Migrating Micro Focus Os/2 Dialog System Applications To Ibm Visualage For Cobol For Os/2

SG24-4887-00
Migrating Micro Focus OS/2 Dialog System Applications

to IBM VisualAge for COBOL for OS/2
December 1996
IBML
SG24-4887-00
International Technical Support Organization
Migrating Micro Focus OS/2 Dialog System Applications

to IBM VisualAge for COBOL for OS/2
December 1996
Take Note!
Before using this information and the product it supports, be sure to read the general information in
Appendix A, “Special Notices” on page 59.
First Edition (December 1996)
This edition applies to Version 1.2 Refresh, 83H9131, VisualAge for COBOL for OS/2 for use with the OS/2 WARP
3.0 Operating System.
Comments may be addressed to:

IBM Corporation, International Technical Support Organization
Dept. QXXE Building 80-E2
650 Harry Road
San Jose, California 95120-6099
When you send information to IBM, you grant IBM a non-exclusive right to use or distribute the information in any
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 Copyright International Business Machines Corporation 1996. All rights reserved.

Note to U.S. Government Users — Documentation related to restricted rights — Use, duplication or disclosure is
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Contents
Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
How This Redbook Is Organized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
The Author of This Redbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
Comments Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
Chapter 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Description of a Typical GUI MF COBOL Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Description of a Typical IBM COBOL PM Application . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 The Migration Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3.1 Changing from DS to VDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.3.2 Translating from the Dialog System Code to the IBM COBOL Structure 6
1.3.3 Moving from MF COBOL to IBM COBOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3.4 Data Migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Chapter 2. Sample Application Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2.1 Before You Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.2 Our Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.3 The Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Chapter 3. Migration Utility Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

3.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.2 Utility Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.3 How to Use the Migration Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Chapter 4. Comparison of MF Dialog System Objects and VisualAge COBOL

Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.1 General Differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.2 Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.3 Menu Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.4 Entry Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.5 Push Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.6 List Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.7 Multiline Entry Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.8 Radio Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.9 Selection or Combination Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.10 Static Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.11 Group Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.12 Bitmaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.13 Notebooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.14 Dialog Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.15 Message Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Chapter 5. Migrating the Sample Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

5.1 A Practical Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Chapter 6. Embedding COBOL Logic in the Sample Application . . . . . . . . 39

6.1 Embedding the Old Code (the OLDMAIN procedure) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
 Copyright IBM Corp. 1996 iii

Chapter 7. Event Logic Migration to VisualAge COBOL for Sample
Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
7.1 Event to Event Logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
7.1.1 Events for the OEMAIN-CUSTNO Entry Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
7.1.2 Events for the CUSTINFO-SHIPID Entry Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
7.1.3 Events for the OEMAIN-PARTNO Entry Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
7.1.4 Events for the OEMAIN-PRODUC-MODEL Entry Field . . . . . . . . . . 52
7.1.5 Events for the OEMAIN-UNIT Entry Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
7.1.6 Events for the OEMAIN-CUSTINFO Push Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
7.1.7 Events for the ORDEROK Radio Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
7.1.8 Events for the OEMAIN-NEWORDER Push Button . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
7.1.9 Events for the REVISE-ORDER Radio Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Chapter 8. Installing the Migration Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

8.1 Hardware and Software Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
8.2 Installing the Migration Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Appendix A. Special Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Appendix B. Related Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

B.1 International Technical Support Organization Publications . . . . . . . . . 61
B.2 Redbooks on CD-ROMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
B.3 Other Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
How to Get ITSO Redbooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

How IBM Employees Can Get ITSO Redbooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
How Customers Can Get ITSO Redbooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
IBM Redbook Order Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
List of Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
iv Micro Focus Dialog System to VisualAge COBOL

Figures
1. MF DS COBOL Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. IBM VDE Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3. MF COBOL versus IBM COBOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4. Migration Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5. MF COBOL versus IBM COBOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6. Conversion Requirements for Data File Migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
7. Proposed Migration Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
8. Main Window of the Celdial Order Entry Application . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
9. Customer List Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
10. Customer Information Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
11. Select Part Number Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
12. Select Model Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
13. Ship ID Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
14. The Celdial Order Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
15. Micro Focus DS to IBM VDE Migration Utility Window . . . . . . . . . . . 18
16. Sample Micro Focus Dialog System Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
17. Micro Focus DS to IBM VDE Migration Utility Window . . . . . . . . . . . 21
18. MF2VDE - Message Window Migration Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
19. Parts Catalog Window of the Migration Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
20. Window Properties Window for MF Dialog System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
21. Window Part Settings Window for IBM VDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
22. Pull Down Choice Details Window for the MF Dialog System . . . . . . . 27
23. Menu Item Part Settings Window for IBM VDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
24. Entry Field Properties Window for MF Dialog System . . . . . . . . . . . 29
25. Entry Field Part Settings Window for IBM VDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
26. Push Button Properties Window for MF Dialog System . . . . . . . . . . 30
27. Push Button Part Settings Window for IBM VDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
28. List Box Properties Window for MF Dialog System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
29. List Box Part Settings Window for IBM VDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
30. Message Box Properties Window for MF Dialog System . . . . . . . . . . 33
31. COBOL GUI Designer - Define Message Window for IBM VDE . . . . . . 34
32. Migration Utility Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
33. Migrated Ship - ID Window Showing Wrong-Sized Push Buttons. . . . . 36
34. VDE Define Message Window Showing Migration Fixes. . . . . . . . . . . 38
35. IBM COBOL Compiler Options Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
39. IBM VDE Code Assistant Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
40. COBOL GUI Designer - Celdial Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
41. MF2VDE - Settings Window Showing the Migration Utility Settings . . . 58
 Copyright IBM Corp. 1996 v

vi Micro Focus Dialog System to VisualAge COBOL
Preface
This redbook describes the process to migrate a Micro Focus Dialog System
application on OS/2 to IBM VisualAge for COBOL for OS/2 Version 1.2. The
relationship to VisualAge for COBOL for OS/2 Version 2 is that there is a
migration capability provided in Version 2 to migrate Version 1.2 Visual
Development Environment GUI parts to the Version 2 Visual Builder. The steps
for migration and use of a Dialog System migration tool in relationship to
Version 1.2 are covered.
This redbook was written for application developers interested in the

requirements for migrating Micro Focus Dialog System applications to IBM
VisualAge for COBOL for OS/2.
A practical example is used as illustration of the migration process and the

Dialog System migration tool is provided.
Knowledge of Micro Focus Dialog System, IBM VisualAge for COBOL for OS/2,
the COBOL language, and visual building techniques is required.
How This Redbook Is Organized

This redbook contains 89 pages. It is organized as follows:
• Chapter 1, ″Introduction″
Introduces the steps required to migrate a Micro Focus Dialog System
application to VisualAge for COBOL.
• Chapter 2, ″Sample Application Description″
This chapter gives an overview of the sample application.
• Chapter 3, ″Migration Utility Overview″
Details on the Migration Utility are reviewed in this chapter.
• Chapter 4, ″Comparison of MF Dialog System Objects and VisualAge COBOL
Parts″
This chapter compares various Dialog System objects to VisualAge COBOL
parts and explains the differences when migrating an application.
• Chapter 5, ″Migrating the Sample Application″
The steps used to migrate the sample application are reviewed.
• Chapter 6, ″Embedding COBOL Logic in the Sample Application
This chapter explains porting the COBOL business logic to the migrated
application.
• Chapter 7, ″Event Logic Migration to VisualAge COBOL for Sample
Application″
The steps that need to be executed to set the actions for each part are
explained.
• Chapter 8, ″Installing the Migration Utility″
Steps to unpack and install the Migration Utility are explained.
 Copyright IBM Corp. 1996 vii

The Author of This Redbook
This redbook was produced by:
Agostino Assi, IBM Italy.
Thanks to the following people for their invaluable contributions to this project:
Paul Pacholski
IBM Toronto
Wilbert Kho
IBM Santa Teresa Laboratory, San Jose, California
This project was designed and managed by:
Joe DeCarlo
IBM International Technical Support Organization, San Jose Center
Comments Welcome
Your comments are important to us!
We want our redbooks to be as helpful as possible. Please send us your

comments about this or other redbooks in one of the following ways:
• Use the electronic evaluation form found on the Redbooks Home Pages at
the following URLs:
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• Send us a note at the following address:
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viii Micro Focus Dialog System to VisualAge COBOL

Chapter 1. Introduction
Often when we discuss migrations, we mean moving from one version of a

product to a later version. Typical examples are migrations from OS/VS COBOL
to VS COBOL II or from VS COBOL II to COBOL/370.
In this type of migration we most often stay with the same product, merely
changing syntactical structures or introducing new functions.
Another type of migration, less frequent perhaps because it is more complex,

requires a change of product (moving from one tool to another). In this type of
migration many factors must be addressed, such as:
• Language to language migration
• Data format migration
• Dialog format migration
• Different approach to handling events.
These four points make the migration from the Micro Focus (MF) Dialog System
(DS) application development environment to the IBM VisualAge for COBOL for
OS/2 more complex than the standard language-to-language migration.
Before starting on the technical details that characterize this type of migration,
we briefly describe how both tools are characterized and how best to approach
the migration.
Hereafter, IBM VisualAge for COBOL for OS/2 can be referred to as VisualAge
COBOL, VA COBOL, Visual Development Environment (VDE), or Graphical User
Interface (GUI) Designer.
1.1 Description of a Typical GUI MF COBOL Application

A Typical MF GUI COBOL application consists of:
• A Graphical System (the .GS file you create using the MF Dialog System tool)
• A .CPB file that contains all the declarations you need for the variables you
defined in the Dialog System. It is a sort of bridge between the DS and
COBOL.
• A .CBL program (the heart of the application):
....
working-storage section.
copy ″ds-cntrl.mf″ .
copy ″celdial.cpb″ .
copy ″sqlenv″ .
copy ″ . . . . . . ″ .
01 xxxx ......
procedure division.
main-process section.
perform program-initialize.
perform program-body until exit-pgm-true.
perform program-terminate.
 Copyright IBM Corp. 1996 1

program-initialize section.
.......
program-body section.
evaluate true
when custlist-botton-true
perform show-customer-list
when ................-true
perform ........
end-evaluate
perform call-dialog-system.
program-terminate section.
........
stop run.
load-screenset section.
move ds-new-set to ds-control
move ″c:\dsg\celdial\celdial.gs″ to ds-set-name
call-dialog-system section.
call dialog-system using ds-control-block,
data-block.
if not ds-no-error
move ds-error-code to display-error-no
display ″DS ERROR NO: ″ display-error-no
perform program-terminate
end-if.
.........
In the MF environment, the business logic is inside the program, while the logic
needed to manage the GUI is in the .DS file. To implement the logic inside the
.DS file, MF unfortunately uses another language (not COBOL) which needs a
translation and conversion to IBM′s Visual Development Environment (VDE)
which is used in IBM VisualAge for COBOL for OS/2. This is one of the
differences we will meet during our migration and it will also be one of our major
problems.
A graphical representation of how components talk to one another in the MF

environment is shown in Figure 1.
2 Micro Focus Dialog System to VisualAge COBOL

Figure 1. MF DS COBOL Representation. Graphical representation of the structure of a Micro Focus application.
When you execute an event, you execute a piece of code written in the DS
language which, at a certain moment, passes the control to a COBOL program.
The COBOL program passes the control back to the Dialog System, which in turn
executes a portion of its code and then passes the control back to the
Presentation Manager (PM), which is waiting for another event.
Values and variables used in the COBOL program can be used to update entry
fields, list boxes, or other dialog objects. In order to automatically update
COBOL variables after refreshing the window which they belong to, MF links a
dialog system object with one or more COBOL variables.
1.2 Description of a Typical IBM COBOL PM Application

A typical IBM COBOL Presentation Manager application is composed of a GUI
driver, which handles the user interface (UI) dialog and a COBOL program that
contains the logic you need to control and handle the UI dialog and the business
processes. When using the IBM solution, you need not know two languages;
COBOL is the only language necessary to write a PM application (Figure 2). This
means that part of the migration is a code translation of sorts between the DS
language and IBM COBOL.
Another characteristic that makes the tools different is that IBM COBOL uses
entires to define events, while MF uses procedures and calls them by setting a
flag and performing the related procedure in an Evaluate Loop.
Chapter 1. Introduction 3
Figure 2. IBM VDE Representation. Graphical representation of the structure of an I B M COBOL VisualAge
application.
Because the MF Dialog System uses two different languages, in the starting
environment you must define variables related to some object (entry fields, list
boxes, multiline edit, and the like) in order to pass and get back values to the
COBOL program which is processing the logic. Therefore, between the COBOL
logic and the Dialog System logic, there exists a bridge based on these variables
which works like an interface service (Figure 3).

Figure 3. MF COBOL versus I B M COBOL. How behavior differs between the Micro Focus Dialog System and I B M
VDE when we update an entry field.
1.3 The Migration Approach

The approach used is divided into four steps:
1. Go from DS to VDE.
2. Convert the Dialog System code to the IBM COBOL structure.
3. Go from MF COBOL to IBM COBOL.
4. Migrate the data.
Figure 4 is a graphical representation of the desired migration method.
Figure 4. Migration Cycle
1.3.1 Changing from DS to VDE

This step normally involves a detailed analysis of the entire application being
migrated: first looking for the related objects in the VDE, then creating them
manually, and setting their properties one by one.
Instead, we wrote a Migration Utility procedure that assists in creating some of

these objects with their related properties. We describe how to use the Migration
Utility in Chapter 3. For now, we assume that part of this first step can be
performed automatically. Figure 5 summarizes the steps.
1.3.2 Translating from the Dialog System Code to the IBM COBOL Structure
This step must be performed manually. The differences between the two tools
greatly affect this particular part of the migration. We had to use two machines
simultaneously and more than one open editor for each machine in order to
determine the flow of the MF environment and translate in into the IBM COBOL
code.

Figure 5. MF COBOL versus I B M COBOL. Summary of steps to perform to migrate from MF to I B M COBOL.
1.3.3 Moving from MF COBOL to IBM COBOL

The sample application we used did not give us the opportunity to find any
particular aspect of COBOL differences worth comment. Within the boundaries
of the American National Standards Institute/ the ANSI 85 standard, no problem
should occur.
1.3.4 Data Migration
Since the only difference we have found is in the format of VSAM and sequential
files, we suggest writing a small program that reads data from the MF format
and writes into a flat file. Then, with another program, you can read that data
and recreate the files in the IBM COBOL format (Figure 6).
Figure 6. Conversion Requirements for Data File Migration
We have designed for a tool to automate the migration and that tool will be
covered in another book which focuses on data migration only. Figure 7 shows
how that tool behaves.

Figure 7. Proposed Migration Tool. Flow for the routine that would have migrated VSAM and sequential files
automatically.
Chapter 2. Sample Application Description
2.1 Before You Start

When migrating from one tool to another, you may want to use the same
workstation for both. Here are some suggestions and hints to ensure that a
coexistence of tools will not affect the migration:
• DB2/2
MF 3.2 supports DB2/2 V.1.x, but does not support DB2/2 V.2.x, which is a
prerequisite for IBM VisualAge for COBOL for OS/2. Therefore, you have to
have both versions of DB2/2 and be able to switch from one to the other
easily.
• LANG environment variable
Both tools use the LANG environment variable. MF does not require the
variable to be specified in the CONFIG.SYS file, it uses the default value. IBM
COBOL needs the variable to be specified in the CONFIG.SYS, file, which
changes the value. The changed value is not accepted by MF. The solution is
to add the following statement to the CONFIG.SYS file:
SET LANG=EN_US
This is done to inform MF that the LANG variable is used by another
application and its value has been moved to that variable.
• Installation sequence
Depending on which tool you installed first, VisualAge COBOL or DB2/2, you
should pay attention to the value of the threads variable in your CONFIG.SYS
file. The value should always be greater than 1024.
2.2 Our Approach

The best approach we can use to describe potential migration problems is to use
an existing application and explain, step by step, how to migrate it, highlighting
critical and delicate steps.
Before beginning with migration suggestions, we briefly describe the application

we are going to work with. This application is referred to throughout the
document.
2.3 The Application

The application we have chosen is an order entry procedure of the Celdial
application. Celdial is a fictitious cellular telephone manufacturer used for
demonstration and education purposes.
The Celdial application to be used is a Presentation Manager (PM) application,

based on a DB2/2 database, that uses flat files for basic data storage.
The main window of the order entry procedure is shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8. Main Window of the Celdial Order Entry Application
The main window is complex and populated; however, within it you will find
several types of objects, such as:
• Entry fields
• Static texts
• Push buttons
• Group boxes
• List boxes
• Radio buttons
• Bitmaps
For many objects properties have been changed. This is a good testing
environment for a migration because different kinds of objects and properties
have been set and they must be retained in the migrated application. In the main
window there are some hidden entry fields, such as the entry field at the right of
Customer or the entry field below Desc and Total . During the UI migration, we
should be careful that these properties are kept.

