From: "McKown, John" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Imagine how nice it would be to have a COBOL
aware editor that would be able to know your data names, even if they
are in a COPY book.
In some ways, the ISPF editor is already 'COBOL aware'. If highlighting is
turned it colors the program to show comments, literals, key words, and so
on. You can also use just about any PC editor to seamlessly edit mainframe
files; e.g. select a COBOL program from a member list and it instantly opens
on a PC/workstation using a favorite workstation editor. All of this is free
(i.e. no add-on products to buy, no Websphere Developers environment to
install, etc).
There are also COBOL sensitive vendor products such as the ASG 'SmartEdit'
product. I used it at a former company, and was very impressed with it. It
will do things like syntax check your program, 'zoomin' on copybooks, step
through a program as if it were executing, and much more.
There are a number of general purpose tools built into SimpList that enhance
edit and view sessions. They're not COBOL specific, but they certainly make
life easier when editing or viewing any type of file. For example, 'FN' can
be entered on a command line (short for 'Find Next'), and the cursor can be
pointed at a string to find the next occurrence of it. 'FF' can be used to
Find First, 'FP' to Find Previous, and so on. When a member name appears
inside another member (such as when a COBOL program calls another program or
imbeds a copybook), the called program or copybook can be browsed or edited
(etc) by entering a command on the command line (e.g. 'ED' for edit) and
pointing the cursor at the called program or copybook name. This works even
if the called program or copybook is in a different library.
In the "Mainframe News" article the author mentioned developing COBOL on a
"green screen". With edit highlighting, seamless PC editing, and the
availability of various vendor tools, I haven't seen anyone editing on a
green screen in a very long time.
Dave Salt
SimpList(tm) - The easiest, most powerful way to surf a mainframe!
http://www.mackinney.com/products/SIM/simplist.htm
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