All of ACAS as well as all my other applications written in Cobol are Open Source with the FSF Copying clauses set v3 I seem to recall.
You can do what you like for your own or company personal use but may NOT sell, rent or otherwise release for money without an agreement with me first.
I would always be interested in any proposals from any one in this regard.
Vincent B Coen FBCS (ret).
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
All of ACAS as well as all my other applications written in Cobol are Open Source with the FSF Copying clauses set v3 I seem to recall.
You can do what you like for your own or company personal use but may NOT sell, rent or otherwise release for money without an agreement with me first.
I don't think this works that way as the (L)GPL clauses allow you to use the software for any purpose. To reach what you've described you would need to adjust from a free to dual-license (commercial + an only open-source license with additional restrictions).
Nothing new really to contribute, but managed to create a SCO UnixWare 7.1.4 VM with RM/COBOL 85 and everything from 40 years ago compiles without any errors. The original code was written on a DEC VAX 11/785 with AT&T System V UNIX. Even got Microsoft Multiplan to run! Now who remembers that one? Too bad I can't remember how to use it though with no manual. Naturally it only runs on this VM, but it was fun to bring the old applications back to life once again!
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Nothing new really to contribute, but managed to create a SCO UnixWare
7.1.4 VM with RM/COBOL 85 and everything from 40 years ago compiles without
any errors. The original code was written on a DEC VAX 11/785 with AT&T
System V UNIX. Even got Microsoft Multiplan to run! Now who remembers that
one? Too bad I can't remember how to use it though with no manual.
Naturally it only runs on this VM, but it was fun to bring the old
applications back to life once again!
John,
What cobol software were you able to compile? Was it the Tandy accounting
system? I used multiplan on the TRS 6000 & Model4p back in the 80s. The
menu is activated with the / key. If I recall correctly it was written by
Microsoft way before Excel.
Nothing new really to contribute, but managed to create a SCO UnixWare 7.1.4
VM with RM/COBOL 85 and everything from 40 years ago compiles without any
errors. The original code was written on a DEC VAX 11/785 with AT&T System V
UNIX. Even got Microsoft Multiplan to run! Now who remembers that one? Too
bad I can't remember how to use it though with no manual. Naturally it only
runs on this VM, but it was fun to bring the old applications back to life
once again!
I wouldn't mind a show and tell. Unfortunately it will have to wait because I did something really, really stupid by upgrading my RHEL system without asking the clowns at VMware/Broadcom if it was OK. So now VMware Workstation doesn't run. Of course it's the exact same problem they've refused to fix for 10 years. And Broadcom has the most idiotic web site to navigate. My daughter's cat could do a better job. Might have to get a copy of VMware that runs on (ugh) Windows if it isn't fixed fast.
With that rant out of the way, these applications started on a Xenix TRS 6000 (or was it a Model 16?) with RM/COBOL. Then moved to a VAX 11/785 running AT&T System V. Then a brief spell on Novell Netware, and finally to SCO UnixWare 7.1.4. Everything after the VAX was 386 and 486 computers. That's the nice thing about pseudo code: Just need the proper runtime for the OS and it still works.
I purchased the entire Real World Accounting suite source code: AP, AR, GL, OE and I forget what others. That's what screen.cbl is from. Remember: It's still considered proprietary software. I even wrote a Job Costing module for a company that interfaced with all of it. This is when it came on those 8" floppy disks. They might have even been double sided!! No idea where the software is now. It might be backed up to DAT 72 tapes, but I don't have a working drive. Should have kept better track of them over the past 40 years.
The application I'm talking about now is a tax return application suite for a Fortune 100 corporation. It did the company's federal, state and international tax returns. It was the largest single consolidation of data in the company as it collected financial data from about 600 business units. We used uucp to send files to other servers all over the world, and printed to LaserJet compatible printers globally.
We were able to write scripts that passed keystrokes to the applications so they could run unattended, and the applications even created Multiplan files (I think it was SYLK format) on the fly. The bean counters loved that. And even back then we were able to call C programs, and printing was built-in. Many aspects far better than today's GnuCOBOL.
We even had a Xerox 3700 laser printer that had a hard drive on it. We could upload pre-printed forms, (about 150) then call them down from COBOL, populate rows and columns with data and print them on demand.
The compiler was always RM/COBOL. Started around version 1.7, and last version was 2.1A1.