We start with a quick description of what the application does and then we look
at its windows. The application has been created to help the Celdial clerk handle
the product orders. The Celdial database contains business tables, such as:
• Table of customers
• Table of products
• Order Summary table
• Order History table
The entire application is based on this database. The order entry part is
composed of six windows:
• Main
• Customer list
• Customer information
• Parts list
• Models list
• Ship ID list
From the main window, press the Customer List push button to reach the
Customer List window (Figure 9).
Figure 9. Customer List Window
After choosing a customer from the list, ask for associated information by
clicking on Customer Details. The Customer Information Window appears
(Figure 10).
Chapter 2. Sample Application Description 13

Figure 10. Customer Information Window
Once a customer is selected, you can prepare an order for that customer by
choosing an available part from the Select Part window To do so, position the
cursor on the part entry field in the main window and press the PF9 key. The
Select Part Number window appears (Figure 11).
Figure 11. Select Part Number Window
After selecting an item, return to the main window (Figure 8). Position the cursor
in the model entry field and press the PF9 key to select a model for the part
(Figure 12).

Figure 12. Select Model Window
The lower left corner of the main window in Figure 8 now has a bitmap of the
product whose number and model you have selected.
Finally, select the Ship ID for your order (Figure 13).
Figure 13. Ship ID Window
You are ready to add the order to the main list box. Click on OK and place the
order by clicking on Place Order.
In summary, there is one main window which has five children at level one, That
is, each child has the main window as its parent (Figure 14).
Chapter 2. Sample Application Description 15

Figure 14. The Celdial Order Entry

Chapter 3. Migration Utility Overview
3.1 Background
The Migration Utility program is designed to help you migrate the GUI section of
the MF Dialog System. The objective is to avoid the long and tedious task of
recreating, one by one, all of the dialog components that have already been
created for the Dialog System.
The utility translates all of the GUI components individually, and where possible,
tries to maintain their properties. Certain properties are impossible to convert
initially because they are not directly supported, but often these properties can
be translated by adding a few statements to the program.
3.2 Utility Description

The Migration Utility was written in REXX using VX-REXX from Watcom. Details
about installing the utility and suggestions about customizing it can be found in
Chapter 8.
The utility needs an input file (.TXT) from the MF Dialog System. To produce this
file, you must go into the Dialog System and, after opening the application to be
migrated, you must:
• Select the File option from the main DS window.
• Select Export from the File option.
• From the Dialog System Export window,
− Select file as the destination.
− Select all of the items in the Sections to Export group box.
− Select all of the items in the Objects to Export group box.
At this point you have all of the needed input. You need only to invoke the utility
by double-clicking on the MF2VDE icon. The Micro Focus DS to IBM VDE
Migration Utility window appears (Figure 15).

Figure 15. Micro Focus DS to I B M VDE Migration Utility Window
The migration process has two steps. The first step parses the Micro Focus .TXT
file (Figure 15) and produces an intermediate file with .ODG. The second step
reads the .ODG file and produces an .ODF file, and also adds to the VDE catalog
the entire application dialog being migrated, as a single part, with the name you
specified in the Part name for the VDE entry field.
In the VDE, parts (objects in the Dialog System vocabulary) are stored in files
with extension .ODF. Even if each project in the VDE has its own .ODF file,
application layout information need not be written. The .ODF file will contain this
information after you create the application, drag the iconized part into the
application workframe, and save the application.
Figure 16. Sample Micro Focus Dialog System Window. This w i n d o w migrates with the utility.

Here is the .TXT file obtained from MF, related to the window in Figure 16:
Screenset Details
First-Window WIN1
Decimal-Char ′ . ′
Comma-Char ′ , ′
Currency-Sign ′ $′
Error-File ″dserror.err″
Icon-File ″ . \\ds.icn″
Style FLAG-88 ANSI EMU-PORTABLE
End Details
Font-Record Stylename {FONT-001}

Typeface ″Helv Italic″
Pointsize 8
Attributes BITMAPPED MONOSPACED BOLD ITALIC UNDERLINE
End-Record

Typeface ″Times New Roman Bold Italic″
Pointsize 10
Attributes VECTOR PROPORTIONAL
End-Record

Typeface ″Tms Rmn Italic″
Pointsize 10
Attributes VECTOR PROPORTIONAL
End-Record
Object WIN1
Type WINDOW
Parent DESKTOP
Start (440,6)
Size (1272,733)
Display ″Window Title″
Style SIZE-BORDER TITLEBAR SYSTEM-MENU MINIMIZE MAXIMIZE CLIPPED
End Object #WIN1
Menu
Parent WIN1
Item {NoName}
Level 0
Display ″File″
End Item
Item {NoName}
Level 1
Display ″Exit″
Key ″F3″
End Item
End Menu
Object LB1
Type LIST-BOX
Parent WIN1
Start (672,96)
Size (480,512)
Style DISABLE-HORIZONTAL
End Object #LB1
Chapter 3. Migration Utility Overview 19

Object PB1
Type PUSH-BUTTON
Parent WIN1
Stylename {FONT-002}
Start (64,224)
Size (544,288)
Display ″Big Push Button″
Style DEFAULT
End Object #PB1
Object EF1
Type ENTRY-FIELD
Parent WIN1
Start (96,512)
Size (472,64)
Style AUTOSCROLL BORDER CENTERED UPPER AUTOSKIP
Picture x(10)
Display ″In basso a destra″
End Object #EF1
Global Dialog
Event ESC
RETC ;
End Event # ESC
Event CLOSED-WINDOW
RETC ;
End Event # CLOSED-WINDOW
End Dialog
A portion of the information contained in the above file will be ignored by the
Migration Utility, because the program is not currently in a position to translate
an equivalent in the VDE. Therefore, you must do some of the work for those
statements manually. This is true for statements relating to the event logic: in
the above example, the statements between Global Dialog and End Dialog are
ignored. A log file is produced containing information regarding what the process
has been unable to migrate.
The following is an example of how that file should look:
-------------------------- OBJECT : WIN1 (FrameWindow)

property CLIPPED cannot be implemented automatically.
-------------------------- OBJECT : {NoName} (MenuItem)
property {NoName} cannot be implemented automatically.
-------------------------- OBJECT : {NoName} (MenuItem)
property {NoName} cannot be implemented automatically.
-------------------------- OBJECT : LB1 (ListBox)
-------------------------- OBJECT : PB1 (PushButton)
-------------------------- OBJECT : EF1 (EntryField)
property UPPER cannot be implemented automatically.
The result of the process (the .ODG file) should have a format similar to the
following:
B 100 0
W FVDESFrameWindow V 318 V 294 V 110 V 2 V 00000800 V 00000033 D D V WIN1 D D D D D D D V Window@Title D D D
W FVDESMenuBar D D D D D V 1 V 1 D D D D D D D D D D D D D
W FVDESMenuItem D D D D D D D D V NoName D D D D D D D V File D D D D D
W FVDESSubmenu D D D D D D V 1 V 1 D D D D D D D D D D D D
WFVDESMenuItem D D D D D D D D V NoName D D V 34 D D D D V Exit D D D D D
X
X

X
X
W FVDESCanvas D D D D D D V 1 V 1 D V 1 D D D D D D D D D D
P FVDESListBox V 120 V 170 V 168 V 42 D D D D V LB1 D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
P FVDESPushButton V 136 V 96 V 16 V 121 V 00000400 D D D V PB1 D D D D D D D V Big@Push@Button V Times@New@Roman@Bold@Italic V 0 V 10 D
P FVDESEntryField V 118 V 21 V 24 V 73 V 0000001D D D D V EF1 D D D D D D D V In@basso@a@destra D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
X
X
E
This is the only format which can be used to import a new part into the VDE as a
user-defined part. A minimum of two steps are needed for such an import.
Any new part that is imported with this approach must be a collection of existing
parts; that is, you can create a new part as an entry field and a static text and
set certain properties to make them more user friendly. You cannot, however,
add a new part (for example, Draw a Pie) that is not a composition of existing
parts.
3.3 How to Use the Migration Utility

The only input needed is in the .TXT file, but before beginning you must fill in
another field name using the extension .ODG. We suggest using the name and
path of the .TXT file. To do so, after filling in the .TXT field, move to the next
field and the utility will fill in the entry field automatically. Click OK to complete
Step 1 (Figure 17).
Note: Be sure you do not select both boxes at once; the steps should be
performed one at a time.
Figure 17. Micro Focus DS to I B M VDE Migration Utility Window
During the process, if the input file has rows longer then 79 characters, the
procedure will display a message similar to:
File Restructuring needed. Just continue

and you must click on OK. This means that the procedure is taking additional
time to rewrite the input file in order to make it more readable.
After each step completes, you receive the message shown in Figure 18.
Figure 18. MF2VDE - Message Window Migration Utility
When the first step is completed, you will find two files in the task list, a .LOG
and an .ODG file.
The .ODG file is an informational file; you may want to check whether all the
objects are included.
The .LOG file is important because it contains a list of the processed objects and
the properties for each object which cannot be transferred automatically. You
should look at this file carefully, object by object, and note the properties that
have been left out. This process must be done after the part is imported into the
new object.
To begin Step 2, do the following (Figure 17):

• Ensure that the IBM VDE is not open. You cannot add a new part to the
catalog if the VDE is active.
• Deselect the first check box and select the second one.
• Specify the .ODF file name.
• Specify the part name you are adding to the catalog..
A valid part name is 1 to 23 alphanumeric characters (A-Z, 0-9) long and

contains at least one alphabetic character. A hyphen is also valid, but it may not
be the first or last character. Blank characters are not allowed.
For the .ODF file name, we suggest you use the file name proposed by the utility.
At the end of the process, you should hear a triple beep confirming that the
process has completed without errors. Otherwise, you will receive a message
window with error codes. Again, the Migration Utility is meant to handle a fair
number of MF Dialog System designs but not all DS system designs can be
migrated. Differences between DS and VDE will require manual migration.
At this point you are ready to open the VisualAge COBOL project. Open the
tools palette and find, in the user-defined page, the part you added to the catalog
(Figure 19). Now you need only drag the selected part into the VDE frame, drop
it, and wait a few seconds until all of the MF DS windows and objects are shown.

Figure 19. Parts Catalog Window of the Migration Utility. Shows the n e w user-defined part
Before executing the build command, you should test to ensure that what you
have created is correct. Do this by using the steps that clean up the VDE
environment:
• From the project you have just opened, delete the window automatically
added by VDE. Its name is usually FRA0000B and it is entitled “Window with
canvas”
− Take a look at the .LOG file and look for the string:
>>>>>>>>> part name too long.
If you find it, the string should continue with the part name. In this case
the string is:
>>>>>>>>> part name too long: OEMAIN-ORDER-DETAIL-PARTPRICE.
If you read the following two rows, you find:
>>>>>>>>> it must be at least 23 characters, CORRECT IT ! in the VDE.
------------ OBJECT : PB1-LUNGOPIUDIVENTITREBYTEPER (PushButton)
This message informs you that the object which needs to be changed is
a push button. To find the parent of this object you must go back through
the .LOG file until you find the first FrameWindow. This is its parent.
− Go into the VDE and find the push button in the first FrameWindow.
Change its part name to a length less than 23 characters.
• Repeat the above cycle to find any other too-long part names.
• When finished, open the source code, save it, close its window, and save the
project.
• You are now ready to build.
If the build completes successfully, you can begin changing and adding the
properties that the utility has not migrated.

Chapter 4. Comparison of MF Dialog System Objects and VisualAge
COBOL Parts
This chapter describes the objects used by the MF Dialog System and compares
them with the objects (parts in the IBM environment vocabulary) belonging to the
VDE. For each object, we stress only those differences that are not portable from
the MF Dialog System to the VDE.
4.1 General Differences

The only aspect common to all the objects but not supported by the Migration
Utility is color. The Migration Utility does not support colors as attributes. To set
colors, you must change them object by object in the colors page of the property
notebook.
4.2 Windows
Fortunately, there are no complex differences between MF Dialog System
windows and VDE windows.
Most of the properties in the MF window (Figure 20) can be found in the VDE
object window (Figure 21). In the VDE object window you can also specify which
behavior your window needs when you hide or minimize it.
The only window property not supported by VDE is clipped , which is a parameter
that allows you to choose whether or not the secondary window is clipped within
the primary window. A window is clipped if the window information is truncated
at the border of the parent window.
The following is a list of the properties you must add to the VDE project
manually:
• System-Position
This property has a corresponding property in VDE, DEFINED by SYSTEM ,
which can be obtained from the window notebook settings in the startup
page.
• Relative-Position
This property has a corresponding property in VDE, DEFINED By
APPLICATION , which can be obtained from the window notebook settings in
the startup page.
The menu bar object for the VDE window is not in the settings notebook of the
window properties, but in the Parts Palette window. The menu bar object is not a
window property but a different object.

Figure 20. Window Properties Window for MF Dialog System
Figure 21. Window Part Settings Window for I B M VDE
4.3 Menu Items

The following is a list of properties not supported by the VDE:
• Hide-Accelerator
This property allows hiding the accelerator description from the text of the
menu item. For example, if you associate F3 with the exit menu item, turning
this flag ON shows the string Exit F3; otherwise, you receive the string Exit
This can be fixed in the VDE environment by changing the menu item label
manually.
• Context-Only
This property causes the menu item to work in context usage only.
In the MF DS, the shortcut key for the menu item object is a part of the
properties of the object (Figure 22). This is also true in the VDE (Figure 23), but
here it is not possible to specify it manually.

Figure 22. Pull Down Choice Details Window for the MF Dialog System
Figure 23. Menu Item Part Settings Window for I B M VDE
4.4 Entry Fields

For the entry field objects, the difference that appears immediately is that for the
MF DS you must define a COBOL variable (MasterField) related to the object
(Figure 24) This variable represents the bridge between the Dialog System and
the COBOL program.
Micro Focus does validations on the entry fields based on the format of the field
and on values the user specifies. This kind of validation can only be partially
translated into the VDE (Figure 25). The following is a list of the validations that
VDE cannot completely support:
• Null Disallowed
Nulls are spaces in alphabetic or alphanumeric fields and zeros in numeric
fields. If the content of the field contains a null value, this property forces you
to change the value. To make this available in an VisualAge COBOL
environment, you must add code to the CHANGE or LOSTFOCUS events
related to that particular entry field.
Chapter 4. Comparison of MF Dialog System Objects and VisualAge COBOL Parts 27

• Date validation
This checks whether the date field contains a valid date. You must add code
to the LOSTFOCUS event in order to check whether the date is valid.
• Range-tables
This property permits the definition of validation tables. The MF Dialog
System allows you to define more than one range or value. The VDE allows
you to define one validation range and an alternative to the validation value.
If you want to accept values such as zero or those between 100 and 200, you
cannot use the validation property only, you must add code to the
LOSTFOCUS event. For the MF Dialog System you can define more than one
range-table or value in the OR field.
• BLANK-WHEN-ZEROS
This validation is for numeric items only. It inserts spaces rather than zeros
in the entry field. For an equivalent property in the VDE, code must be
written.
The following properties are not supported by IBM VDE:

• REQUIRED
This forces you to partially fill the entry field; it will not allow the entry field
to be empty.
• FULL
This forces you to fill the entry field completely.
• UPPER
This automatically translates the content of the entry field into upper case.
• LOWER
This automatically translates the content of the entry field into lower case.
• AUTOSWIPE
This selects all of the data associated with a field you tab to that field. Any
data you type in replaces the selected data.
• FIT-PICTURE
This property allows the Dialog System to automatically define an entry field
length based on the length of the string defined in the MasterField
parameter. Because VisualAge COBOL does not use any predefined variable
related to the entry field, this property cannot be migrated.
The following are MF properties and their corresponding names in the VDE:
• Display field --> Visible
• No echo --> Masked
• AutoSkip --> AutoTab
• Border --> Margins

Figure 24. Entry Field Properties Window for MF Dialog System
Figure 25. Entry Field Part Settings Window for I B M VDE
4.5 Push Buttons

All of the properties of the MF DS push buttons (Figure 26) are a subset of the
IBM VDE push button properties. Therefore, they do not pose a migration
problem (Figure 27).
One MF Dialog System property which cannot be automatically migrated and is

related to the dimension of the push button object is fit-text . With fit-text , the
push button does not need any dimensioning; it remains slightly larger than the
related text. This property can be fixed manually.
Notes:
• In the IBM VDE, you can associate a shortcut key with a push button.
• In the MF Dialog System, one push button object has the ability to be a
graphic or text push button, while the VDE has two different objects, a push
button and a graphic push button.

Figure 26. Push Button Properties Window for MF Dialog System
Figure 27. Push Button Part Settings Window for I B M VDE
4.6 List Boxes

For its list box entry field, the MF Dialog System requires the use of a
Masterfield with the related consequences (Figure 28).
The VDE (Figure 29) does not automatically support the blank-when-zeros
property.
There are no major list box differences. Use of the associated with group
property in the MF DS is easy to translate into the IBM VDE syntax by using the
same COBOL structure when you want to populate or, in general, act on it.

Figure 28. List Box Properties Window for MF Dialog System
Figure 29. List Box Part Settings Window for I B M VDE
4.7 Multiline Entry Fields

Multiline entry fields pose no migration problems. The MF DS multiline entry
fields are a subset of the IBM VDE entry field properties.
4.8 Radio Button

The radio button poses no migration problems. The MF DS radio button
properties are a subset of the IBM VDE radio button properties.
4.9 Selection or Combination Boxes

The MF DS selection box corresponds to the IBM VDE combination box.
In the MF DS environment, you must specify whether selection box items must
be in upper case, mixed case, or lower case. This is not needed in the IBM VDE.
You must also define which type of value you are using in the selection box (for
example, x(10) or 9(4)) and you may specify that items should be “blank when
zero” or “justified right.”
The remaining properties are similar.

