MF COBOL - Is it hard to learn?
in [Cobol]
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From: Alistair on 23 Jan 2008 08:40 On 23 Jan, 12:47, hp3kpro <BJ...(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > You're correct -my question was a bit confusing. I am indeed referring > to MicroFocus COBOL which seems to require using a certain menu driven > tool as opposed to "regular" COBOL simply created in a line editor. > > Thanks. > > On Jan 22, 6:23 pm, "William M. Klein" <wmkl...(a)nospam.netcom.com> > wrote: > > > > > You question is a little confusing to me. First, when you say "MF COBOL" - do > > you mean "Micro Focus COBOL" or do you mean "Mainframe COBOL"? The same term is > > often used for either. My best guess is that you mean "Micro Focus COBOL - on > > HP3000, but I could be mistaken. > > > Now, the next question is what do you mean by "regular" COBOL? In other words, > > what two environments are you really trying to compare. > > > Without the answers to this, getting a useful response will be pretty difficult. > > However, IN GENERAL, going from one vendor's COBOL to another's - even on > > different platforms isn't TOO difficult. However, it is usually the > > "environment" that presents the challenges: > > - what development tools and environment is there? (particularly interactive > > debugging and source code editing) > > - what "screen" systems are in use? > > - what databases are in use? > > - what JCL, scripting, other "external procedure language" is in use? > > > I don't know if this helps, but if you give us more details on your question, we > > might be able to help more. > > > -- > > Bill Klein > > wmklein <at> ix.netcom.com"hp3kpro" <BJ...(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message > > >news:3f458843-2b2f-4226-81e7-178e2d6b3d6a(a)s19g2000prg.googlegroups.com... > > > >I am an experienced COBOL programmer (HP3000)-26 years. > > > How different is "regular" COBOL from MF COBOL? > > > > Thanks. > > > Brian- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - Micro Focus Cobol does not prevent you from editing the source code using notepad or any editor that takes your fancy. The environment does have an integrated editor which is useful when you have to work your way through a long list of compile errors (like the Fujitsu IDE it will jump to the line in error when you double click on the error message).
From: Robert on 23 Jan 2008 08:41 On Wed, 23 Jan 2008 04:47:38 -0800 (PST), hp3kpro <BJLPA(a)hotmail.com> wrote: >You're correct -my question was a bit confusing. I am indeed referring >to MicroFocus COBOL which seems to require using a certain menu driven >tool as opposed to "regular" COBOL simply created in a line editor. The Micro Focus workbench is available on Windows, not on Unix. It is not required. You can use any editor and do command line compilations on Windows, same as you must do on Unix. There is no reason to avoid the workbench on Windows; it's a good editor. >On Jan 22, 6:23�pm, "William M. Klein" <wmkl...(a)nospam.netcom.com> >wrote: >> You question is a little confusing to me. �First, when you say "MF COBOL" - do >> you mean "Micro Focus COBOL" or do you mean "Mainframe COBOL"? �The same term is >> often used for either. �My best guess is that you mean "Micro Focus COBOL - on >> HP3000, but I could be mistaken. >> >> Now, the next question is what do you mean by "regular" COBOL? �In other words, >> what two environments are you really trying to compare. >> >> Without the answers to this, getting a useful response will be pretty difficult. >> However, IN GENERAL, going from one vendor's COBOL to another's - even on >> different platforms isn't TOO difficult. �However, it is usually the >> "environment" that presents the challenges: >> � - what development tools and environment is there? (particularly interactive >> debugging and source code editing) >> � - what "screen" systems are in use? >> �- what databases are in use? >> �- what JCL, scripting, other "external procedure language" is in use? >> >> I don't know if this helps, but if you give us more details on your question, we >> might be able to help more. >> >> -- >> Bill Klein >> �wmklein <at> ix.netcom.com"hp3kpro" <BJ...(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message >> >> news:3f458843-2b2f-4226-81e7-178e2d6b3d6a(a)s19g2000prg.googlegroups.com... >> >> >> >> >I am an experienced COBOL programmer (HP3000)-26 years. >> > How different is "regular" COBOL from MF COBOL? >> >> > Thanks. >> > Brian- Hide quoted text - >> >> - Show quoted text -
From: William M. Klein on 23 Jan 2008 16:26
As others have indicated, you don't need to use the Micro Focus development interface in order to compile Micro Focus source code. If your question has to do with what the differences are in source code supported between Micro Focus COBOL and other compilers, then it depends on which compiler. There is a COBOL Standard (well actually a few). Micro Focus documentation tells you which syntax structures are extensions. You can even setup your Micro Focus environment to flag or give errors when you use such extensions. I think that I am still unclear as to what you are really trying to compare. There is no such thing as "regular COBOL" so comparing Micro Focus COBOL to it is hard to do. <G> -- Bill Klein wmklein <at> ix.netcom.com "hp3kpro" <BJLPA(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message news:5fb1c439-51ae-407c-8198-b05550d001a8(a)j20g2000hsi.googlegroups.com... You're correct -my question was a bit confusing. I am indeed referring to MicroFocus COBOL which seems to require using a certain menu driven tool as opposed to "regular" COBOL simply created in a line editor. Thanks. On Jan 22, 6:23 pm, "William M. Klein" <wmkl...(a)nospam.netcom.com> wrote: > You question is a little confusing to me. First, when you say "MF COBOL" - do > you mean "Micro Focus COBOL" or do you mean "Mainframe COBOL"? The same term > is > often used for either. My best guess is that you mean "Micro Focus COBOL - on > HP3000, but I could be mistaken. > > Now, the next question is what do you mean by "regular" COBOL? In other words, > what two environments are you really trying to compare. > > Without the answers to this, getting a useful response will be pretty > difficult. > However, IN GENERAL, going from one vendor's COBOL to another's - even on > different platforms isn't TOO difficult. However, it is usually the > "environment" that presents the challenges: > - what development tools and environment is there? (particularly interactive > debugging and source code editing) > - what "screen" systems are in use? > - what databases are in use? > - what JCL, scripting, other "external procedure language" is in use? > > I don't know if this helps, but if you give us more details on your question, > we > might be able to help more. > > -- > Bill Klein > wmklein <at> ix.netcom.com"hp3kpro" <BJ...(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message > > news:3f458843-2b2f-4226-81e7-178e2d6b3d6a(a)s19g2000prg.googlegroups.com... > > > > >I am an experienced COBOL programmer (HP3000)-26 years. > > How different is "regular" COBOL from MF COBOL? > > > Thanks. > > Brian- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - |