Visual COBOL Brochure Visual COBOL

Brochure Application Modernization and Connectivity

Business Challenge There is an increasing demand from users of business software for easier to use applications which flexibly integrate with other business systems. As a result IT organizations are being asked to deliver modern user interfaces and integrate multiple business systems. At the same time IT continually strives to reduce operational costs and risk by standardizing on common platforms for all their applications. This way, the same tools and processes can be used across teams regardless of which programming language was used to build it origi- nally. Microsoft’s .NET framework and the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) are widely seen as the standard frameworks of choice.

Moving to commodity hardware and managed code frameworks can return consider- Figure 1. Creating a REST web service using the graphical web services toolkit provided in Visual COBOL able cost savings and better business agility. But often, IT organizations must contend with these modern tools and processes enabling Existing COBOL applications seamlessly inte- long-standing applications that run on aging them to take on new enterprise application grate with C# or Java systems enabling faster or even unsupported hardware and software maintenance and development tasks. This development and service delivery. environments. Previously, IT organizations and approach accelerates onboarding, reduces ISVs considered that their only option to deliver new hire costs and delivers a future strategy new innovation was to rewrite business appli- Business Benefit for building next generation talent. Visual COBOL provides IT organizations with cations in newer languages, such as Java or the ability to create new customer value from C#. This strategy introduces considerable cost existing application investments. By re-using and risk for little business value. With Visual Solution Overview core application logic, Visual COBOL removes COBOL the application’s core business logic Visual COBOL is a suite of software products the risk associated with re-write or replacement is re-used enabling the application provider to designed to meet the needs of IT organizations strategies which expose the business to uncer- deploy new functionality across a wide range of with existing application investments written in tain cost and extended delivery time frames. enterprise platforms including Linux, .NET, JVM the COBOL language. or the Cloud. This strategy enables the orga- With Visual COBOL, organizations can quickly nization to take advantage of next generation Advanced COBOL application development and safely respond to new business require- technology alongside traditional strengths and tools available within Visual Studio and Eclipse ments and modern IT user needs with predict- reliability of proven application investments. provide developers with a modern develop- able and highly cost-effective results. ment experience, consistent with that of Java IT organizations must also find ways to quick and C# developers, facilitating fast, agile de- ly onboard or transfer specialty skills and velopment and easy onboarding for new staff. Feature Overview resources to support existing application in- Patented Compiler Technology vestments, avoiding the pitfalls of siloed appli- Patented compiler technology offers flexible The Visual COBOL compiler includes patented cation development. By standardizing within deployment options across native platforms technology that offers unique and highly ver- integrated development environments (IDEs)— including Windows, UNIX and Linux systems satile options for COBOL application develop- Visual Studio and Eclipse, IT teams can quickly as well as managed code environments such ment. COBOL programs can be compiled to a onboard new developers already familiar with as .NET and the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). variety of executable formats including:

2 ■ Intermediate code (.int) a Micro Focus platform portable executable format ■ Generated code (.gnt) a Micro Focus executable format optimized for the target platform ■ Shared Object (.so) native shared object executable format for UNIX/Linux platforms ■ Windows Executable (.exe/dll) native Windows executable formats ■ Java bytecode (.class) COBOL compiled to Java bytecode and executable within the JVM ■ .NET Assembly (.exe/.dll) COBOL compiled to MSIL and executable within the Microsoft Common Language Runtime (CLR). The Visual COBOL compiler offers support for a wide variety of modern and older COBOL dia- Figure 3. Mixed language COBOL and Java development within Eclipse lect variants and includes ANSI and ISO standards, Enterprise COBOL and many others. environment for the execution of COBOL ap- COBOL Server provides many services essen- plications. Consistent application behavior tial to a range of COBOL applications such as High Performance COBOL Runtime is provided across supported platforms and file processing, sorting and relational database Environment through use of a portable API layer, enabling support. The COBOL Server also provides ap- Micro Focus COBOL Server provides a high- developers to follow a write-once, deploy-any- plication tracing and diagnostic tools. performance and platform-portable runtime where approach. The latest release of Visual COBOL includes new compiler and runtime optimizations which have been shown to increase application performance on Intel-based systems by between 20-30% across a broad range of benchmarks.

Cross-Platform Deployment The Micro Focus COBOL compiler and COBOL runtime system provides ubiquitous platform coverage enabling COBOL applications to be deployed across a range of distributed systems, ensuring compatibility and consistent behaviour across different platforms. Standard library routines callable from COBOL applications enable application developers scope to write-once, deploy-anywhere yet still access operating system level functionality.