4.10 Static Text
The static text object does not have any properties in the MF DS environment
and thus poses no problems for the migration.
4.11 Group Boxes

The MF DS group box and the IBM VDE group box have the same properties;
therefore, they are equivalent.
4.12 Bitmaps
The MF DS bitmap object contains a subset of the IBM VDE bitmap object
properties.
The bitmap object in the MF DS export file contains no information about the size
of the bitmap it displays because, unlike IBM VDE, the MF DS does not allow
scaling of pictures. As a result, after migration the utility places the bitmap in the
correct starting position, as defined in MF DS. However, its size could cover
another object in the window. To remedy this, use manual scaling.
4.13 Notebooks
The migration utility does not yet support notebooks.
You must migrate notebooks manually.
4.14 Dialog Boxes

Dialog boxes in the MF DS are considered objects and are not treated as
windows. In IBM VDE, dialog boxes are secondary windows and are treated as
such. The migration utility recognizes the dialog box and translates it into a
secondary window.

4.15 Message Boxes
Figure 30. Message Box Properties Window for MF Dialog System
MF DS message boxes (Figure 30) cannot be migrated automatically, but it is

possible to define a message box manually. In order to migrate a dialog box use
the following method:
• In the log file produced by the migration utility, find the message box you
wish to migrate, if any. You should find information similar to:
------------------------- OBJECT : MBOX1 (MessageBox)
+++++++++++++++ the above object: MBOX1 must be migrated manually
property MOVABLE cannot be implemented automatically.
property BUTTONS(OK) cannot be implemented automatically.
property DEFAULT-BUTTON(1) cannot be implemented automatically.
property NOTIFICATION cannot be implemented automatically.
• Next, use other information from the exported MF DS .TXT file. If you look for
the string MBOX1, you should receive this type of data:
Object MBOX1
Type MESSAGE-BOX
Parent OEMAIN
Style MOVABLE BUTTONS(OK) DEFAULT-BUTTON(1) NOTIFICATION
Display ″Invalid price″
Message ″This part and model cannot to be discounted″
End Object #NO-DISCOUNT
• Go to the VDE and, from the action bar, select:

− Project
− Messages
− Create
You should then see the COBOL GUI Designer - Define Message window
(Figure 31).

Figure 31. COBOL GUI Designer - Define Message Window for I B M VDE
At this point it is very easy to port the properties into this window.

Chapter 5. Migrating the Sample Application
5.1 A Practical Example

This chapter describes how to migrate the GUI of the Celdial application from the
MF Dialog System to the VisualAge COBOL environment. The celdial.txt file is
available after you install the Migration Utility as outlined in Chapter 8.
Using the Migration Utility tool (Figure 32), create the following:
• File Celdial.ODG
• File Celdial.ODF
• File Celdial.LOG
• Part name Celdial part for the IBM VDE catalog
Figure 32. Migration Utility Window. Shows values used for the Celdial application.
After opening the VDE,

• Delete the FRA0000B window from the untitled project.
• Go to the parts catalog notebook and from the user-defined page, select the
Celdial part.

• Drag and drop the Celedial part to the project workframe and wait a few
seconds until the windows of the Celdial application finish building. A sample
of one is shown in Figure 33.
Figure 33. Migrated Ship - ID Window Showing Wrong-Sized Push Buttons.
Because the push button you migrated had the fit-text property, the
dimension of the push button is based on the size of its label. Since this
property cannot be specified within the VDE, you need to resize each push
button manually.
• In the settings of all the windows, except for the OEMAIN, flag the attribute
OPEN IMMEDIATELY to off.
• Look in the CELDIAL.LOG file for part names longer than 23 characters. In
this case, we found the following:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> part name too long: OEMAIN-ORDER-DETAIL-PARTPRICE
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> it must be at least 23 characters,
CORRECT IT ! in the VDE.
------------------ OBJECT : OEMAIN-ORDER-DETAIL-PARTPRICE (EntryField)
As a remedy, we went back to VDE and changed
OEMAIN-ORDER-DETAIL-PAR, the name that VDE truncated, into
OEMAIN-ORDER-DETAIL-P. This change is needed even if the name has
already been truncated.
• Open the source code and save it.
• Save the untitled project as Celdial in the \IBMCOBOL\CELDIAL directory.
• Check that the return code from the build is zero.
At this point, start reading the CELDIAL.LOG file row by row, looking for
properties you want to keep but that the Migration Utility did not keep.
The first message is about the CLIPPED property of the OEMAIN window:
-------------------------- OBJECT : OEMAIN (FrameWindow)
property CLIPPED cannot be implemented automatically.
Ignore the message as this is not a property you can keep, since IBM VDE does
not allow specification of this property.
The second message you find is:

-------------------------- OBJECT : OEMAIN-ORDERREF (EntryField)
property BLANK-WHEN-ZERO cannot be implemented automatically.

If you do not want to write code just to keep this property, ignore the message.
The next message in our example is:

-------------------------- OBJECT : OEMAIN-CUSTNO (EntryField)
property Null Disallowed cannot be implemented automatically.
In this case, open the part settings notebook and look first at the datatype. A
character data type with a length equal to seven, can be fixed in the validation
page by specifying Comparison as the validation criterion, with value Not Equal,
then typing seven blanks.
The next message is:

-------------------------- OBJECT : {NoName} (PushButton)
property FIT-TEXT cannot be implemented automatically.
This means you need to do some MAKE UP for the dimensions of this push
button.
Then, after some properties already treated, you reach these messages:
-------------------------- OBJECT : NO-DISCOUNT (MessageBox)
++++++++++++++ the above object: NO-DISCOUNT must be migrated manually
property MOVABLE cannot be implemented automatically.
property BUTTONS(OK) cannot be implemented automatically.
property DEFAULT-BUTTON(1) cannot be implemented automatically.
property NOTIFICATION cannot be implemented automatically.
First, you must understand the content of the message. Looking in the
CELDIAL.TXT file for the NO-DISCOUNT string, you find:
Object NO-DISCOUNT
Type MESSAGE-BOX
Parent OEMAIN
Style MOVABLE BUTTONS(OK) DEFAULT-BUTTON(1) NOTIFICATION
Display ″Invalid price″
Message ″This part and model cannot be discounted″
End Object #NO-DISCOUNT
You then go to the messages window (Figure 34) and translate those properties
as shown.
Chapter 5. Migrating the Sample Application 37

Figure 34. VDE Define Message Window Showing Migration Fixes.
You then reach the end of the CELDIAL.LOG file without finding any other
property that needs to be described. Save the project and try a new build
operation.

Chapter 6. Embedding COBOL Logic in the Sample Application
Before describing how to embed the COBOL logic, we show how to set the
environment to be able to build.
There are several defaults to be changed in the compile-options notebook:

• On the syntactical page (Figure 35) flag the second check box ON, enabling
″process BASIS and REPLACE statements.″
Figure 35. IBM COBOL Compiler Options Window. Shows changes to syntactical defaults.
• In the Debug page (Figure 36), set the check box before the last to ON. This
enables the routine ″Generate debugging information.″

Figure 36. IBM COBOL Compiler Options Window. Shows changes to debugging defaults.
• In the Link page (Figure 37), specify the string:

d:\sqllib\lib\db2api.lib
In the library name entry field.

Figure 37. IBM COBOL Compiler Options Window. Shows changes to the link defaults.
• In the Prep page (not shown) specify the database name.

• In the Other page (Figure 38), add a period to the first entry field and flag the
first check box ON, as shown.
Chapter 6. Embedding COBOL Logic in the Sample Application 41

Figure 38. IBM COBOL Compiler Options Window. Shows changes to other defaults.
You are now ready to add the COBOL logic and then compile the whole
application.
6.1 Embedding the Old Code (the OLDMAIN procedure)

The first step before adding event logic is to embed the COBOL program into the
.CBL file of your project.
To do that, for our example, we defined a procedure called OLDMAIN and

decided to embed the whole procedure division in the .CBL file.
We embedded the old COBOL program as follows:

• We copied the whole program at the end of the project source file into the
VDE CELDIAL.CBL file.
• We copied the CELDIAL.CPB and SQLENV.CBL copybook files into the
project directory.
• We changed COPY ″sqlenv″. to COPY sqlenv.
• We deleted the statements immediately preceding the copybooks.
• We deleted the DS-CNTRL.MF copy.
• We moved the two remaining copies to the working-storage section.
• We created a CELDIAL.001 file to store the variable declared by the old
program and we added this copybook to the other two.
• We moved the SQL DECLARE statements to the working storage section.

• We discarded the following statements except those flagged with &,
procedure division.
main-process section.
perform program-initialize.
perform program-body until exit-pgm-true.
perform program-terminate.
*---------------------------------------------------------------*
* *
*---------------------------------------------------------------*
program-initialize section.
* Set handler for signal
CALL ″__SQLGISIG″ USING SQLCA.
& * Connect to db
& EXEC SQL
& CONNECT TO celdial in SHARE MODE
& END-EXEC.
& if sqlcode not = 0
& display ′ connect error: sqlcode=′ , sqlcode
& go to program-terminate.
* EXEC SQL WHENEVER SQLERROR GO TO EXT END-EXEC.
* EXEC SQL WHENEVER NOT FOUND GO TO CLS END-EXEC.
initialize data-block
initialize pgm-flags
& move 0 to inx1
& move 0 to inx2
& move 0 to inx3
perform Start-application.
initialize ds-control-block
move data-block-version-no to ds-data-block-version-no
move version-no to ds-version-no
perform set-date.
perform load-screenset.
*----------------------------------------------------------------
* Process the returned user action (in the flags); clear those
* flags and call Dialog System again.
*----------------------------------------------------------------
The statements we kept we then moved between the two statements:
PROCEDURE DIVISION USING CommandLine-Data.
----->
GOBACK
so we could be sure they are executed as soon as the program is run.
• We renamed the program-body section OLDMAIN.
• We then deleted the statements:
perform call-dialog-system
and
load-screenset section.
* Specify the screenset to be used and call Dialog System.
move ds-new-set to ds-control

move ″c:\dsg\celdial\celdial.gs″ to ds-set-name
Chapter 6. Embedding COBOL Logic in the Sample Application 43

*---------------------------------------------------------------*
call-dialog-system section.
call dialog-system using ds-control-block,

data-block.
if not ds-no-error
move ds-error-code to display-error-no
display ″DS ERROR NO: ″ display-error-no
perform program-terminate
end-if.
• When we tried to compile, we encountered these error messages:
2745 IGYPS0008-E A quote or an apostrophe was used as
a character string delimiter. It was not the delimiter option in effect.
The use was accepted.
2756 IGYPS2023-I Paragraph(s) prior to section ″ OLDMAIN″

were not contained in a section.
2806 IGYPS2008-E A period was required

before procedure-name ″ PROGRAM-TERMINATE″ . A period was assumed before
″ PROGRAM-TERMINATE″ .
2807 IGYPA3200-S ″ STOP LITERAL″ clause was

specified under the ″ THREAD″ compiler option.
The statement was discarded.
4161 IGYPS0019-W No COBOL statement was found between periods.
4216 IGYPS2123-S ″ COMMAND-LINE″ was not defined as a mnemonic-name.

Same message on line: 4223
4217 IGYPS2121-S ″ RESULT″ was not defined as a data-name.

4217 IGYPS2121-S ″ FUNC″ was not defined as a data-name.

4217 IGYPS2121-S ″ COMMAND-LIN″ was not defined as a data-name.

4244 IGYPS2015-I The paragraph or section prior to

paragraph or section ″ CLS″ did not contain any statements.
Messages Total Informational Warning Error Severe Terminating
Printed: 14 2 1 2 9
In order to remove these errors we:

− Changed the apostrophe into a double quote at line 2745.
− Added a period to the END-EVALUATE statement.
− Removed the STOP RUN statement.
− Commented out the following statements:
display command-lin-string upon command-line.
call x″91″ using result, func, command-lin.
which are supposed to run an external REXX procedure.
• We then tried build again, and got a zero return code from the build,
meaning that we were ready to add events to our project.

Chapter 7. Event Logic Migration to VisualAge COBOL for Sample
Application
7.1 Event to Event Logic

To migrate the event logic from one environment to the other, you must translate
from the language MF Dialog System uses for the logic in its environment to
COBOL. The need for translation is the main reason you must do this migration
step completely by hand.
Start from the .TXT file. and look for the global dialog string to start migrating the
event that sets the environment. You then follow the order of items found in the
.TXT file.
What you find, looking for the global dialog string, is:
Global Dialog
Event ESC
RETC ;
End Event # ESC
Event CLOSED-WINDOW
MOVE 1 EXIT-PGM(1) ;
RETC ;
End Event # CLOSED-WINDOW
Event SCREENSET-INITIALIZED
SET-DATA-GROUP-SIZE SAVORDER 0 ;
MOVE ″by Dept W51 of STL″ AUTHOR-LINE ;
SET-COLOR BYLINE ″LIGHT RED″ ″WHITE″ ;
REFRESH-OBJECT OEMAIN ;
End Event # SCREENSET-INITIALIZED
End Dialog
You need not do anything about either the ESC event or the CLOSED-WINDOW
event. Both are automatically included in the .CBL file created by VDE. For
example, if you look at the content of the ″OEMAIN_OEMAIN_DESTROY″ event,
you find:
ENTRY ″OEMAIN_OEMAIN_DESTROY″
USING VDE-CELDIAL.
MOVE VDE-TERMINATE-APPLICATION TO ACTION-RC.
GOBACK.
where the MOVE VDE-TERMINATE-APPLICATION TO ACTION-RC. statement has the

same meaning as MOVE 1 EXIT-PGM(1).
The only thing you then have to migrate is the SCREENSET-INITIALIZED event,
which corresponds to the CREATE event of the main window in VDE. In our
case, that means the ″OEMAIN_OEMAIN_CREATE″ event.
The SET-DATA-GROUP-SIZE command is used to set the internal size of a data

group in the Dialog System. Since data groups have a related structure in the
.CPB file that will be included in the COBOL program, it is easy to understand
the translated command:
MOVE 0 TO SAVORDER-SIZE

The statement MOVE ″by Dept W51 of STL″ AUTHOR-LINE needs no comment for the
translation into COBOL, but you must add some statements to have the same
result. Each entry field in the MF Dialog System has a related masterfield, which
represents the link between the dialog and the logic, thus between the Dialog
System and COBOL, so that modifying the value in the masterfield produces the
change in the related entry field, after a refresh object command. In the VDE, to
change the content of an entry field, you need to add the following code, but do
not need to refresh the object of the whole window:
MOVE LENGTH OF AUTHOR-LINE TO Contents-Length
MOVE AUTHOR-LINE TO Contents-String
CALL ″setContents″ USING BYLINE-HANDLE,
Contents,
VDE-RC
The next statement is the colors setting for the BYLINE entry field. To convert
that setting, use the VDE GUI Assistant. In the GUI assistant window, select the
OEMAIN window, the BYLINE entry field, and the setBackColor action, then press
the Move push button displayed in the window (Figure 39).

Figure 39. IBM VDE Code Assistant Window. Shows additions to change colors.
After carrying out this operation in our case, we added the following code to the
event:
MOVE Color-Red TO Color
CALL ″setForeColor″ USING BYLINE-HANDLE,
Color,
VDE-RC
MOVE Color-White TO Color
CALL ″setBackColor″ USING BYLINE-HANDLE,
Color,
VDE-RC
The last statement has been migrated into this command,

CALL ″enableFocus″ USING OEMAIN-HANDLE,
VDE-RC
Chapter 7. Event Logic Migration to VisualAge COBOL for Sample Application 47

although it can be avoided. We decided to add it for illustrative purposes.
Now, starting from the beginning of the .TXT file, stop at each object that has a
dialog to migrate into COBOL, working your way through the whole file.
7.1.1 Events for the OEMAIN-CUSTNO Entry Field

The following is the script for the events of this object
Dialog
Event CR
IF= ″ ″ CUSTNUM BLANK-CUSTNO ;
MOVE 1 CUSTID-USERFILLED(1) ;
RETC ;
BRANCH-TO-PROCEDURE BLANK-CUSTNO ;
End Event # CR
Procedure BLANK-CUSTNO
MOVE 1 CUSTLIST-BOTTON(1) ;
RETC ;
SET-DATA-GROUP-SIZE CUSTLIST CUST-SIZE ;
SHOW-WINDOW SELCUST ;
SET-FOCUS SELCUST ;
End Procedure # VALID-CUSTNO
Event GAINED-FOCUS
MOVE ″CR for customers″ MSG-AREA ;
End Event # GAINED-FOCUS
Event LOST-FOCUS
MOVE ″ ″ MSG-AREA ;
End Event # LOST-FOCUS
End Dialog
The CR stands for the Carriage Return event (Figure 40), which has its VDE
equivalent in the VDE VKEY-PRESS event when you press the Return (Newline)
key. Open the VKEY-PRESS event and add a test to ensure that the Return key
was pressed. The test is based on the variable VDE-VKey-Pressed-Data, defined
as:
01 VDE-VKey-Pressed-Data.
05 VCharacter-Key PIC 9(9) USAGE COMP-5.
88 VKey-Escape VALUE 0.
88 VKey-Tab VALUE 1.
.......
88 VKey-Newline VALUE 6.
.......
88 VKey-F24 VALUE 47.
The code to add is:
ENTRY ″OEMAIN_OEMAIN-CUSTNO_VKEYPRESS″
USING VDE-CELDIAL,
VDE-VKey-Pressed-Data.
IF VKey-Newline THEN
****** LOGIC *********
END-IF
GOBACK.