Hard as it may be to understand, this is more of a passing fun-time project. Gives me something to fend off boredom on many cross-country plane rides.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
I wouldn't mind a show and tell. Unfortunately it will have to wait because
I did something really, really stupid by upgrading my RHEL system without
asking the clowns at VMware/Broadcom if it was OK. So now VMware Workstation
doesn't run. Of course it's the exact same problem they've refused to fix
for 10 years. And Broadcom has the most idiotic web site to navigate. My
daughter's cat could do a better job. Might have to get a copy of VMware
that runs on (ugh) Windows if it isn't fixed fast.
With that rant out of the way, these applications started on a Xenix TRS
6000 (or was it a Model 16?) with RM/COBOL. Then moved to a VAX 11/785
running AT&T System V. Then a brief spell on Novell Netware, and finally to
SCO UnixWare 7.1.4. Everything after the VAX was 386 and 486 computers.
That's the nice thing about pseudo code: Just need the proper runtime for
the OS and it still works.
I purchased the entire Real World Accounting suite source code: AP, AR, GL,
OE and I forget what others. That's what screen.cbl is from. Remember: It's
still considered proprietary software. I even wrote a Job Costing module for
a company that interfaced with all of it. This is when it came on those 8"
floppy disks. They might have even been double sided!! No idea where the
software is now. It might be backed up to DAT 72 tapes, but I don't have a
working drive. Should have kept better track of them over the past 40 years.
The application I'm talking about now is a tax return application suite for
a Fortune 100 corporation. It did the company's federal, state and
international tax returns. It was the largest single consolidation of data
in the company as it collected financial data from about 600 business units.
We used uucp to send files to other servers all over the world, and printed
to LaserJet compatible printers globally.
We were able to write scripts that passed keystrokes to the applications so
they could run unattended, and the applications even created Multiplan files
(I think it was SYLK format) on the fly. The bean counters loved that. And
even back then we were able to call C programs, and printing was built-in.
Many aspects far better than today's GnuCOBOL.
We even had a Xerox 3700 laser printer that had a hard drive on it. We could
upload pre-printed forms, (about 150) then call them down from COBOL,
populate rows and columns with data and print them on demand.
The compiler was always RM/COBOL. Started around version 1.7, and last
version was 2.1A1.
Hard as it may be to understand, this is more of a passing fun-time project.
Gives me something to fend off boredom on many cross-country plane rides.
Do you have access to the manuals for the accounting s/w still and is
it available as .pdf files ?
I could not find any for the Cobol implementation for the Tandy, only
for older system written in Basic some of which included the basic code
within. This reminded me of the books available around that time that
did the same but the suites was poorly completed with large holes in the
functionality but as I run a distributor that sold these (amongst other
such as Osborne books), they did reasonably well sales wise.
The request for any such documents is to see how they differ from my O/S
released ACAS accounting system which you can find on SF and from my
website as a nightly build (for updates etc including manuals).
Note that ACAS has been migrated over to GnuCobol some 10 + years ago.
Current version also supports usage of RDBMS in the form of Mysql and
Mariadb subject to user requirements as well as tools to transfer Cobol
files to RDB if required.
Note O/S = Open Sourced as I discontinued selling the product as a
commercial system some years back having becoming 70 years young :)
All current users at that time were switched to using these versions
(v3.01 and the latest as v3.02) with no maintenance or rental charges
etc and they use a range of differing hardware and OS systems with the
one proviso that they can run the GnuCobol compiler..
On 12/05/2024 01:03, John Ritter wrote:
I wouldn't mind a show and tell. Unfortunately it will have to wait
because I did something really, really stupid by upgrading my RHEL
system without asking the clowns at VMware/Broadcom if it was OK. So
now VMware Workstation doesn't run. Of course it's the exact same
problem they've refused to fix for 10 years. And Broadcom has the most
idiotic web site to navigate. My daughter's cat could do a better job.
Might have to get a copy of VMware that runs on (ugh) Windows if it
isn't fixed fast.
With that rant out of the way, these applications started on a Xenix
TRS 6000 (or was it a Model 16?) with RM/COBOL. Then moved to a VAX
11/785 running AT&T System V. Then a brief spell on Novell Netware,
and finally to SCO UnixWare 7.1.4. Everything after the VAX was 386
and 486 computers. That's the nice thing about pseudo code: Just need
the proper runtime for the OS and it still works.
