Visual COBOL for Eclipse R4 is GA today!

This is the first Micro Focus release which includes a full GA version of COBOL for JVM... (a pre-release add-in was available with Visual COBOL R3.)

So where to start?

You could

• Look at the samples - familiarise yourself with some of the new syntax features by looking at the JVM COBOL sample code provided with the product

            or

• Create a new application using the templates provided

            or

• Import your existing application to a JVM COBOL project

Let’s look at these options in more detail...

JVM COBOL Sample Code

JVM COBOL samples are included with the product. If running on Windows there is a SamplesBrowser, which you can access from the Start Menu.

Windows

The samples are installed in subfolders under C:\\Users\\Public\\Documents\\Micro Focus\\Visual COBOL 2010\\Samples.

Note: On older versions of Windows the samples might be installed in a different folder, such as for Windows XP, C:\\Documents and Settings\\All Users\\Documents\\Micro Focus\\Visual COBOL 2010\\Samples.

To open the SamplesBrowser :

1. Click Start menu > All Programs > Micro Focus Visual COBOL 2010 > Visual COBOL Samples.
2. Follow the instructions in the “How to Import this Demonstration into an Eclipse Workspace”.

 3.  Then follow the instructions in “How to Run this Demonstration”.

UNIX

The samples are in a .jar file that needs to be imported into your workspace.

To access the samples:

1. Select File > Import.
2. Choose General > Existing Projects into Workspace and click Next.
3. Choose Select archive file and browse to <install_path>/Micro Focus/Visual COBOL 2010/eclipse and double-click samples.jar.

This opens the list of sample projects:

4.  Select the samples you want from the list and click Finish.

This loads the selected projects into your workspace.

Create a New JVM COBOL application

From an Eclipse workspace

 1.  Create a new project

      File > New > COBOL JVM Project

      Enter the project name of your choice and follow through the wizard

      Now the project has been created

 2.  Add a program to the project

      Select the new project in Navigator

      New > COBOL Program

      Add the line

               display “Hello JVM World”

      after the

    procedure division

 3.   Run your first JVM COBOL application

       Run As... COBOL JVM Application

       You will see that the project is compiled and runs.

     Hello JVM World

       is displayed in the output window

Import your existing application to a JVM COBOL project

From an Eclipse workspace

 1.  Create a new project

      File > New > COBOL JVM Project

      Enter the project name of your choice and follow through the wizard

      Now the project has been created

2.   Add an existing COBOL program to the project

      File > Import > General > File System

Where to get a copy of Visual COBOL for Eclipse

For information on a free trial version, go to the Visual COBOL product website:

 http://visualcobol.microfocus.com/