Figure 40. COBOL GUI Designer - Celdial Window. Shows additions for the carriage return event.
In Figure 40, use the tree-view approach to select the event. This is a valid way
to select events when the window is too populated, since it takes less time to get
the event skeleton code.
Now add the logic for the test on CUSTNUM:

IF CUSTNUM = ″ ″ THEN perform BLANK-CUSTNO END-IF
Then pass the control to the COBOL program, since we want to execute the
routine associated with the flag ″CUSTID-USERFILLED″ Add the following
statements:
move 1 to custid-userfilled
perform OLDMAIN
where OLDMAIN is the old COBOL program in our example. We import

OLDMAIN because we want to be able to invoke all the sections it contains.
If the COBOL code has a variable linked to an object, MF Dialog System

automatically refreshes the related object when the parent window is refreshed.
In this case, the ds-customer , ds-custno , and the custnum values have been set.
Thus, to set the customer number entry field, add this logic:
MOVE length of ds-custno TO Contents-Length
MOVE ds-custno TO Contents-String
CALL ″setContents″ USING OEMAIN-CUSTNO-HANDLE,
Contents,
VDE-RC

The customer : variable updates the customer information automatically, just after
creating and refreshing it.
Then, at the end, the event logic has this shape:

IF CUSTNUM = ″ ″ THEN perform BLANK-CUSTNO END-IF
move 1 to custid-userfilled
perform OLDMAIN
perform BLANK-CUSTNO
You need to translate the BLANK-CUSTNO procedure into COBOL. Here is the
result:
BLANK-CUSTNO section.
MOVE 1 TO CUSTLIST-BOTTON
PERFORM OLDMAIN
CALL ″openWindow″ USING SELCUST-HANDLE,
VDE-RC
MOVE 0 TO ItemIndex
MOVE 0 TO counter
perform CUST-SIZE times
ADD 1 TO ItemIndex
ADD 1 TO counter
MOVE length of company(counter) TO Item-Length
MOVE company(counter) TO Item-String
CALL ″insertItem″ USING CUSTLIST-LIST-HANDLE,
ItemIndex,
Item,
VDE-RC
end-perform
CALL ″enableFocus″ USING SELCUST-HANDLE,
VDE-RC
In our example, we changed the logical order of certain statements. For

example, we must open the window first and then populate it. If not, we would
get an empty list box because we cannot populate the list box before it exists. If
we test the VDE-RC in that case, we get a return code of 9, meaning that the
object referred to in the insertItem statement is not valid (it does not yet exist).
The statement
SET-DATA-GROUP-SIZE CUSTLIST CUST-SIZE
has been translated into the loop
perform CUST-SIZE times ...... end-perform
The GAINED-FOCUS and LOST-FOCUS events became the events GOTFOCUS

and LOSTFOCUS, respectively. After some work with the GUI assistant, we
should get:
ENTRY ″OEMAIN_OEMAIN-CUSTNO_GOTFOCUS″
USING VDE-CELDIAL.
MOVE ″CR for customers″ TO MSG-AREA
MOVE length of MSG-AREA TO Contents-Length

MOVE MSG-AREA TO Contents-String
CALL ″setContents″ USING MSG-TO-USER-HANDLE,
Contents,
VDE-RC

GOBACK.
ENTRY ″OEMAIN_OEMAIN-CUSTNO_LOSTFOCUS″
USING VDE-CELDIAL.
MOVE ″ ″ TO MSG-AREA
MOVE length of MSG-AREA TO Contents-Length
MOVE MSG-AREA TO Contents-String
CALL ″setContents″ USING MSG-TO-USER-HANDLE,
Contents,
VDE-RC
GOBACK.
7.1.2 Events for the CUSTINFO-SHIPID Entry Field

Events for this entry field are similar to events we discuss in Section 7.1.3.
7.1.3 Events for the OEMAIN-PARTNO Entry Field

This entry field contains four events to set up:
• Press F9
• Press Enter (NewLine)
• GotFocus
• LostFocus
For the first two events, use the VKEYPRESS event:

ENTRY ″OEMAIN_OEMAIN-PARTNO_VKEYPRESS″
USING VDE-CELDIAL,
IF VKey-F9 THEN perform PART-LISTBOX END-IF
IF VKey-Newline THEN
IF COPART = ″ ″ THEN perform PART-LISTBOX END-IF
move 1 to part-userfilled
perform OLDMAIN
perform PART-LISTBOX
END-IF.
PART-LISTBOX.
MOVE 1 TO PART-FROM-LB
perform OLDMAIN
CALL ″openWindow″ USING SELPART-HANDLE,
VDE-RC
MOVE 0 TO ItemIndex
MOVE 0 TO counter
perform PROD-SIZE times
ADD 1 TO ItemIndex
ADD 1 TO counter
MOVE 27 TO Item-Length
MOVE spaces TO Item-String
MOVE ds-partno(counter) TO Item-String(1:5)
MOVE ds-partdesc(counter) TO Item-String(8:27)
CALL ″insertItem″ USING PARTS-HANDLE,
ItemIndex,
Item,
VDE-RC
end-perform
CALL ″enableFocus″ USING SELPART-HANDLE,
VDE-RC
GOBACK.

7.1.4 Events for the OEMAIN-PRODUC-MODEL Entry Field
Two new statements are to be found among the events of this object:
CLEAR-OBJECT MODEL-LIST
CLEAR-OBJECT SELMODEL
In our case, these statements need not be converted because when we open a
window, clearance is automatic. If the window is already open and you want to
clear just the MODEL-LIST list box, add a command like this:
CALL ″getCount″ USING MODEL-LIST-HANDLE,

ItemCount,
VDE-RC
COMPUTE ItemIndex = ItemCount + 1
perform ItemCount times
COMPUTE ItemIndex = ItemIndex -1
CALL ″removeItem″ USING MODEL-LIST-HANDLE,
ItemIndex,
VDE-RC
end-perform
The remaining part of the migration for events of this object is trivial.
7.1.5 Events for the OEMAIN-UNIT Entry Field

The event CR (Newline) seems to be easy and straightforward but, for that very
reason, look carefully at what happens in the COBOL program if there is a
REFRESH command. Masterfields have probably been modified so that after the
refresh action, the window content shows some modification. If you look for the
section that the GO-COMPUTE flag launches, you find the following routine:
compute-subtot section.
move 0 to go-compute
compute cosubtotal = counit * coprice.
compute total = total + cosubtotal.
Since the variables COSUBTOTAL and TOTAL have been modified, check to see
what object they are related to. Get the content of the variables counit and
coprice because if they have been changed from the application, those changes
are reflected automatically in the related variables.
Objects involved in this routine are:

• OEMAIN-SUBTOTAL
• OEMAIN-TOTAL
• OEMAIN-UNIT-HANDLE
• OEMAIN-ORDER-DETAIL-P-HANDLE
Here is the logic we added for our example:
ENTRY ″OEMAIN_OEMAIN-UNIT_VKEYPRESS″
USING VDE-CELDIAL,
IF VKey-F9 THEN
CALL ″getContents″ USING OEMAIN-UNIT-HANDLE,
Contents,

VDE-RC
MOVE Contents-String TO counit
CALL ″getContents″ USING OEMAIN-ORDER-DETAIL-P-HANDLE,
Contents,
VDE-RC
MOVE Contents-String TO coprice
MOVE 1 TO go-compute
perform OLDMAIN
MOVE length of cosubtotal TO Contents-Length
MOVE cosubtotal TO Contents-String
CALL ″setContents″ USING OEMAIN-SUBTAOTAL-HANDLE,
Contents,
VDE-RC
MOVE length of total TO Contents-Length
MOVE total TO Contents-String
CALL ″setContents″ USING OEMAIN-TOTAL-HANDLE,
Contents,
VDE-RC
END-IF
GOBACK.
The remaining events are straightforward and require no comment.
7.1.6 Events for the OEMAIN-CUSTINFO Push Button

Migration of the event looks easy, but unfortunately the logic that must be added
has more statements than the logic to be migrated.
The original logic is as follows:

Dialog
Event BUTTON-SELECTED
IF= ″ ″ CUSTNUM BAD-CUSTNO ;
MOVE 1 CUSTINFO-BOTTON(1) ;
RETC ;
SHOW-WINDOW CUSTINFO ;
SET-FOCUS CUSTINFO ;
REFRESH-OBJECT CUSTINFO ;
End Event # BUTTON-SELECTED
Procedure BAD-CUSTNO
INVOKE-MESSAGE-BOX NO-CUSTNO $NULL $REGISTER ;
End Procedure # BAD-CUSTNO
End Dialog
The IF statement checks whether the customer number is blank, but to do so,
you need the content of that field. You then need to add the routine to invoke the
message box.
First, you need to know which entry field is related to the custnum , variable, then
get its value, and finally test if its content is empty. If so, you need to invoke a
routine that shows the message box. Since there is no link between the Dialog
System message box name and the VDE message box number, you must also
look for the correct message in the VDE message list. Once you have the
message number, we are ready for the migration of the whole event.
Here is the logic you need:

ENTRY ″OEMAIN_OEMAIN-CUSTINFO_PRESS″
USING VDE-CELDIAL.
CALL ″getContents″ USING OEMAIN-CUSTNO-HANDLE,
Contents,
VDE-RC
MOVE Contents-String TO CUSTNUM
IF CUSTNUM = ″ ″ THEN perform BAD-CUSTNO
ELSE
......
......
END-IF
GOBACK.
bad-custno.
MOVE 2 TO MessageNumber
MOVE 0 TO NumberOfSubStrings
CALL ″showMsgFromMsgFile″ USING MsgFileRecord,
MessageButtonReturned,
VDE-RC.
end-bad-custno.
For the rest of the event, you need only get and set contents. There is nothing of
interest in these changes.
7.1.7 Events for the ORDEROK Radio Button

The MF event for this object is :
Dialog
IF= 0 COSUBTOTAL(1) DONT-SAVE ;
MOVE 1 ITEM-OK-BOTTON(1) ;
RETC ;
CLEAR-OBJECT ORDEROK ;
SET-DATA-GROUP-SIZE SAVORDER SAVORDER-SIZE ;
REFRESH-OBJECT OEMAIN-ORDERS ;
Procedure DONT-SAVE
End Procedure # DONT-SAVE
End Dialog
The only item of interest in this event is the CLEAR-OBJECT command. In this
case, since the object is a radio button, this means setting the radio button to
OFF. The equivalent in VDE is:
CALL ″disableCheck″ USING ORDEROK-HANDLE,

VDE-RC
The procedure you execute when you pass the ITEM-OK-BOTTON flag to the
COBOL program contains an INITIALIZE statement. This means that all of the
variables and the entry fields related to those variables are updated after a
REFRESH command.

7.1.8 Events for the OEMAIN-NEWORDER Push Button
The MF event code is as follows:
Dialog
CLEAR-OBJECT OEMAIN-ORDERS ;
CLEAR-OBJECT OEMAIN ;
MOVE 1 NEWORDER-BOTTON(1) ;
RETC ;
SET-DATA-GROUP-SIZE SAVORDER 0 ;
REFRESH-OBJECT OEMAIN-ORDERS ;
SET-FOCUS OEMAIN ;
End Dialog
The first statement in the button-selected event code says you need to clear the
list box containing orders. First get the number of the items in the list box and
then delete them one by one. Here is the code you need to add for such a job:
ENTRY ″OEMAIN_OEMAIN-NEWORDER_PRESS″
USING VDE-CELDIAL.
CALL ″getCount″ USING OEMAIN-ORDERS-HANDLE,
ItemCount,
VDE-RC
MOVE ItemCount TO counter
MOVE 1 TO ItemIndex
perform counter times
CALL ″removeItem″ USING OEMAIN-ORDERS-HANDLE,
ItemIndex,
VDE-RC
end-perform
.....
Look also at the content of the perform statement you execute in the OLDMAIN
procedure. You need to update the entry field related to the ordernum variable.
7.1.9 Events for the REVISE-ORDER Radio Button

We can find something new in the Micro Focus event for this object:
Dialog
MOVE 1 REVISE-ORDER-BOTTON(1) ;
GET-SELECTED-LIST-ITEM OEMAIN-ORDERS SELECTED-SAVEDITEM $EVENT-DATA ;
MOVE $EVENT-DATA SELECTED-SAVEDITEM ;
RETC ;
CLEAR-OBJECT REVISE-ORDER ;
DELETE-LIST-ITEM OEMAIN-ORDERS SELECTED-SAVEDITEM $EVENT-DATA ;
SET-DATA-GROUP-SIZE SAVORDER SAVORDER-SIZE ;
End Dialog
Statements that get the selected list item and delete it translate almost one to
one, but their sequence is not the same. In fact, in the Dialog System
environment, to delete a row for a list box, do it after the RETC command, in
order to use new values and then refresh the window with them. In the VDE
environment, you can delete the item before the RETC command because there
is no link between variables and objects. The result of the migration is:

ENTRY ″OEMAIN_REVISE-ORDER_SELECT″
USING VDE-CELDIAL.
MOVE 1 TO revise-order-botton
CALL ″getFirstSelected″ USING OEMAIN-ORDERS-HANDLE,
ItemIndex,
VDE-RC
MOVE ItemIndex TO Selected-saveditem
CALL ″removeItem″ USING OEMAIN-ORDERS-HANDLE,
ItemIndex,
VDE-RC
perform OLDMAIN
MOVE length of total TO Contents-Length

MOVE total TO Contents-String
CALL ″setContents″ USING OEMAIN-TOTAL-HANDLE,
Contents,
VDE-RC
.....
CALL ″disableCheck″ USING REVISE-ORDER-HANDLE,

VDE-RC
GOBACK.

Chapter 8. Installing the Migration Utility
8.1 Hardware and Software Prerequisites

Every machine that can run VisualAge for COBOL has all of the prerequisites
this utility needs. The only feature to check is whether the REXX environment
was installed during the system installation. If not, you have to install it in order
to execute this utility.
The utility needs a total space of about 2 MB.
8.2 Installing the Migration Utility

To install the Migration Utility, carry out these steps:
1. Create a directory (we created the MF2VDE directory).
2. From the diskette, copy into the directory the MF2VDE.ZIP file. Unpack it
with the command:
PKUNZIP MF2VDE.ZIP
Here is the list of files you should have:
DATAVAL.CMD VROBJ.DLL
CELDIAL.TXT ODGUIDOF
KEYS MB
KEYS.CMD MF2VDE.ICO
STYLES.CMD 30.SCR
ATTRIBUT.CMD 30E.SCR
LOGFILE TEMPFILE
LOGWRITE.CMD MF2VDEPS.CMD
IWZVMKG.EXE WINDOW
CHKLIST.MS EF
CELDIAL.BC TEXT
MF2VDE.ERR TRIAL001
MIGRATIO.NEW MLE
MIGRATIO.BC PB
MIGRATIO.P RB
RMKG.CMD CB
BITMAP.CMD CHB
CB.CMD MENU
CHB.CMD XOR.CMD
EF.CMD IWZVCC.DLL
GB.CMD MIGRATIO.TXT
LB.CMD LB
MB.CMD GB
MENU.CMD BITMAP
MLE.CMD BOTCORN.CMD
PB.CMD SIZECONV.CMD
RB.CMD PRVA.CMD
TEXT.CMD M2VLABEL.CMD
WINDOW.CMD STYLENAM.CMD
MF2VDE.VRX CATALOG.CMD
MF2VDE.VRP GPB
MF2VDE.VRY EF.OLD

MF2VDE.EXE DATATYP.CMD
A.A PMWIN.H
3. Edit the RMKG.CMD file and change the value of the somir variable by
changing its path. For example:
from the value : set somir=d:\ibmcobol\ctrl\iwzvsom.ir
to the value : set somir=C:\MYcobol\ctrl\iwzvsom.ir
Do not change the \ctrl\iwzvsom.ir string.
4. Copy the RMKG.CMD and the IWZVMKG.EXE files into the \IBMCOBOL\BIN
directory.
5. Create the program icon on the desktop using the PROGRAM template from
the TEMPLATE folder. Drag it, drop it to the desktop and specify path name,
program name, and working directory as in Figure 41. You may not have
VXREXX as the root of your working directory.
6. Make sure that in your CONFIG.SYS, in the SET LIBPATH command, the
current directory string is specified.
Figure 41. MF2VDE - Settings Window Showing the Migration Utility Settings
If you should need to change the utility logic, you may need to use the VX-REXX
product. Logic for parsing the objects is included in the .CMD file, which can be
changed without the VX-REXX product. The objects are pure REXX code; they
use some of the VX-REXX functions but they have not been compiled and
included in the MF2VDE.EXE file.
The main source file is MF2VDE.VRX.
You cannot successfully modify this source if you do not use the VX-REXX
product.