Figure 2. High performance, portable runtime execution environment for COBOL applications

www.microfocus.com 3 Brochure Visual COBOL

ISVs can target multiple platforms with the Visual COBOL provides advanced editing and ■ Snippets and templates give developers same COBOL codebase, increasing market debugging features within the IDE: access to commonly used constructs coverage and reducing application testing and can be customized to meet specific ■ Continuous background compilation overheads. Application owners can swiftly catches syntax errors as they occur developer and development team needs change operating platforms to take advantage providing instant feedback to the developer ■ Code analysis tools enable developers to of commodity hardware and more agile, flexible create customizable analysis queries that ■ Auto-complete prompts assist the deployment options. can be executed on demand or following developer when coding language a build. Out-of-the box queries identify constructs. It automatically offers This release of Visual COBOL includes sup- performance bottlenecks and dead code. port for the Docker container platform, further suggestions and access to framework increasing flexibility for application develop- APIs and documentation Reversible Debugging and Live Recorder ment and deployment. New product packag- ■ Advanced debugging tools support JIT, This release of Visual COBOL includes integra- ing options enable Docker deployment to both attach-to-process and remote debug options tion points to use patented reversible debug- Windows Server and Linux platforms. ■ Multiple tool windows provide extra ging tools from Undo. information about the structure and Advanced COBOL Development Tools layout of the application Unlike traditional debugging techniques, which Visual COBOL extends the Visual Studio and allow the developer to step forwards through ■ Inline editor views provide a single window Eclipse IDEs to provide a rich COBOL devel- view of a COBOL program, incorporating code as it executes, reversible debugging en- opment environment within the world’s most all copybooks used and the result of ables a developer to step back through the ap- popular application development platforms. COPY REPLACING plication’s execution path. Somewhat akin to This release of Visual COBOL further extends reviewing a CCTV recording, developers using Several code navigation tools assist application development options by offer- ■ reversible debugging tools can retrospectively developers in identifying points of interest ing access to Visual Studio Code for COBOL examine application behavior to identify and development. in the code, including go to definition, resolve logic errors. In addition to the stan- find all references, and navigation bars dard reversible debugging tools available from within the Eclipse IDE, the Live Recorder utility allows developers to capture application execution at runtime. Live Recorder trace files can subsequently be loaded into Eclipse for debugging and diagnostic purposes. In this release of Visual COBOL, reversible debugging and Live Recorder tools are available for Linux x86 platforms; these tools are separately licensable from Undo.io and can be downloaded from the Micro Focus Marketplace.

Agile Development This release of Visual COBOL includes features designed to support Agile development teams.

The Micro Focus COBOL unit testing framework enables developers to create unit tests for new application code. Unit tests can be auto mated as part of a continuous integration system to Figure 4. Visual COBOL for Eclipse remote development option provide immediate feedback to developers on

4 the results of the latest checked-in code. The RESTful Web Services can be orchestrated by Kubernetes to provide unit testing framework is available within the Visual COBOL provides several options for scalable and reliable application delivery. Visual Studio and Eclipse IDEs which provide building applications as part of an SOA or API tools for automatic test case creation and vi- development strategy. Once compiled for use UI Modernization sualization of results. in .NET or JVM environments, COBOL applica- For many organizations, the application user ex- tions can be invoked within the native frame- perience is often not in keeping with the needs Visual COBOL includes support for common work support for web services. of today’s users. Green-screen or command line Continuous Integration (CI) toolsets, such as driven data entry is commonplace and an up- Microsoft TFS and Jenkins. Documentation In addition, Visual COBOL provides a native dated modern look and feel is highly desirable. guides aid in configuring CI systems to com- code, COBOL application server which offers pile COBOL applications and run unit testing. both J2EE application server integration and a Visual COBOL’s integration with .NET and JVM Web Services option for SOAP or REST-JSON frameworks provide unique options for over- CI pipelines can be augmented using additional based web services. A graphical toolset en- hauling aged user interfaces while preserving validation checks such as coding standards ables developers to quickly create web ser- existing business logic. Modern UIs can be de- rules from Micro Focus COBOL Analyzer, unit vices from existing COBOL applications. Once veloped directly in COBOL or combined, using testing with code coverage, performance pro- created, services can be debugged and de- Java, C# or VB.NET for front end functionality filing and use of Live Recorder to capture failing ployed within the Micro Focus COBOL Server and COBOL for backend service delivery. test cases. for SOA, a high-performance COBOL application server environment. Java Remote Development for UNIX and Linux Visual COBOL provides several options for cre- Productivity offered by the Eclipse platform JSON ating composite applications which use both extends to COBOL application development This release of Visual COBOL includes sup- COBOL and Java. These include: on UNIX platforms. A remote development port for generating JSON data from COBOL ■ JNI mechanisms using the Micro Focus option enables developers to use Eclipse on records. The JSON GENERATE verb accepts OO COBOL Java domain Windows or Linux platforms while application a COBOL record structure and emits a JSON Java EE using Java Connector Architecture source code and data resides on a remote string; the verb also provides options for re- ■ (JCA) for EJB integration UNIX server. This feature enables teams to naming or suppressing certain fields. As JSON retain the traditional client-server approach to rapidly becomes the standard for data inter- ■ Direct bytecode generation using UNIX application development, while delivering change and with the predominance of tooling COBOL JVM a unified and seamless development experi- that can consume JSON, COBOL data in this The COBOL JVM option enables COBOL ap ence within Eclipse. Compilation and debug- format can be readily passed to external applications to be directly compiled to .class ging occur on the remote server while being plications for processing. files. This enables COBOL applications to run initiated and controlled through the Eclipse IDE. directly within the JVM and become accessible Containers to other JVM languages. COBOL developers The desire to deliver faster business results can also make use of the Java SDK or invoke The latest release of Visual has accelerated Agile and DevOps practices functionality implemented by other languages COBOL includes new compiler within IT organizations. Engineering teams are in separate .class files. achieving higher rates of success by embrac- and runtime optimizations which ing containerized architectures to support in- Microsoft .NET have been shown to increase creased software deliveries. Visual COBOL compiler technology enables application performance on COBOL applications to be compiled directly Intel-based systems by between Visual COBOL provides containerized devel- to Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL) 20-30% across a broad range opment and deployment options using Docker. assemblies. This enables COBOL applications of benchmarks. The Visual COBOL native web services toolkit to run directly within the Common Language supports containerized delivery of APIs which Runtime (CLR) and become accessible to other