I purchased the entire Real World Accounting suite source code: AP,
AR, GL, OE and I forget what others. That's what screen.cbl is from.
Remember: It's still considered proprietary software. I even wrote a
Job Costing module for a company that interfaced with all of it. This
is when it came on those 8" floppy disks. They might have even been
double sided!! No idea where the software is now. It might be backed
up to DAT 72 tapes, but I don't have a working drive. Should have kept
better track of them over the past 40 years.
The application I'm talking about now is a tax return application
suite for a Fortune 100 corporation. It did the company's federal,
state and international tax returns. It was the largest single
consolidation of data in the company as it collected financial data
from about 600 business units. We used uucp to send files to other
servers all over the world, and printed to LaserJet compatible
printers globally.
We were able to write scripts that passed keystrokes to the
applications so they could run unattended, and the applications even
created Multiplan files (I think it was SYLK format) on the fly. The
bean counters loved that. And even back then we were able to call C
programs, and printing was built-in. Many aspects far better than
today's GnuCOBOL.
We even had a Xerox 3700 laser printer that had a hard drive on it. We
could upload pre-printed forms, (about 150) then call them down from
COBOL, populate rows and columns with data and print them on demand.
The compiler was always RM/COBOL. Started around version 1.7, and last
version was 2.1A1.
Hard as it may be to understand, this is more of a passing fun-time
project. Gives me something to fend off boredom on many cross-country
plane rides.
Do you have access to the manuals for the accounting s/w still and is
it available as .pdf files ?
I could not find any for the Cobol implementation for the Tandy, only
for older system written in Basic some of which included the basic code
within. This reminded me of the books available around that time that
did the same but the suites was poorly completed with large holes in the
functionality but as I run a distributor that sold these (amongst other
such as Osborne books), they did reasonably well sales wise.
The request for any such documents is to see how they differ from my O/S
released ACAS accounting system which you can find on SF and from my
website as a nightly build (for updates etc including manuals).
Note that ACAS has been migrated over to GnuCobol some 10 + years ago.
Current version also supports usage of RDBMS in the form of Mysql and
Mariadb subject to user requirements as well as tools to transfer Cobol
files to RDB if required.
Note O/S = Open Sourced as I discontinued selling the product as a
commercial system some years back having becoming 70 years young :)
All current users at that time were switched to using these versions
(v3.01 and the latest as v3.02) with no maintenance or rental charges
etc and they use a range of differing hardware and OS systems with the
one proviso that they can run the GnuCobol compiler..
On 12/05/2024 01:03, John Ritter wrote:
I wouldn't mind a show and tell. Unfortunately it will have to wait
because I did something really, really stupid by upgrading my RHEL
system without asking the clowns at VMware/Broadcom if it was OK. So
now VMware Workstation doesn't run. Of course it's the exact same
problem they've refused to fix for 10 years. And Broadcom has the most
idiotic web site to navigate. My daughter's cat could do a better job.
Might have to get a copy of VMware that runs on (ugh) Windows if it
isn't fixed fast.
With that rant out of the way, these applications started on a Xenix
TRS 6000 (or was it a Model 16?) with RM/COBOL. Then moved to a VAX
11/785 running AT&T System V. Then a brief spell on Novell Netware,
and finally to SCO UnixWare 7.1.4. Everything after the VAX was 386
and 486 computers. That's the nice thing about pseudo code: Just need
the proper runtime for the OS and it still works.
I purchased the entire Real World Accounting suite source code: AP,
AR, GL, OE and I forget what others. That's what screen.cbl is from.
Remember: It's still considered proprietary software. I even wrote a
Job Costing module for a company that interfaced with all of it. This
is when it came on those 8" floppy disks. They might have even been
double sided!! No idea where the software is now. It might be backed
up to DAT 72 tapes, but I don't have a working drive. Should have kept
better track of them over the past 40 years.
The application I'm talking about now is a tax return application
suite for a Fortune 100 corporation. It did the company's federal,
state and international tax returns. It was the largest single
consolidation of data in the company as it collected financial data
from about 600 business units. We used uucp to send files to other
servers all over the world, and printed to LaserJet compatible
printers globally.
We were able to write scripts that passed keystrokes to the
applications so they could run unattended, and the applications even
created Multiplan files (I think it was SYLK format) on the fly. The
bean counters loved that. And even back then we were able to call C
programs, and printing was built-in. Many aspects far better than
today's GnuCOBOL.