Appendix A. Special Notices
This publication is intended to help application developers to investigate how to

migrate Micro Focus Dialog System OS/2 applications to IBM VisualAge for
COBOL for OS/2. The information in this publication is not intended as the
specification of any programming interfaces that are provided by IBM VisualAge
for COBOL for OS/2. See the PUBLICATIONS section of the IBM Programming
Announcement for IBM VisualAge for COBOL for OS/2 for more information
about what publications are considered to be product documentation.
References in this publication to IBM products, programs or services do not

imply that IBM intends to make these available in all countries in which IBM
operates. Any reference to an IBM product, program, or service is not intended
to state or imply that only IBM′s product, program, or service may be used. Any
functionally equivalent program that does not infringe any of IBM′s intellectual
property rights may be used instead of the IBM product, program or service.
Information in this book was developed in conjunction with use of the equipment
specified, and is limited in application to those specific hardware and software
products and levels.
IBM may have patents or pending patent applications covering subject matter in
this document. The furnishing of this document does not give you any license to
these patents. You can send license inquiries, in writing, to the IBM Director of
Licensing, IBM Corporation, 500 Columbus Avenue, Thornwood, NY 10594 USA.
Licensees of this program who wish to have information about it for the purpose
of enabling: (i) the exchange of information between independently created
programs and other programs (including this one) and (ii) the mutual use of the
information which has been exchanged, should contact IBM Corporation, Dept.
600A, Mail Drop 1329, Somers, NY 10589 USA.
Such information may be available, subject to appropriate terms and conditions,

including in some cases, payment of a fee.
The information contained in this document has not been submitted to any
formal IBM test and is distributed AS IS. The information about non-IBM
(″vendor″) products in this manual has been supplied by the vendor and IBM
assumes no responsibility for its accuracy or completeness. The use of this
information or the implementation of any of these techniques is a customer
responsibility and depends on the customer′s ability to evaluate and integrate
them into the customer′s operational environment. While each item may have
been reviewed by IBM for accuracy in a specific situation, there is no guarantee
that the same or similar results will be obtained elsewhere. Customers
attempting to adapt these techniques to their own environments do so at their
own risk.
The following terms are trademarks of the International Business Machines

Corporation in the United States and/or other countries:
DATABASE 2 DB2
DB2/2 IBM
PS/2 VisualAge
The following terms are trademarks of other companies:

C-bus is a trademark of Corollary, Inc.
PC Direct is a trademark of Ziff Communications Company and is

used by IBM Corporation under license.
UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other

countries licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Limited.
Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows 95 logo

are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Java and HotJava are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Micro Focus and Dialog System are trademarks of Micro Focus Corporation
VX-REXX is a trademark of Powersoft, Watcom Products Division.
Powersoft is a trademark of Powersoft Corporation.
Other trademarks are trademarks of their respective companies.

Appendix B. Related Publications
The publications listed in this section are considered particularly suitable for a
more detailed discussion of the topics covered in this redbook.
B.1 International Technical Support Organization Publications

For information on ordering these ITSO publications see “How to Get ITSO
Redbooks” on page 63.
• IBM VisualAge for COBOL for OS/2 Primer , SG24-4605
• IBM VisualAge for COBOL for OS/2 Workframe User Guide , SG24-4604
• IBM VisualAge for COBOL for OS/2 Object Oriented Programming , SG24-4606
B.2 Redbooks on CD-ROMs

Redbooks are also available on CD-ROMs. Order a subscription and receive
updates 2-4 times a year at significant savings.
CD-ROM Title Subscription Collection Kit

Number Number
System/390 Redbooks Collection SBOF-7201 SK2T-2177
Networking and Systems Management Redbooks Collection SBOF-7370 SK2T-6022
Transaction Processing and Data Management Redbook SBOF-7240 SK2T-8038
AS/400 Redbooks Collection SBOF-7270 SK2T-2849
RS/6000 Redbooks Collection (HTML, BkMgr) SBOF-7230 SK2T-8040
RS/6000 Redbooks Collection (PostScript) SBOF-7205 SK2T-8041
Application Development Redbooks Collection SBOF-7290 SK2T-8037
Personal Systems Redbooks Collection SBOF-7250 SK2T-8042
B.3 Other Publications

These publications are also relevant as further information sources:
• IBM VisualAge for COBOL for OS/2 Language Reference , SC26-4769
• IBM VisualAge for COBOL for OS/2 Programming Guide , SC26-8419

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Glossary
The terms in this glossary are defined in accordance * alternate record key. A key, other than the prime
with their meaning in COBOL. These terms may or record key, whose contents identify a record within an
may not have the same meaning in other languages. indexed file.
IBM is grateful to the American National Standards ANSI (American National Standards Institute). An
Institute (ANSI) for permission to reprint its definitions organization consisting of producers, consumers, and
from the following publications: general interest groups, that establishes the
•
procedures by which accredited organizations create
American National Standard Programming
and maintain voluntary industry standards in the
Language COBOL, ANSI X3.23-1985 (Copyright
United States.
1985 American National Standards Institute, Inc.),
which was prepared by Technical Committee
* argument. An identifier, a literal, an arithmetic
X3J4, which had the task of revising American
expression, or a function-identifier that specifies a
National Standard COBOL, X3.23-1974.
value to be used in the evaluation of a function.
• American National Dictionary for Information
Processing Systems (Copyright 1982 by the * arithmetic expression. An identifier of a numeric
Computer and Business Equipment Manufacturers elementary item, a numeric literal, such identifiers
Association). and literals separated by arithmetic operators, two
arithmetic expressions separated by an arithmetic
American National Standard definitions are preceded operator, or an arithmetic expression enclosed in
by an asterisk (*). parentheses.
* arithmetic operation. The process caused by the

A execution of an arithmetic statement, or the
evaluation of an arithmetic expression, that results in
* abbreviated combined relation condition. The a mathematically correct solution to the arguments
combined condition that results from the explicit presented.
omission of a common subject or a common subject
and common relational operator in a consecutive * arithmetic operator. A single character, or a fixed
sequence of relation conditions. two-character combination that belongs to the
following set:
abend. Abnormal termination of program.
Character Meaning
* access mode. The manner in which records are to + addition
be operated upon within a file. − subtraction
* multiplication
* actual decimal point. The physical representation, / division
using the decimal point characters period (.) or ** exponentiation
comma (,), of the decimal point position in a data
item. * arithmetic statement. A statement that causes an
arithmetic operation to be executed. The arithmetic
* alphabet-name. A user-defined word, in the statements are the ADD, COMPUTE, DIVIDE,
SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph of the ENVIRONMENT MULTIPLY, and SUBTRACT statements.
DIVISION, that assigns a name to a specific character
set and/or collating sequence. array. In Language Environment, an aggregate
consisting of data objects, each of which may be
* alphabetic character. A letter or a space character. uniquely referenced by subscripting. Roughly
analogous to a COBOL table.
* alphanumeric character. Any character in the
computer’s character set. * ascending key. A key upon the values of which
data is ordered, starting with the lowest value of the
alphanumeric-edited character. A character within an key up to the highest value of the key, in accordance
alphanumeric character-string that contains at least with the rules for comparing data items.
one B, 0 (zero), or / (slash).
ASCII. American National Standard Code for
* alphanumeric function. A function whose value is Information Interchange. The standard code, using a
composed of a string of one or more characters from coded character set consisting of 7-bit coded
the computer′s character set. characters (8 bits including parity check), used for
information interchange between data processing
systems, data communication systems, and

associated equipment. The ASCII set consists of be interrupted by external intervention or by a
control characters and graphic characters. monitor program.
Note: IBM has defined an extension to ASCII code
Btrieve. A key-indexed record management system
(characters 128-255).
that allows applications to manage records by key
value, sequential access method, or random access
assignment-name. A name that identifies the
method. IBM COBOL supports COBOL sequential and
organization of a COBOL file and the name by which it
indexed file I-O language through Btrieve.
is known to the system.
buffer. A portion of storage used to hold input or
* assumed decimal point. A decimal point position
output data temporarily.
that does not involve the existence of an actual
character in a data item. The assumed decimal point
built-in function. See “intrinsic function”.
has logical meaning with no physical representation.
byte. A string consisting of a certain number of bits,
* AT END condition. A condition caused:
usually eight, treated as a unit, and representing a
1. During the execution of a READ statement for a character.
sequentially accessed file, when no next logical
record exists in the file, or when the number of
significant digits in the relative record number is C
larger than the size of the relative key data item,
or when an optional input file is not present. callable services. In Language Environment, a set of
services that can be invoked by a COBOL program
2. During the execution of a RETURN statement, using the conventional Language Environment-defined
when no next logical record exists for the call interface, and usable by all programs sharing the
associated sort or merge file. Language Environment conventions.
3. During the execution of a SEARCH statement,
when the search operation terminates without called program. A program that is the object of a
satisfying the condition specified in any of the CALL statement.
associated WHEN phrases.
* calling program. A program that executes a CALL
to another program.
B
case structure. A program processing logic in which
big-endian. Default format used by the mainframe a series of conditions is tested in order to make a
and the AIX workstation to store binary data. In this choice between a number of resulting actions.
format, the least significant digit is on the highest
address. Compare with “little-endian.” cataloged procedure. A set of job control statements
placed in a partitioned data set called the procedure
binary item. A numeric data item represented in library (SYS1.PROCLIB). You can use cataloged
binary notation (on the base 2 numbering system). procedures to save time and reduce errors coding
Binary items have a decimal equivalent consisting of JCL.
the decimal digits 0 through 9, plus an operational
sign. The leftmost bit of the item is the operational century window. The 100-year interval in which
sign. Language Environment assumes all 2-digit years lie.
The Language Environment default century window
binary search. A dichotomizing search in which, at begins 80 years before the system date.
each step of the search, the set of data elements is
divided by two; some appropriate action is taken in * character. The basic indivisible unit of the
the case of an odd number. language.
* block. A physical unit of data that is normally character position. The amount of physical storage
composed of one or more logical records. For mass required to store a single standard data format
storage files, a block may contain a portion of a character described as USAGE IS DISPLAY.
logical record. The size of a block has no direct
relationship to the size of the file within which the character set. All the valid characters for a
block is contained or to the size of the logical programming language or a computer system.
record(s) that are either contained within the block or
that overlap the block. The term is synonymous with * character-string. A sequence of contiguous
physical record. characters that form a COBOL word, a literal, a
PICTURE character-string, or a comment-entry. Must
breakpoint. A place in a computer program, usually be delimited by separators.
specified by an instruction, where its execution may

checkpoint. A point at which information about the ) right parenthesis
status of a job and the system can be recorded so > greater than symbol
that the job step can be later restarted. < less than symbol
: colon
* class. The entity that defines common behavior and
implementation for zero, one, or more objects. The * COBOL word. See “word.”
objects that share the same implementation are
considered to be objects of the same class. code page. An assignment of graphic characters and
control function meanings to all code points; for
* class condition. The proposition, for which a truth example, assignment of characters and meanings to
value can be determined, that the content of an item 256 code points for 8-bit code, assignment of
is wholly alphabetic, is wholly numeric, or consists characters and meanings to 128 code points for 7-bit
exclusively of those characters listed in the definition code.
of a class-name.
* collating sequence. The sequence in which the
* Class Definition. The COBOL source unit that characters that are acceptable to a computer are
defines a class. ordered for purposes of sorting, merging, comparing,
and for processing indexed files sequentially.
* class identification entry. An entry in the CLASS-ID
paragraph of the IDENTIFICATION DIVISION which * column. A character position within a print line.
contains clauses that specify the class-name and The columns are numbered from 1, by 1, starting at
assign selected attributes to the class definition. the leftmost character position of the print line and
extending to the rightmost position of the print line.
* class-name. A user-defined word defined in the
SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph of the ENVIRONMENT * combined condition. A condition that is the result of
DIVISION that assigns a name to the proposition for connecting two or more conditions with the AND or
which a truth value can be defined, that the content of the OR logical operator.
a data item consists exclusively of those characters
listed in the definition of the class-name. * comment-entry. An entry in the IDENTIFICATION
DIVISION that may be any combination of characters
class object. The run-time object representing a SOM from the computer’s character set.
class.
* comment line. A source program line represented
* clause. An ordered set of consecutive COBOL by an asterisk (*) in the indicator area of the line and
character-strings whose purpose is to specify an any characters from the computer’s character set in
attribute of an entry. area A and area B of that line. The comment line
serves only for documentation in a program. A
CMS (Conversational Monitor System). A virtual special form of comment line represented by a slant
machine operating system that provides general (/) in the indicator area of the line and any characters
interactive, time-sharing, problem solving, and from the computer’s character set in area A and area
program development capabilities, and that operates B of that line causes page ejection prior to printing
only under the control of the VM/SP control program. the comment.
* COBOL character set. The complete COBOL * common program. A program which, despite being
character set consists of the characters listed below: directly contained within another program, may be
Character Meaning called from any program directly or indirectly
0,1...,9 digit contained in that other program.
A,B,...,Z uppercase letter
* compile. (1) To translate a program expressed in a
a,b,...,z lowercase letter
high-level language into a program expressed in an
• space
intermediate language, assembly language, or a
+ plus sign
computer language. (2) To prepare a machine
− minus sign (hyphen)
language program from a computer program written
* asterisk
in another programming language by making use of
/ slant (virgule, slash)
the overall logic structure of the program, or
= equal sign
generating more than one computer instruction for
$ currency sign
each symbolic statement, or both, as well as
, comma (decimal point)
performing the function of an assembler.
; semicolon
. period (decimal point, full stop)
* compile time. The time at which a COBOL source
″ quotation mark
program is translated, by a COBOL compiler, to a
( left parenthesis
COBOL object program.
Glossary 69
compiler. A program that translates a program * conditional variable. A data item one or more
written in a higher level language into a machine values of which has a condition-name assigned to it.
language object program.
* condition-name. A user-defined word that assigns a
compiler directing statement. A statement, beginning name to a subset of values that a conditional variable
with a compiler directing verb, that causes the may assume; or a user-defined word assigned to a
compiler to take a specific action during compilation. status of an implementor defined switch or device.
When ‘condition-name’ is used in the general formats,
compiler directing statement. A statement that it represents a unique data item reference consisting
specifies actions to be taken by the compiler during of a syntactically correct combination of a
processing of a COBOL source program. Compiler ‘condition-name’, together with qualifiers and
directives are contained in the COBOL source subscripts, as required for uniqueness of reference.
program. Thus, you can specify different suboptions
of the directive within the source program by using * condition-name condition. The proposition, for
multiple compiler directive statements in the which a truth value can be determined, that the value
program. of a conditional variable is a member of the set of
values attributed to a condition-name associated with
* complex condition. A condition in which one or the conditional variable.
more logical operators act upon one or more
conditions. (See also “negated simple condition,” * CONFIGURATION SECTION. A section of the
“combined condition,” and “negated combined ENVIRONMENT DIVISION that describes overall
condition.”) specifications of source and object programs and
class definitions.
* computer-name. A system-name that identifies the
computer upon which the program is to be compiled CONSOLE. A COBOL environment-name associated
or run. with the operator console.
condition. An exception that has been enabled, or * contiguous items. Items that are described by
recognized, by Language Environment and thus is consecutive entries in the Data Division, and that
eligible to activate user and language condition bear a definite hierarchic relationship to each other.
handlers. Any alteration to the normal programmed
flow of an application. Conditions can be detected by CORBA. The Common Object Request Broker
the hardware/operating system and results in an Architecture established by the Object Management
interrupt. They can also be detected by Group. IBM′ s Interface Definition Language used to
language-specific generated code or language library describe the interface for SOM classes is fully
code. compliant with CORBA standards.
* condition. A status of a program at run time for * counter. A data item used for storing numbers or
which a truth value can be determined. Where the number representations in a manner that permits
term ‘condition’ (condition-1, condition-2,...) appears these numbers to be increased or decreased by the
in these language specifications in or in reference to value of another number, or to be changed or reset to
‘condition’ (condition-1, condition-2,...) of a general zero or to an arbitrary positive or negative value.
format, it is a conditional expression consisting of
either a simple condition optionally parenthesized, or cross-reference listing. The portion of the compiler
a combined condition consisting of the syntactically listing that contains information on where files, fields,
correct combination of simple conditions, logical and indicators are defined, referenced, and modified
operators, and parentheses, for which a truth value in a program.
can be determined.
currency sign. The character ‘$’ of the COBOL
* conditional expression. A simple condition or a character set or that character defined by the
complex condition specified in an EVALUATE, IF, CURRENCY compiler option. If the NOCURRENCY
PERFORM, or SEARCH statement. (See also “simple compiler option is in effect, the currency sign is
condition” and “complex condition.”) defined as the character ‘$’.
* conditional phrase. A conditional phrase specifies currency symbol. The character defined by the
the action to be taken upon determination of the truth CURRENCY compiler option or by the CURRENCY
value of a condition resulting from the execution of a SIGN clause in the SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph. If the
conditional statement. NOCURRENCY compiler option is in effect for a
COBOL source program and the CURRENCY SIGN
* conditional statement. A statement specifying that clause is also not present in the source program, the
the truth value of a condition is to be determined and currency symbol is identical to the currency sign.
that the subsequent action of the object program is
dependent on this truth value.