www.microfocus.com 5 Brochure Visual COBOL

.NET languages, such as C# or VB. COBOL de- procedural COBOL applications by implement- velopers can also make use of .NET framework ing routines that hide the complexity involved in “When we first invested in COBOL APIs or invoke functionality implemented by converting to and from COBOL systems. other languages within separate assemblies. decades ago, who would have Run Units thought that streaming music Modern COBOL Syntax Application developers and architects can face would even be a thing? But here The COBOL language has been enhanced to challenges when reusing procedural COBOL we are, and it is testimony to the better support the needs of application devel- applications in multi-user environments, such longevity of COBOL and the strategic opers working within .NET and JVM platforms. as web-based deployments in .NET and JVM. direction of Micro Focus that we An extended and lightweight object-oriented COBOL programs were traditionally archi- syntax is available for creating classes in tected to isolate user state within separate are successfully riding the digital COBOL or can be used to invoke object-ori- processes and which conflicts with the web transformation wave in our industry.” ented code from traditional procedural COBOL. server models in .NET and JVM. MARK ATKINS These extensions also add modern constructs Micro Focus run unit technology solves this Business Support and Infrastructure Manager to COBOL programming, such as the ability to challenge by enabling a top-level COBOL pro APRA AMCOS declare local fields. gram where all data and sub programs are then isolated from other users of the application. SmartLinkage Multiple instances of the top-level program network of specialist partners, with decades When compiling COBOL applications for Java can be constructed, each corresponding to of skill in application rehosting and moderniza- bytecode or MSIL, the Visual COBOL compiler individual users, removing the need to update tion, ensures that the most effective solutions can be instructed to automatically produce or re-architect the existing COBOL applica- are provided for our customers. wrapper classes which can be used by C#, tions and easing the transition to .NET and VB.NET or Java developers. These classes JVM platforms. Specialized compiler directives are provided to assist other developers in calling existing emulate source platform behavior and include Data Tools platform-specific functions, such as Little En A comprehensive suite of COBOL data tools dian (LE) routines. “Leveraging Visual COBOL we is provided for the editing and maintenance of COBOL data files. A COBOL file editor supports Data conversion tooling is available and pro- created a CI/CD and container formatted data editing of COBOL data types vides support for ASCII and EBCDIC data formats. pipeline approach in AWS to give and a data file converter, enabling files to be us rapid deployment capability. converted from one format to a wide variety Products of alternatives. Instead of two major releases Application Development each year, over the last 12 months ■ Visual COBOL for Visual Studio we deployed 800 times.” Application Rehosting ■ Visual COBOL for Eclipse Visual COBOL is the leading choice for main- ■ Visual COBOL Development Hub frame application rehosting projects. Visual MARK BELL Application Deployment COBOL integrates with the leading transaction Virtual Machine Environment— ■ COBOL Server Replacement Programme Deputy Directos processing monitors and middleware vendors Department for Work and Pensions including IBM TX Series and Oracle Tuxedo. Our

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