home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Libris Britannia 4
/
science library(b).zip
/
science library(b)
/
PROGRAMM
/
COBOL
/
H309.ZIP
/
COBOL6.TXT
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1993-07-08
|
3KB
|
75 lines
Notes on COBOL6
by Neil Jennings, TRANTOR Ltd
INSTALLATION
Copy UNARJ.EXE and COBOL6.ARJ to the current directory and
use
UNARJ e COBOL6
to extract the files. Then refer to READ.ME.
There is a further archive (COBOL6-2.ZIP) which contains sample
COBOL source. It can be expanded by using PKUNZIP (not supplied)
PREPARING THE SOURCE
This is a useful COBOL compiler for learners and for small
programs, and works well.
However, it has a number of minor restrictions, for example
It does not accept the noise word THEN, as in IF-THEN-ELSE
Each 01 level is limited to 4095 bytes
The number of occurrences of an array element is restricted
The compiler occasionally has difficulty in recognising
the end of a source file. Symptoms include the appearance of
garbage or duplicated code at the end of the compiler
listing, and/or errors about invalid characters in column 7
etc.
This can be overcome by using a HEX editor to place one or
more hex '1a' characters at the end of the text. You may also
be able to get the same effect by using holding down ALT and
pressing 0 2 6 on the NUMERIC keypad (NOT the top line of the
keyboard), if your text editor allows this method of entry of
non-keyboard characters.
Note that when COBFORM creates a reformatted source, it
automatically inserts a line containing this character at
the end of the source file, so there should be no problem
unless you subsequently edit that file.
COMPILING
The compiler only gives you 25 compiles, then you have to
reinstall. This can be overcome by copying the file COBOL.LIC
to a backup, and restoring before each compile.
(COBOL650 does not have this restriction)
It also expects to find its files on drive A, so you must
use ASSIGN A C (assuming that is is on C:) before compiling.
Note that ASSIGN seems to have been deleted from MS-DOS 6
Try using the DPATH utility supplied with COBOL650 instead?
LINKING
COBOL6 only produces OBJ files - you need a linker to link them
and create an executable (EXE) file.
Example:
LINK a+b+c;
will link a.obj, b.obj and c.obj giving a.exe
LINK has many more parameters, refer to a manual for details. it
may need to be given the name of the COBOL library to include
library modules.