* current record. In file processing, the record that is * de-edit. The logical removal of all editing
available in the record area associated with a file. characters from a numeric edited data item in order
to determine that item′s unedited numeric value.
* current volume pointer. A conceptual entity that
points to the current volume of a sequential file. * delimited scope statement. Any statement that
includes its explicit scope terminator.
D * delimiter. A character or a sequence of contiguous

characters that identify the end of a string of
* data clause. A clause, appearing in a data characters and separate that string of characters from
description entry in the DATA DIVISION of a COBOL the following string of characters. A delimiter is not
program, that provides information describing a part of the string of characters that it delimits.
particular attribute of a data item.
* descending key. A key upon the values of which
* data description entry . An entry in the DATA data is ordered starting with the highest value of key
DIVISION of a COBOL program that is composed of a down to the lowest value of key, in accordance with
level-number followed by a data-name, if required, the rules for comparing data items.
and then followed by a set of data clauses, as
required. digit. Any of the numerals from 0 through 9. In
COBOL, the term is not used in reference to any other
DATA DIVISION. One of the four main components of symbol.
a COBOL program, class definition, or method
definition. The DATA DIVISION describes the data to * digit position. The amount of physical storage
be processed by the object program, class, or required to store a single digit. This amount may
method: files to be used and the records contained vary depending on the usage specified in the data
within them; internal working-storage records that will description entry that defines the data item.
be needed; data to be made available in more than
one program in the COBOL run unit. (Note, the Class * direct access. The facility to obtain data from
DATA DIVISION contains only the storage devices or to enter data into a storage device
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.) in such a way that the process depends only on the
location of that data and not on a reference to data
* data item. A unit of data (excluding literals) defined previously accessed.
by a COBOL program or by the rules for function
evaluation. * division. A collection of zero, one or more sections
or paragraphs, called the division body, that are
* data-name. A user-defined word that names a data formed and combined in accordance with a specific
item described in a data description entry. When set of rules. Each division consists of the division
used in the general formats, ‘data-name’ represents a header and the related division body. There are four
word that must not be reference-modified, subscripted (4) divisions in a COBOL program: Identification,
or qualified unless specifically permitted by the rules Environment, Data, and Procedure.
for the format.
* division header. A combination of words followed
DBCS (Double-Byte Character Set). See by a separator period that indicates the beginning of
“Double-Byte Character Set (DBCS).” a division. The division headers are:
* debugging line. A debugging line is any line with a IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.

‘D’ in the indicator area of the line. ENVIRONMENT DIVISION.
DATA DIVISION.
* debugging section. A section that contains a USE PROCEDURE DIVISION.
FOR DEBUGGING statement.
do construction. In structured programming, a DO
* declarative sentence. A compiler directing sentence statement is used to group a number of statements in
consisting of a single USE statement terminated by a procedure. In COBOL, an in-line PERFORM
the separator period. statement functions in the same way.
* declaratives. A set of one or more special purpose do-until. In structured programming, a do-until loop
sections, written at the beginning of the Procedure will be executed at least once, and until a given
Division, the first of which is preceded by the key condition is true. In COBOL, a TEST AFTER phrase
word DECLARATIVES and the last of which is followed used with the PERFORM statement functions in the
by the key words END DECLARATIVES. A declarative same way.
is composed of a section header, followed by a USE
compiler directing sentence, followed by a set of zero, do-while. In structured programming, a do-while loop
one, or more associated paragraphs. will be executed if, and while, a given condition is
Glossary 71
true. In COBOL, a TEST BEFORE phrase used with * elementary item. A data item that is described as
the PERFORM statement functions in the same way. not being further logically subdivided.
Double-Byte Character Set (DBCS). A set of enclave. When running under the Language
characters in which each character is represented by Environment product, an enclave is analogous to a
two bytes. Languages such as Japanese, Chinese, run unit. An enclave can create other enclaves on
and Korean, which contain more symbols than can be MVS and CMS by a LINK, on CMS by CMSCALL, and
represented by 256 code points, require Double-Byte the use of the system () function of C.
Character Sets. Because each character requires two
bytes, entering, displaying, and printing DBCS *end class header. A combination of words, followed
characters requires hardware and supporting software by a separator period, that indicates the end of a
that are DBCS-capable. COBOL class definition. The end class header is:
END CLASS class-name.
* dynamic access. An access mode in which specific
logical records can be obtained from or placed into a *end method header. A combination of words,
mass storage file in a nonsequential manner and followed by a separator period, that indicates the end
obtained from a file in a sequential manner during the of a COBOL method definition. The end method
scope of the same OPEN statement. header is:
Dynamic Storage Area (DSA). Dynamically acquired END METHOD method-name.

storage composed of a register save area and an
area available for dynamic storage allocation (such as * end of Procedure Division. The physical position of
program variables). DSAs are generally allocated a COBOL source program after which no further
within STACK segments managed by Language procedures appear.
Environment.
* end program header. A combination of words,
followed by a separator period, that indicates the end
E of a COBOL source program. The end program
header is:
* EBCDIC (Extended Binary-Coded Decimal END PROGRAM program-name.
Interchange Code). A coded character set consisting
of 8-bit coded characters. * entry. Any descriptive set of consecutive clauses
terminated by a separator period and written in the
EBCDIC character. Any one of the symbols included IDENTIFICATION DIVISION, ENVIRONMENT DIVISION,
in the 8-bit EBCDIC (Extended Binary-Coded-Decimal or DATA DIVISION of a COBOL program.
Interchange Code) set.
* environment clause. A clause that appears as part
edited data item. A data item that has been modified of an ENVIRONMENT DIVISION entry.
by suppressing zeroes and/or inserting editing
characters. ENVIRONMENT DIVISION. One of the four main
component parts of a COBOL program, class
* editing character. A single character or a fixed definition, or method definition. The ENVIRONMENT
two-character combination belonging to the following DIVISION describes the computers upon which the
set: source program is compiled and those on which the
Character Meaning object program is executed, and provides a linkage
• space between the logical concept of files and their records,
0 zero and the physical aspects of the devices on which files
+ plus are stored.
− minus
CR credit environment-name. A name, specified by IBM, that
DB debit identifies system logical units, printer and card punch
Z zero suppress control characters, report codes, and/or program
* check protect switches. When an environment-name is associated
$ currency sign with a mnemonic-name in the ENVIRONMENT
, comma (decimal point) DIVISION, the mnemonic-name may then be
. period (decimal point) substituted in any format in which such substitution is
/ slant (virgule, slash) valid.
element (text element). One logical unit of a string of environment variable. Any of a number of variables
text, such as the description of a single data item or that describe the way an operating system is going to
verb, preceded by a unique code identifying the run and the devices it is going to recognize.
element type.
execution time. See “run time.”

execution-time environment. See “run-time For example, a floating-point representation of the
environment.” number 0.0001234 is: 0.1234 -3, where 0.1234 is the
mantissa and -3 is the exponent.
* explicit scope terminator. A reserved word that
terminates the scope of a particular Procedure * external switch. A hardware or software device,
Division statement. defined and named by the implementor, which is used
to indicate that one of two alternate states exists.
exponent. A number, indicating the power to which
another number (the base) is to be raised. Positive
exponents denote multiplication, negative exponents F
denote division, fractional exponents denote a root of
a quantity. In COBOL, an exponential expression is * figurative constant. A compiler-generated value
indicated with the symbol ‘**’ followed by the referenced through the use of certain reserved words.
exponent.
* file. A collection of logical records.
* expression. An arithmetic or conditional
expression. * file attribute conflict condition. An unsuccessful
attempt has been made to execute an input-output
* extend mode. The state of a file after execution of operation on a file and the file attributes, as specified
an OPEN statement, with the EXTEND phrase specified for that file in the program, do not match the fixed
for that file, and before the execution of a CLOSE attributes for that file.
statement, without the REEL or UNIT phrase for that
file. * file clause. A clause that appears as part of any of
the following DATA DIVISION entries: file description
extensions. Certain COBOL syntax and semantics entry (FD entry) and sort-merge file description entry
supported by IBM compilers in addition to those (SD entry).
described in ANSI Standard.
* file connector. A storage area which contains
* external data. The data described in a program as information about a file and is used as the linkage
external data items and external file connectors. between a file-name and a physical file and between
a file-name and its associated record area.
* external data item. A data item which is described
as part of an external record in one or more File-Control. The name of an ENVIRONMENT
programs of a run unit and which itself may be DIVISION paragraph in which the data files for a given
referenced from any program in which it is described. source program are declared.
* external data record. A logical record which is * file control entry. A SELECT clause and all its
described in one or more programs of a run unit and subordinate clauses which declare the relevant
whose constituent data items may be referenced from physical attributes of a file.
any program in which they are described.
* file description entry. An entry in the File Section
external decimal item. A format for representing of the DATA DIVISION that is composed of the level
numbers in which the digit is contained in bits 4 indicator FD, followed by a file-name, and then
through 7 and the sign is contained in bits 0 through 3 followed by a set of file clauses as required.
of the rightmost byte. Bits 0 through 3 of all other
bytes contain 1’s (hex F). For example, the decimal * file-name. A user-defined word that names a file
value of +123 is represented as 1111 0001 1111 0010 connector described in a file description entry or a
1111 0011. (Also know as “zoned decimal item.”) sort-merge file description entry within the File
Section of the DATA DIVISION.
* external file connector. A file connector which is
accessible to one or more object programs in the run * file organization. The permanent logical file
unit. structure established at the time that a file is created.
external floating-point item. A format for *file position indicator. A conceptual entity that
representing numbers in which a real number is contains the value of the current key within the key of
represented by a pair of distinct numerals. In a reference for an indexed file, or the record number of
floating-point representation, the real number is the the current record for a sequential file, or the relative
product of the fixed-point part (the first numeral), and record number of the current record for a relative file,
a value obtained by raising the implicit floating-point or indicates that no next logical record exists, or that
base to a power denoted by the exponent (the second an optional input file is not present, or that the at end
numeral). condition already exists, or that no valid next record
has been established.
Glossary 73
* File Section. The section of the DATA DIVISION
that contains file description entries and sort-merge G
file description entries together with their associated
* global name. A name which is declared in only one
record descriptions.
program but which may be referenced from that
file system. The collection of files and file program and from any program contained within that
management structures on a physical or logical mass program. Condition-names, data-names, file-names,
storage device, such as a diskette or minidisk. record-names, report-names, and some special
registers may be global names.
* fixed file attributes. Information about a file which
is established when a file is created and cannot * group item. A data item that is composed of
subsequently be changed during the existence of the subordinate data items.
file. These attributes include the organization of the
file (sequential, relative, or indexed), the prime record
key, the alternate record keys, the code set, the
H
minimum and maximum record size, the record type
header label. (1) A file label or data set label that
(fixed or variable), the collating sequence of the keys
precedes the data records on a unit of recording
for indexed files, the blocking factor, the padding
media. (2) Synonym for beginning-of-file label.
character, and the record delimiter.
* high order end. The leftmost character of a string
* fixed length record. A record associated with a file
of characters.
whose file description or sort-merge description entry
requires that all records contain the same number of
character positions. I
fixed-point number. A numeric data item defined IBM COBOL extension. Certain COBOL syntax and
with a PICTURE clause that specifies the location of semantics supported by IBM compilers in addition to
an optional sign, the number of digits it contains, and those described in ANSI Standard.
the location of an optional decimal point. The format
may be either binary, packed decimal, or external IDENTIFICATION DIVISION. One of the four main
decimal. component parts of a COBOL program, class
definition, or method definition. The IDENTIFICATION
floating-point number. A numeric data item DIVISION identifies the program name, class name, or
containing a fraction and an exponent. Its value is method name. The IDENTIFICATION DIVISION may
obtained by multiplying the fraction by the base of the include the following documentation: author name,
numeric data item raised to the power specified by installation, or date.
the exponent.
* identifier. A syntactically correct combination of
* format. A specific arrangement of a set of data. character-strings and separators that names a data
item. When referencing a data item that is not a
* function. A temporary data item whose value is function, an identifier consists of a data-name,
determined at the time the function is referenced together with its qualifiers, subscripts, and
during the execution of a statement. reference-modifier, as required for uniqueness of
reference. When referencing a data item which is a
* function-identifier. A syntactically correct
function, a function-identifier is used.
combination of character-strings and separators that
references a function. The data item represented by IGZCBSN. The COBOL for MVS and VM bootstrap
a function is uniquely identified by a function-name routine. It must be link-edited with any module that
with its arguments, if any. A function-identifier may contains a COBOL for MVS and VM program.
include a reference-modifier. A function-identifier that
references an alphanumeric function may be specified * imperative statement. A statement that either
anywhere in the general formats that an identifier begins with an imperative verb and specifies an
may be specified, subject to certain restrictions. A unconditional action to be taken or is a conditional
function-identifier that references an integer or statement that is delimited by its explicit scope
numeric function may be referenced anywhere in the terminator (delimited scope statement). A n
general formats that an arithmetic expression may be imperative statement may consist of a sequence of
specified. imperative statements.
function-name. A word that names the mechanism * implicit scope terminator. A separator period which
whose invocation, along with required arguments, terminates the scope of any preceding unterminated
determines the value of a function. statement, or a phrase of a statement which by its
occurrence indicates the end of the scope of any
statement contained within the preceding phrase.

* index. A computer storage area or register, the identifier phrase), CLOSE, DELETE, DISPLAY, OPEN,
content of which represents the identification of a READ, REWRITE, SET (with the TO ON or TO OFF
particular element in a table. phrase), START, and WRITE.
* index data item. A data item in which the values * input procedure. A set of statements, to which
associated with an index-name can be stored in a control is given during the execution of a SORT
form specified by the implementor. statement, for the purpose of controlling the release
of specified records to be sorted.
indexed data-name. An identifier that is composed of
a data-name, followed by one or more index-names instance data. Data defining the state of an object.
enclosed in parentheses. The instance data introduced by a class is defined in
the WORKING-STORAGE SECTION of the DATA
* indexed file. A file with indexed organization. DIVISION of the class definition. The state of an
object also includes the state of the instance
* indexed organization. The permanent logical file variables introduced by base classes that are
structure in which each record is identified by the inherited by the current class. A separate copy of the
value of one or more keys within that record. instance data is created for each object instance.
indexing. Synonymous with subscripting using * integer. (1) A numeric literal that does not include
index-names. any digit positions to the right of the decimal point.
* index-name. A user-defined word that names an (2) A numeric data item defined in the DATA DIVISION
index associated with a specific table. that does not include any digit positions to the right of
the decimal point.
* inheritance (for classes). A mechanism for using (3) A numeric function whose definition provides that
the implementation of one or more classes as the all digits to the right of the decimal point are zero in
basis for another class. A sub-class inherits from one the returned value for any possible evaluation of the
or more super-classes . By definition the inheriting function.
class conforms to the inherited classes.
integer function. A function whose category is
* initial program. A program that is placed into an numeric and whose definition does not include any
initial state every time the program is called in a run digit positions to the right of the decimal point.
unit.
interface. The information that a client must know to
* initial state. The state of a program when it is first use a class —the names of its attributes and the
called in a run unit. signatures of its methods . With direct-to-SOM
compilers such as COBOL, the interface to a class
inline. In a program, instructions that are executed may be defined by native language syntax for class
sequentially, without branching to routines, definitions. Classes implemented in other languages
subroutines, or other programs. might have their interfaces defined directly in SOM
Interface Definition Language (IDL). The COBOL
* input file. A file that is opened in the INPUT mode.
compiler has a compiler option, IDLGEN, to
automatically generate IDL for a COBOL class.
* input mode. The state of a file after execution of an
OPEN statement, with the INPUT phrase specified, for
Interface Definition Language (IDL). The formal
that file and before the execution of a CLOSE
language (independent of any programming language)
statement, without the REEL or UNIT phrase for that
by which the interface for a class of objects is defined
file.
in a IDL file, which the SOM compiler then interprets
to create an implementation template file and binding
* input-output file. A file that is opened in the I-O
files. SOM′s Interface Definition Language is fully
mode.
compliant with standards established by the Object
Management Group′s Common Object Request Broker
* INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION. The section of the
Architecture ( CORBA ).
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION that names the files and the
external media required by an object program or
interlanguage communication (ILC). The ability of
method and that provides information required for
routines written in different programming languages
transmission and handling of data during execution of
to communicate. ILC support allows the application
the object program or method definition.
writer to readily build applications from component
routines written in a variety of languages.
* Input-Output statement. A statement that causes
files to be processed by performing operations upon
intermediate result. An intermediate field containing
individual records or upon the file as a unit. The
the results of a succession of arithmetic operations.
input-output statements are: ACCEPT (with the
Glossary 75
* internal data. The data described in a program iteration structure. A program processing logic in
excluding all external data items and external file which a series of statements is repeated while a
connectors. Items described in the LINKAGE condition is true or until a condition is true.
SECTION of a program are treated as internal data.
* internal data item. A data item which is described K

in one program in a run unit. An internal data item
may have a global name. K. When referring to storage capacity, two to the
tenth power; 1024 in decimal notation.
internal decimal item. A format in which each byte in
a field except the rightmost byte represents two * key. A data item that identifies the location of a
numeric digits. The rightmost byte contains one digit record, or a set of data items which serve to identify
and the sign. For example, the decimal value +123 the ordering of data.
is represented as 0001 0010 0011 1111. (Also known
as packed decimal.) * key of reference. The key, either prime or
alternate, currently being used to access records
* internal file connector. A file connector which is within an indexed file.
accessible to only one object program in the run unit.
* key word. A reserved word or function-name
* intra-record data structure. The entire collection of whose presence is required when the format in which
groups and elementary data items from a logical the word appears is used in a source program.
record which is defined by a contiguous subset of the
data description entries which describe that record. kilobyte (KB). One kilobyte equals 1024 bytes.
These data description entries include all entries
whose level-number is greater than the level-number
of the first data description entry describing the
L
intra-record data structure.
* language-name. A system-name that specifies a
particular programming language.
intrinsic function. A pre-defined function, such as a
commonly used arithmetic function, called by a
Language Environment-conforming. A characteristic
built-in function reference.
of compiler products (COBOL/370, COBOL for MVS
and VM, AD/Cycle C/370, C/C++ for MVS and VM,
* invalid key condition. A condition, at object time,
PL/I for MVS and VM) that produce object code
caused when a specific value of the key associated
conforming to the Language Environment format.
with an indexed or relative file is determined to be
invalid.
last-used state. A program is in last-used state if its
internal values remain the same as when the program
* I-O-CONTROL. The name of an ENVIRONMENT
was exited (are not reset to their initial values).
DIVISION paragraph in which object program
requirements for rerun points, sharing of same areas
* letter. A character belonging to one of the following
by several data files, and multiple file storage on a
two sets:
single input-output device are specified.
1. Uppercase letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L,
* I-O-CONTROL entry. An entry in the I-O-CONTROL M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
paragraph of the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION which
2. Lowercase letters: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m,
contains clauses that provide information required for
n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
the transmission and handling of data on named files
during the execution of a program. * level indicator. Two alphabetic characters that
identify a specific type of file or a position in a
* I-O-Mode. The state of a file after execution of an
hierarchy. The level indicators in the DATA DIVISION
OPEN statement, with the I-O phrase specified, for
are: CD, FD, and SD.
that file and before the execution of a CLOSE
statement without the REEL or UNIT phase for that * level-number. A user-defined word, expressed as a
file. two digit number, which indicates the hierarchical
position of a data item or the special properties of a
* I-O status. A conceptual entity which contains the
data description entry. Level-numbers in the range
two-character value indicating the resulting status of
from 1 through 49 indicate the position of a data item
an input-output operation. This value is made
in the hierarchical structure of a logical record.
available to the program through the use of the FILE
Level-numbers in the range 1 through 9 may be
STATUS clause in the file control entry for the file.
written either as a single digit or as a zero followed
by a significant digit. Level-numbers 66, 77 and 88
identify special properties of a data description entry.

