

Microsoft also has the free CAPICOM COM object, which can be downloaded for Windows XP and later; CAPICOM's HashedData class supports SHA-256 (though maybe not on XP - the customer should confirm this first). CAPICOM is invoked through a COM interface so using it from COBOL should be pretty straightforward.

There are also numerous freeware implementations.

Incident #2547553