Visual COBOL webinar #2: Getting Started with Visual Studio 2010

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 21 March 2012]

Hi all, just a reminder that the next Visual COBOL webinar will be held tomorrow.

More details and how to register here,

Hope to see you there.

Thursday March 22 2012

8:00 PST/11:00 EST/16:00 GMT/17:00 CET

Thanks to everyone who attended. Questions and answers from the 2nd Webinar session below:


1. what about visual studio 2011? and .net framework 4.5?
The Visual COBOL and Visual Studio 11 beta is now available here

2. is there a personal version of VS 2010?

There are active plans to provide a personal edition of Visual COBOL for Visual Studio 2010 this year. At present, the Micro Focus timelines for this product availability are September, 2012. Please continue to watch this forum for more details on its availability. Micro Focus will make an announcement when it is generally available.

3. Do you see any performance improvements in moving from INT/GNT to DLL/EXE?
There could be some improvement if dlls are being used by separate processes but more importantly, we don’t expect any deterioration.

4. can we upgrade directly from VS 2005?
Yes, please do. Open you projects in VS2010 and they should be automatically upgraded.

5. I use netexpress 3.1 and I compile to a DLL, static library and single threaded because the DLL is called from visual basic 6.0. Is this going to be a problem with VS Studio 2010?
No problems anticipated.

6. NE documentation includes list/descriptions of events and functions. Does VS documentation have lists of same.
Yes there is certainly a similar level of documentation to Net Express but not sure which events/functions you are referring to in this case.

7. How do you designate the starting program (exe) when using a single DLL project?
Usually, you will need to create a trigger program that calls the main program however, we’ve added a feature in Visual COBOL 2.0 that means you don’t need to. Just start debugging and it will step into your main program.

8. what about the runtime when i will bring my software to another company? What’s about with the licensing?

The Micro Focus COBOL run-time is the most portable and flexible in the industry. We offer the broadest set of platform choices including Windows, UNIX and Linux, should you require a platform change for your COBOL applications. For more details on the licensing options available for these platforms, please contact sales@microfocus.com

9. We are using environment Variables "dd_xxxx" and copy "xxxx/Filename.cpy". Is that still used?
Yes, these are still supported.

10. Have any books been written relating to Visual Cobol?

Micro Focus offers product documentation within its Visual COBOL for Visual Studio product for reference and learning. To date, there are no external publications available on the use of the Visual COBOL for Visual Studio product. Micro Focus does offer a set of online, self-paced, Web Based Training materials for Visual COBOL. To learn more about these offerings, please visit our Online Training Store or contact sales@microfocus.com.