* library-name. A user-defined word that names a * mass storage device. A device having a large
COBOL library that is to be used by the compiler for a storage capacity; for example, magnetic disk,
given source program compilation. magnetic drum.
* library text. A sequence of text words, comment * mass storage file. A collection of records that is
lines, the separator space, or the separator assigned to a mass storage medium.
pseudo-text delimiter in a COBOL library.
* megabyte (M). One megabyte equals 1,048,576
LILIAN DATE. The number of days since the bytes.
beginning of the Gregorian calendar. Day one is
Friday, October 15, 1582. The Lilian date format is * merge file. A collection of records to be merged by
named in honor of Luigi Lilio, the creator of the a MERGE statement. The merge file is created and
Gregorian calendar. can be used only by the merge function.
* LINAGE-COUNTER. A special register whose value metaclass. A SOM class whose instances are SOM
points to the current position within the page body. class-objects. The methods defined in metaclasses
are executed without requiring any object instances of
LINKAGE SECTION. The section in the DATA the class to exist, and are frequently used to create
DIVISION of the called program that describes data instances of the class.
items available from the calling program. These data
items may be referred to by both the calling and method. Procedural code that defines one of the
called program. operations supported by an object, and that is
executed by an INVOKE statement on that object.
literal. A character-string whose value is specified
either by the ordered set of characters comprising the * Method Definition. The COBOL source unit that
string, or by the use of a figurative constant. defines a method.
local. A set of attributes for a program execution * method identification entry. An entry in the
environment indicating culturally sensitive METHOD-ID paragraph of the IDENTIFICATION
considerations, such as: character code page, DIVISION which contains clauses that specify the
collating sequence, date/time format, monetary value method-name and assign selected attributes to the
representation, numeric value representation, or method definition.
language.
* method-name. A user-defined word that identifies a
* LOCAL-STORAGE SECTION. The section of the method.
DATA DIVISION that defines storage that is allocated
and freed on a per-invocation basis, depending on the * mnemonic-name. A user-defined word that is
value assigned in their VALUE clauses. associated in the ENVIRONMENT DIVISION with a
specified implementor-name.
* logical operator. One of the reserved words AND,
OR, or NOT. In the formation of a condition, either multitasking. Mode of operation that provides for the
AND, or OR, or both can be used as logical concurrent, or interleaved, execution of two or more
connectives. NOT can be used for logical negation. tasks. When running under the Language
Environment product, multitasking is synonymous with
* logical record. The most inclusive data item. The multithreading .
level-number for a record is 01. A record may be
either an elementary item or a group of items. The MVS/XA* (Multiple Virtual Storage/Extended
term is synonymous with record. Architecture). An IBM operating system that
manages multiple virtual address spaces in IBM
* low order end. The rightmost character of a string processors operating in extended architecture mode.
of characters. MVS/XA supports the 31-bit addressing mechanism of
extended architecture mode, and therefore, allows an
address space as large as 2 31 bytes (2048 megabytes
M or 2 gigabytes).
main program. In a hierarchy of programs and

subroutines, the first program to receive control when N
the programs are run.
name. A word composed of not more than 30
* mass storage. A storage medium in which data characters that defines a COBOL operand.
may be organized and maintained in both a
sequential and nonsequential manner. * native character set. The implementor-defined
character set associated with the computer specified
in the OBJECT-COMPUTER paragraph.
Glossary 77
* native collating sequence. The implementor-defined * numeric literal. A literal composed of one or more
collating sequence associated with the computer numeric characters that may contain either a decimal
specified in the OBJECT-COMPUTER paragraph. point, or an algebraic sign, or both. The decimal point
must not be the rightmost character. The algebraic
* negated combined condition. The ‘NOT’ logical sign, if present, must be the leftmost character.
operator immediately followed by a parenthesized
combined condition.
O
* negated simple condition. The ‘NOT’ logical
operator immediately followed by a simple condition. object. An entity that has state (its data values) and
operations (its methods). An object is a way to
nested program. A program that is directly contained encapsulate state and behavior.
within another program.
object code. Output from a compiler or assembler
* next executable sentence. The next sentence to that is itself executable machine code or is suitable
which control will be transferred after execution of the for processing to produce executable machine code.
current statement is complete.
* OBJECT-COMPUTER. The name of an
* next executable statement. The next statement to ENVIRONMENT DIVISION paragraph in which the
which control will be transferred after execution of the computer environment, within which the object
current statement is complete. program is executed, is described.
* next record. The record that logically follows the * object computer entry. An entry in the
current record of a file. OBJECT-COMPUTER paragraph of the ENVIRONMENT
DIVISION which contains clauses that describe the
* noncontiguous items. Elementary data items in the computer environment in which the object program is
WORKING-STORAGE and LINKAGE SECTIONs that to be executed.
bear no hierarchic relationship to other data items.
object deck. A portion of an object program suitable
* nonnumeric item. A data item whose description as input to a linkage editor. Synonymous with object
permits its content to be composed of any module and text deck .
combination of characters taken from the computer’s
character set. Certain categories of nonnumeric object module. Synonym for object deck or text deck .
items may be formed from more restricted character
sets. * object of entry. A set of operands and reserved
words, within a DATA DIVISION entry of a COBOL
* nonnumeric literal. A literal bounded by quotation program, that immediately follows the subject of the
marks. The string of characters may include any entry.
character in the computer’s character set.
* object program. A set or group of executable
null. Figurative constant used to assign the value of machine language instructions and other material
an invalid address to pointer data items. NULLS can designed to interact with data to provide problem
be used wherever NULL can be used. solutions. In this context, an object program is
generally the machine language result of the
* numeric character. A character that belongs to the operation of a COBOL compiler on a source program.
following set of digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Where there is no danger of ambiguity, the word
‘program’ alone may be used in place of the phrase
numeric-edited item. A numeric item that is in such a ‘object program.’
form that it may be used in printed output. It may
consist of external decimal digits from 0 through 9, * object time. The time at which an object program is
the decimal point, commas, the dollar sign, editing executed. The term is synonymous with execution
sign control symbols, plus other editing symbols. time.
* numeric function. A function whose class and * obsolete element. A COBOL language element in
category are numeric but which for some possible Standard COBOL that is to be deleted from the next
evaluation does not satisfy the requirements of revision of Standard COBOL.
integer functions.
ODO object. In the example below,
* numeric item. A data item whose description
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION
restricts its content to a value represented by 01 TABLE-1.
characters chosen from the digits from ‘0’ through ‘9’; 05 X PICS9.
if signed, the item may also contain a ‘ + ’, ‘ − ’, or 05 Y OCCURS 3 TIMES
other representation of an operational sign. DEPENDING ON X PIC X.

X is the object of the OCCURS DEPENDING ON clause overflow condition. A condition that occurs when a
(ODO object). The value of the ODO object portion of the result of an operation exceeds the
determines how many of the ODO subject appear in capacity of the intended unit of storage.
the table.
ODO subject. In the example above, Y is the subject P

of the OCCURS DEPENDING ON clause (ODO subject).
The number of Y ODO subjects that appear in the packed decimal item. See “internal decimal item.”
table depends on the value of X.
* padding character. An alphanumeric character used
* open mode. The state of a file after execution of an to fill the unused character positions in a physical
OPEN statement for that file and before the execution record.
of a CLOSE statement without the REEL or UNIT
phrase for that file. The particular open mode is page. A vertical division of output data representing
specified in the OPEN statement as either INPUT, a physical separation of such data, the separation
OUTPUT, I-O or EXTEND. being based on internal logical requirements and/or
external characteristics of the output medium.
* operand. Whereas the general definition of operand
is “that component which is operated upon,” for the * page body. That part of the logical page in which
purposes of this document, any lowercase word (or lines can be written and/or spaced.
words) that appears in a statement or entry format
may be considered to be an operand and, as such, is * paragraph. In the Procedure Division, a
an implied reference to the data indicated by the paragraph-name followed by a separator period and
operand. by zero, one, or more sentences. In the
IDENTIFICATION and ENVIRONMENT DIVISIONs, a
* operational sign. An algebraic sign, associated with paragraph header followed by zero, one, or more
a numeric data item or a numeric literal, to indicate entries.
whether its value is positive or negative.
* paragraph header. A reserved word, followed by
* optional file. A file which is declared as being not the separator period, that indicates the beginning of a
necessarily present each time the object program is paragraph in the IDENTIFICATION and ENVIRONMENT
executed. The object program causes an DIVISIONs. The permissible paragraph headers in the
interrogation for the presence or absence of the file. IDENTIFICATION DIVISION are:
PROGRAM-ID. (Program IDENTIFICATION DIVISION only)
* optional word. A reserved word that is included in CLASS-ID. (Class IDENTIFICATION DIVISION only)
a specific format only to improve the readability of METHOD-ID. (Method IDENTIFICATION DIVISION only)
the language and whose presence is optional to the AUTHOR.
user when the format in which the word appears is INSTALLATION.
used in a source program. DATE-WRITTEN.
DATE-COMPILED.
OS/2 (Operating System/2*). A multi-tasking SECURITY.
operating system for the IBM Personal Computer The permissible paragraph headers in the
family that allows you to run both DOS mode and ENVIRONMENT DIVISION are:
OS/2 mode programs.
SOURCE-COMPUTER.
* output file. A file that is opened in either the OBJECT-COMPUTER.
OUTPUT mode or EXTEND mode. SPECIAL-NAMES.
REPOSITORY. (Program or Class CONFIGURATION SECTION only)
* output mode. The state of a file after execution of FILE-CONTROL.
an OPEN statement, with the OUTPUT or EXTEND
I-O-CONTROL.
phrase specified, for that file and before the execution
* paragraph-name. A user-defined word that
of a CLOSE statement without the REEL or UNIT
identifies and begins a paragraph in the Procedure
phrase for that file.
Division.
* output procedure. A set of statements to which
parameter. Parameters are used to pass data values
control is given during execution of a SORT statement
between calling and called programs.
after the sort function is completed, or during
execution of a MERGE statement after the merge
password. A unique string of characters that a
function reaches a point at which it can select the
program, computer operator, or user must supply to
next record in merged order when requested.
meet security requirements before gaining access to
data.
Glossary 79
* phrase. A phrase is an ordered set of one or more performed procedures. Contained program procedure
consecutive COBOL character-strings that form a integration is the process where a CALL to a
portion of a COBOL procedural statement or of a contained program is replaced by the program code.
COBOL clause.
* procedure-name. A user-defined word that is used
* physical record. See “block.” to name a paragraph or section in the Procedure
Division. It consists of a paragraph-name (which may
pointer data item. A data item in which address be qualified) or a section-name.
values can be stored. Data items are explicitly
defined as pointers with the USAGE IS POINTER procedure-pointer data item. A data item in which a
clause. ADDRESS OF special registers are implicitly pointer to an entry point can be stored. A data item
defined as pointer data items. Pointer data items can defined with the USAGE IS PROCEDURE-POINTER
be compared for equality or moved to other pointer clause contains the address of a procedure entry
data items. point.
portability. The ability to transfer an application * program identification entry. An entry in the
program from one application platform to another PROGRAM-ID paragraph of the IDENTIFICATION
with relatively few changes to the source program. DIVISION which contains clauses that specify the
program-name and assign selected program
preloaded. In COBOL this refers to COBOL programs attributes to the program.
that remain resident in storage under IMS instead of
being loaded each time they are called. * program-name. In the IDENTIFICATION DIVISION
and the end program header, a user-defined word
* prime record key. A key whose contents uniquely that identifies a COBOL source program.
identify a record within an indexed file.
* pseudo-text. A sequence of text words, comment
* priority-number. A user-defined word which lines, or the separator space in a source program or
classifies sections in the Procedure Division for COBOL library bounded by, but not including,
purposes of segmentation. Segment-numbers may pseudo-text delimiters.
contain only the characters ′0′,′1′, ... , ′9′. A
segment-number may be expressed either as a one- * pseudo-text delimiter. Two contiguous equal sign
or two-digit number. characters (==) used to delimit pseudo-text.
* procedure. A paragraph or group of logically * punctuation character. A character that belongs to

successive paragraphs, or a section or group of the following set:
logically successive sections, within the Procedure
Character Meaning
Division.
, comma
; semicolon
* procedure branching statement. A statement that
: colon
causes the explicit transfer of control to a statement
. period (full stop)
other than the next executable statement in the
″ quotation mark
sequence in which the statements are written in the
( left parenthesis
source program. The procedure branching
) right parenthesis
statements are: ALTER, CALL, EXIT, EXIT PROGRAM,
• space
GO TO, MERGE, (with the OUTPUT PROCEDURE
= equal sign
phrase), PERFORM and SORT (with the INPUT
PROCEDURE or OUTPUT PROCEDURE phrase).
Procedure Division. One of the four main component

Q
parts of a COBOL program, class definition, or method QSAM (Queued Sequential Access Method). An
definition. The Procedure Division contains extended version of the basic sequential access
instructions for solving a problem. The Program and method (BSAM). When this method is used, a queue
Method Procedure Divisions may contain imperative is formed of input data blocks that are awaiting
statements, conditional statements, compiler directing processing or of output data blocks that have been
statements, paragraphs, procedures, and sections. processed and are awaiting transfer to auxiliary
The Class Procedure Division contains only method storage or to an output device.
definitions.
* qualified data-name. An identifier that is composed
procedure integration. One of the functions of the of a data-name followed by one or more sets of either
COBOL optimizer is to simplify calls to performed of the connectives OF and IN followed by a data-name
procedures or contained programs. qualifier.
PERFORM procedure integration is the process
whereby a PERFORM statement is replaced by its * qualifier.

1. A data-name or a name associated with a level reentrant. The attribute of a program or routine that
indicator which is used in a reference either allows more than one user to share a single copy of a
together with another data-name which is the load module.
name of an item that is subordinate to the
qualifier or together with a condition-name. * reference format. A format that provides a
standard method for describing COBOL source
2. A section-name that is used in a reference
programs.
together with a paragraph-name specified in that
section.
reference modification. A method of defining a new
3. A library-name that is used in a reference alphanumeric data item by specifying the leftmost
together with a text-name associated with that character and length relative to the leftmost character
library. of another alphanumeric data item.
* reference-modifier. A syntactically correct

R combination of character-strings and separators that
defines a unique data item. It includes a delimiting
* random access. An access mode in which the left parenthesis separator, the leftmost character
program-specified value of a key data item identifies position, a colon separator, optionally a length, and a
the logical record that is obtained from, deleted from, delimiting right parenthesis separator.
or placed into a relative or indexed file.
* relation. See “relational operator” or “relation
* record. See “logical record.” condition.”
* record area. A storage area allocated for the * relational operator. A reserved word, a relation
purpose of processing the record described in a character, a group of consecutive reserved words, or
record description entry in the File Section of the a group of consecutive reserved words and relation
DATA DIVISION. In the File Section, the current characters used in the construction of a relation
number of character positions in the record area is condition. The permissible operators and their
determined by the explicit or implicit RECORD clause. meanings are:
* record description. See “record description entry.” Operator Meaning

IS GREATER THAN Greater than
* record description entry. The total set of data IS > Greater than
description entries associated with a particular IS NOT GREATER THAN Not greater than
record. The term is synonymous with record IS NOT > Not greater than
description.
IS LESS THAN Less than
recording mode. The format of the logical records in IS < Less than
a file. Recording mode can be F (fixed-length), V IS NOT LESS THAN Not less than
(variable-length), S (spanned), or U (undefined). IS NOT < Not less than
record key. A key whose contents identify a record IS EQUAL TO Equal to

within an indexed file. IS = Equal to
IS NOT EQUAL TO Not equal to
* record-name. A user-defined word that names a IS NOT = Not equal to
record described in a record description entry in the
DATA DIVISION of a COBOL program. IS GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO
Greater than or equal to
* record number. The ordinal number of a record in IS >= Greater than or equal to
the file whose organization is sequential.
IS LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO
recursion. A program calling itself or being directly Less than or equal to
or indirectly called by a one of its called programs. IS <= Less than or equal to
recursively capable. A program is recursively * relation character. A character that belongs to the
capable (can be called recursively) if the RECURSIVE following set:
attribute is on the PROGRAM-ID statement.
Character Meaning
reel. A discrete portion of a storage medium, the
dimensions of which are determined by each > greater than
implementor that contains part of a file, all of a file, or < less than
any number of files. The term is synonymous with = equal to
unit and volume.
Glossary 81
* relation condition. The proposition, for which a
truth value can be determined, that the value of an S
arithmetic expression, data item, nonnumeric literal,
SBCS (Single Byte Character Set). See ″ Single Byte
or index-name has a specific relationship to the value
Character Set (SBCS) ″ .
of another arithmetic expression, data item,
nonnumeric literal, or index name. (See also
scope terminator. A COBOL reserved word that
“relational operator.”)
marks the end of certain Procedure Division
statements. It may be either explicit (END-ADD, for
* relative file. A file with relative organization.
example) or implicit (separator period).
* relative key. A key whose contents identify a
* section. A set of zero, one or more paragraphs or
logical record in a relative file.
entities, called a section body, the first of which is
* relative organization. The permanent logical file preceded by a section header. Each section consists
structure in which each record is uniquely identified of the section header and the related section body.
by an integer value greater than zero, which specifies
* section header. A combination of words followed by
the record’s logical ordinal position in the file.
a separator period that indicates the beginning of a
* relative record number. The ordinal number of a section in the Environment, Data, and Procedure
record in a file whose organization is relative. This Divisions. In the ENVIRONMENT and DATA
number is treated as a numeric literal which is an DIVISIONs, a section header is composed of reserved
integer. words followed by a separator period. The
permissible section headers in the ENVIRONMENT
* reserved word. A COBOL word specified in the list DIVISION are:
of words that may be used in a COBOL source CONFIGURATION SECTION.
program, but that must not appear in the program as INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION.
user-defined words or system-names.
The permissible section headers in the DATA
* resource. A facility or service, controlled by the DIVISION are:
operating system, that can be used by an executing FILE SECTION.
program. WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
LOCAL-STORAGE SECTION.
* resultant identifier. A user-defined data item that is LINKAGE SECTION.
to contain the result of an arithmetic operation.
In the Procedure Division, a section header is
composed of a section-name, followed by the
reusable environment. A reusable environment is
reserved word SECTION, followed by a separator
when you establish an assembler program as the
period.
main program by using either ILBOSTP0 programs,
IGZERRE programs, or the RTEREUS run-time option.
* section-name. A user-defined word that names a
section in the Procedure Division.
routine. A set of statements in a COBOL program
that causes the computer to perform an operation or
selection structure. A program processing logic in
series of related operations. In Language
which one or another series of statements is
Environment, refers to either a procedure, function, or
executed, depending on whether a condition is true or
subroutine.
false.
* routine-name. A user-defined word that identifies a

* sentence. A sequence of one or more statements,
procedure written in a language other than COBOL.
the last of which is terminated by a separator period.
* run time. The time at which an object program is

* separately compiled program. A program which,
executed. The term is synonymous with object time.
together with its contained programs, is compiled
separately from all other programs.
run-time environment. The environment in which a
COBOL program executes.
* separator. A character or two contiguous
characters used to delimit character-strings.
* run unit. A stand-alone object program, or several
object programs, that interact via COBOL CALL
* separator comma. A comma (,) followed by a space
statements, which function at run time as an entity.
used to delimit character-strings.
* separator period. A period (.) followed by a space

used to delimit character-strings.

* separator semicolon. A semicolon (;) followed by a * sort-merge file description entry. An entry in the
space used to delimit character-strings. File Section of the DATA DIVISION that is composed
of the level indicator SD, followed by a file-name, and
sequence structure. A program processing logic in then followed by a set of file clauses as required.
which a series of statements is executed in sequential
order. * SOURCE-COMPUTER. The name of an
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION paragraph in which the
* sequential access. An access mode in which logical computer environment, within which the source
records are obtained from or placed into a file in a program is compiled, is described.
consecutive predecessor-to-successor logical record
sequence determined by the order of records in the * source computer entry. An entry in the
file. SOURCE-COMPUTER paragraph of the ENVIRONMENT
DIVISION which contains clauses that describe the
* sequential file. A file with sequential organization. computer environment in which the source program is
to be compiled.
* sequential organization. The permanent logical file
structure in which a record is identified by a * source item. An identifier designated by a SOURCE
predecessor-successor relationship established when clause that provides the value of a printable item.
the record is placed into the file.
source program. Although it is recognized that a
serial search. A search in which the members of a source program may be represented by other forms
set are consecutively examined, beginning with the and symbols, in this document it always refers to a
first member and ending with the last. syntactically correct set of COBOL statements. A
COBOL source program commences with the
* 77-level-description-entry. A data description entry IDENTIFICATION DIVISION or a COPY statement. A
that describes a noncontiguous data item with the COBOL source program is terminated by the end
level-number 77. program header, if specified, or by the absence of
additional source program lines.
* sign condition. The proposition, for which a truth
value can be determined, that the algebraic value of a * special character. A character that belongs to the
data item or an arithmetic expression is either less following set:
than, greater than, or equal to zero.
Character Meaning
* simple condition. Any single condition chosen from
the set: + plus sign
− minus sign (hyphen)
Relation condition * asterisk
Class condition / slant (virgule, slash)
Condition-name condition = equal sign
Switch-status condition $ currency sign
Sign condition , comma (decimal point)
; semicolon
Single Byte Character Set (SBCS). A set of . period (decimal point, full stop)
characters in which each character is represented by ″ quotation mark
a single byte. See also ″ EBCDIC (Extended ( left parenthesis
Binary-Coded Decimal Interchange Code). ″ ) right parenthesis
> greater than symbol
slack bytes. Bytes inserted between data items or
< less than symbol
records to ensure correct alignment of some numeric
: colon
items. Slack bytes contain no meaningful data. In
some cases, they are inserted by the compiler; in * special-character word. A reserved word that is an
others, it is the responsibility of the programmer to arithmetic operator or a relation character.
insert them. The SYNCHRONIZED clause instructs the
compiler to insert slack bytes when they are needed SPECIAL-NAMES. The name of an ENVIRONMENT
for proper alignment. Slack bytes between records DIVISION paragraph in which environment-names are
are inserted by the programmer. related to user-specified mnemonic-names.
SOM. System Object Model * special names entry. An entry in the

SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph of the ENVIRONMENT
* sort file. A collection of records to be sorted by a DIVISION which provides means for specifying the
SORT statement. The sort file is created and can be currency sign; choosing the decimal point; specifying
used by the sort function only. symbolic characters; relating implementor-names to
user-specified mnemonic-names; relating
alphabet-names to character sets or collating
Glossary 83
sequences; and relating class-names to sets of * symbolic-character. A user-defined word that
characters. specifies a user-defined figurative constant.
* special registers. Certain compiler generated syntax. (1) The relationship among characters or
storage areas whose primary use is to store groups of characters, independent of their meanings
information produced in conjunction with the use of a or the manner of their interpretation and use. (2) The
specific COBOL feature. structure of expressions in a language. (3) The rules
governing the structure of a language. (4) The
* standard data format. The concept used in relationship among symbols. (5) The rules for the
describing the characteristics of data in a COBOL construction of a statement.
DATA DIVISION under which the characteristics or
properties of the data are expressed in a form * system-name. A COBOL word that is used to
oriented to the appearance of the data on a printed communicate with the operating environment.
page of infinite length and breadth, rather than a form
oriented to the manner in which the data is stored System Object Model (SOM). IBM′s object-oriented
internally in the computer, or on a particular external programming technology for building, packaging, and
medium. manipulating class libraries. SOM conforms to the
Object Management Group′s (OMG) Common Object
* statement. A syntactically valid combination of Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) standards.
words, literals, and separators, beginning with a verb,
written in a COBOL source program.
T
structured programming. A technique for organizing
and coding a computer program in which the program * table. A set of logically consecutive items of data
comprises a hierarchy of segments, each segment that are defined in the DATA DIVISION by means of
having a single entry point and a single exit point. the OCCURS clause.
Control is passed downward through the structure
without unconditional branches to higher levels of the * table element. A data item that belongs to the set
hierarchy. of repeated items comprising a table.
* sub-class. A class that inherits from another class. text deck. Synonym for object deck or object module .
When two classes in an inheritance relationship are
considered together, the sub-class is the inheritor or * text-name. A user-defined word that identifies
inheriting class; the super-class is the inheritee or library text.
inherited class.
* text word. A character or a sequence of contiguous
* subject of entry. An operand or reserved word that characters between margin A and margin R in a
appears immediately following the level indicator or COBOL library, source program, or in pseudo-text
the level-number in a DATA DIVISION entry. which is:
• A separator, except for: space; a pseudo-text
* subprogram. See “called program.” delimiter; and the opening and closing delimiters
for nonnumeric literals. The right parenthesis and
* subscript. An occurrence number represented by left parenthesis characters, regardless of context
either an integer, a data-name optionally followed by within the library, source program, or pseudo-text,
an integer with the operator + or -, or an index-name are always considered text words.
optionally followed by an integer with the operator +
• A literal including, in the case of nonnumeric
or -, that identifies a particular element in a table. A
subscript may be the word ALL when the subscripted literals, the opening quotation mark and the
identifier is used as a function argument for a function closing quotation mark that bound the literal.
allowing a variable number of arguments. • Any other sequence of contiguous COBOL
characters except comment lines and the word
* subscripted data-name. An identifier that is ‘COPY’ bounded by separators that are neither a
composed of a data-name followed by one or more separator nor a literal.
subscripts enclosed in parentheses.
top-down design. The design of a computer program
* super-class. A class that is inherited by another using a hierarchic structure in which related functions
class. See also sub-class . are performed at each level of the structure.
switch-status condition. The proposition, for which a top-down development. See “structured
truth value can be determined, that an UPSI switch, programming.”
capable of being set to an ‘on’ or ‘off’ status, has
been set to a specific status.

trailer-label. (1) A file or data set label that follows * variable occurrence data item. A variable
the data records on a unit of recording medium. (2) occurrence data item is a table element which is
Synonym for end-of-file label. repeated a variable number of times. Such an item
must contain an OCCURS DEPENDING ON clause in its
* truth value. The representation of the result of the data description entry, or be subordinate to such an
evaluation of a condition in terms of one of two item.
values: true or false.
* variably located group.. A group item following, and
not subordinate to, a variable-length table in the
U same level-01 record.
* unary operator. A plus (+) or a minus (-) sign, that * variably located item.. A data item following, and
precedes a variable or a left parenthesis in an not subordinate to, a variable-length table in the
arithmetic expression and that has the effect of same level-01 record.
multiplying the expression by +1 or -1, respectively.
* verb. A word that expresses an action to be taken
unit. A module of direct access, the dimensions of by a COBOL compiler or object program.
which are determined by IBM.
VM/SP (Virtual Machine/System Product). An
universal object reference. A data-name that can IBM-licensed program that manages the resources of
refer to an object of any class. a single computer so that multiple computing systems
appear to exist. Each virtual machine is the
* unsuccessful execution. The attempted execution of functional equivalent of a “real” machine.
a statement that does not result in the execution of all
the operations specified by that statement. The volume. A module of external storage. For tape
unsuccessful execution of a statement does not affect devices it is a reel; for direct-access devices it is a
any data referenced by that statement, but may affect unit.
status indicators.
volume switch procedures. System specific
UPSI switch. A program switch that performs the procedures executed automatically when the end of a
functions of a hardware switch. Eight are provided: unit or reel has been reached before end-of-file has
UPSI-0 through UPSI-7. been reached.
* user-defined word. A COBOL word that must be

supplied by the user to satisfy the format of a clause W
or statement.
* word. A character-string of not more than 30
characters which forms a user-defined word, a
V system-name, a reserved word, or a function-name.
* variable. A data item whose value may be changed * WORKING-STORAGE SECTION. The section of the
by execution of the object program. A variable used DATA DIVISION that describes working storage data
in an arithmetic expression must be a numeric items, composed either of noncontiguous items or
elementary item. working storage records or of both.
* variable length record. A record associated with a

file whose file description or sort-merge description Z
entry permits records to contain a varying number of
character positions. zoned decimal item. See “external decimal item.”
Glossary 85
List of Abbreviations
ANSI American National Standards MF Micro Focus
Institute
PM presentation manager
DB2 Data Base 2 from IBM
UI user interface
DS Dialog System
VDE visual development
GUI graphical user interface environment
IBM International Business VSAM virtual storage access
Machines Corporation method
ITSO International Technical
Support Organization

Index
parts in visual development environment (continued)
A menu items 26
abbreviations 87 message boxes 33
acronyms 87 multiline entry fields 31
notebooks 32
push buttons 29
B radio button 31
bibliography 61
selection or combination boxes 31
static text 31
windows 25
D PM application
dialog system
structure 3
comparison to VDE 4
data migration 7
export file 17, 45
migration approach 5
R
REXX
objects 18
VX-REXX 17
sample export file 19
structure 1, 2
S
sample application
M customer information window 13
migration utility
customer list window 13
description 17
embedding logic code 42
hardware requirements 57
entry field event code migration 48, 51
installation 57
event logic migration 45
main window 17, 21
main window 11
software requirements 57
migration 35
using 21
migration LOG file 36
o v e r v i e w 11
push button event code migration 53, 54
O radio button event code migration 54, 55
objects in dialog system
select model window 14
bitmaps 32
select part number window 14
dialog boxes 32
shipid window 15
entry fields 27
VDE code assistant 46
group boxes 32
window structure 13
list boxes 30
menu items 26
message boxes 33
multiline entry fields 31
V
visual development environment
notebooks 32
comparison to dialog system 4
push buttons 29
data migration 7
radio button 31
log file format 20
selection or combination boxes 31
migration approach 5
static text 31
ODG file format 20
windows 25
parts 18
user-defined part 22
P
parts in visual development environment
bitmaps 32
dialog boxes 32
entry fields 27
group boxes 32
list boxes 30

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Migrating Micro Focus OS/2 Dialog System Applications

Migrating Micro Focus OS/2 Dialog System Applications

First Edition (December 1996)

Comments may be addressed to:

 Copyright International Business Machines Corporation 1996. All rights reserved.

Chapter 2. Sample Application Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Chapter 3. Migration Utility Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Chapter 4. Comparison of MF Dialog System Objects and VisualAge COBOL

Chapter 5. Migrating the Sample Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Chapter 6. Embedding COBOL Logic in the Sample Application . . . . . . . . 39

 Copyright IBM Corp. 1996 iii

Chapter 8. Installing the Migration Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Appendix A. Special Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Appendix B. Related Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

How to Get ITSO Redbooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

iv Micro Focus Dialog System to VisualAge COBOL

 Copyright IBM Corp. 1996 v

This redbook was written for application developers interested in the

A practical example is used as illustration of the migration process and the

How This Redbook Is Organized

 Copyright IBM Corp. 1996 vii

Agostino Assi, IBM Italy.

This project was designed and managed by:

We want our redbooks to be as helpful as possible. Please send us your

viii Micro Focus Dialog System to VisualAge COBOL

Often when we discuss migrations, we mean moving from one version of a

Another type of migration, less frequent perhaps because it is more complex,

1.1 Description of a Typical GUI MF COBOL Application

 Copyright IBM Corp. 1996 1

A graphical representation of how components talk to one another in the MF

2 Micro Focus Dialog System to VisualAge COBOL

1.2 Description of a Typical IBM COBOL PM Application

4 Micro Focus Dialog System to VisualAge COBOL

1.3 The Migration Approach

Figure 4 is a graphical representation of the desired migration method.

1.3.1 Changing from DS to VDE

Instead, we wrote a Migration Utility procedure that assists in creating some of

6 Micro Focus Dialog System to VisualAge COBOL

1.3.3 Moving from MF COBOL to IBM COBOL

Figure 6. Conversion Requirements for Data File Migration

8 Micro Focus Dialog System to VisualAge COBOL

2.1 Before You Start

2.2 Our Approach

Before beginning with migration suggestions, we briefly describe the application

2.3 The Application

The Celdial application to be used is a Presentation Manager (PM) application,

The main window of the order entry procedure is shown in Figure 8.

 Copyright IBM Corp. 1996 11

12 Micro Focus Dialog System to VisualAge COBOL

Figure 9. Customer List Window

Chapter 2. Sample Application Description 13

Figure 11. Select Part Number Window

14 Micro Focus Dialog System to VisualAge COBOL

Finally, select the Ship ID for your order (Figure 13).

Figure 13. Ship ID Window

Chapter 2. Sample Application Description 15

16 Micro Focus Dialog System to VisualAge COBOL

3.2 Utility Description