We even had a Xerox 3700 laser printer that had a hard drive on it. We
could upload pre-printed forms, (about 150) then call them down from
COBOL, populate rows and columns with data and print them on demand.
The compiler was always RM/COBOL. Started around version 1.7, and last
version was 2.1A1.
Hard as it may be to understand, this is more of a passing fun-time
project. Gives me something to fend off boredom on many cross-country
plane rides.
Unfortunately I don’t have any of the documentation. This goes back to
the early 80’s, so no PDF files.
From: discussion@gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net
discussion@gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net On Behalf Of Vincent (Bryan) Coen
Sent: Monday, May 13, 2024 8:29 AM
To: [gnucobol:discussion] cobol@discussion.gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net
Subject: [gnucobol:discussion] Re: tandy rmcobol
Do you have access to the manuals for the accounting s/w still and is
it available as .pdf files ?
I could not find any for the Cobol implementation for the Tandy, only
for older system written in Basic some of which included the basic code
within. This reminded me of the books available around that time that
did the same but the suites was poorly completed with large holes in the
functionality but as I run a distributor that sold these (amongst other
such as Osborne books), they did reasonably well sales wise.
The request for any such documents is to see how they differ from my O/S
released ACAS accounting system which you can find on SF and from my
website as a nightly build (for updates etc including manuals).
Note that ACAS has been migrated over to GnuCobol some 10 + years ago.
Current version also supports usage of RDBMS in the form of Mysql and
Mariadb subject to user requirements as well as tools to transfer Cobol
files to RDB if required.
Note O/S = Open Sourced as I discontinued selling the product as a
commercial system some years back having becoming 70 years young :)
All current users at that time were switched to using these versions
(v3.01 and the latest as v3.02) with no maintenance or rental charges
etc and they use a range of differing hardware and OS systems with the
one proviso that they can run the GnuCobol compiler..
On 12/05/2024 01:03, John Ritter wrote:
I wouldn't mind a show and tell. Unfortunately it will have to wait
because I did something really, really stupid by upgrading my RHEL
system without asking the clowns at VMware/Broadcom if it was OK. So
now VMware Workstation doesn't run. Of course it's the exact same
problem they've refused to fix for 10 years. And Broadcom has the most
idiotic web site to navigate. My daughter's cat could do a better job.
Might have to get a copy of VMware that runs on (ugh) Windows if it
isn't fixed fast.
With that rant out of the way, these applications started on a Xenix
TRS 6000 (or was it a Model 16?) with RM/COBOL. Then moved to a VAX
11/785 running AT&T System V. Then a brief spell on Novell Netware,
and finally to SCO UnixWare 7.1.4. Everything after the VAX was 386
and 486 computers. That's the nice thing about pseudo code: Just need
the proper runtime for the OS and it still works.
I purchased the entire Real World Accounting suite source code: AP,
AR, GL, OE and I forget what others. That's what screen.cbl is from.
Remember: It's still considered proprietary software. I even wrote a
Job Costing module for a company that interfaced with all of it. This
is when it came on those 8" floppy disks. They might have even been
double sided!! No idea where the software is now. It might be backed
up to DAT 72 tapes, but I don't have a working drive. Should have kept
better track of them over the past 40 years.
The application I'm talking about now is a tax return application
suite for a Fortune 100 corporation. It did the company's federal,
state and international tax returns. It was the largest single
consolidation of data in the company as it collected financial data
from about 600 business units. We used uucp to send files to other
servers all over the world, and printed to LaserJet compatible
printers globally.
We were able to write scripts that passed keystrokes to the
applications so they could run unattended, and the applications even
created Multiplan files (I think it was SYLK format) on the fly. The
bean counters loved that. And even back then we were able to call C
programs, and printing was built-in. Many aspects far better than
today's GnuCOBOL.
We even had a Xerox 3700 laser printer that had a hard drive on it. We
could upload pre-printed forms, (about 150) then call them down from
COBOL, populate rows and columns with data and print them on demand.
The compiler was always RM/COBOL. Started around version 1.7, and last
version was 2.1A1.
Hard as it may be to understand, this is more of a passing fun-time
project. Gives me something to fend off boredom on many cross-country
plane rides.
Do you have access to the manuals for the accounting s/w still and is
it available as .pdf files ?
I could not find any for the Cobol implementation for the Tandy, only
for older system written in Basic some of which included the basic code
within. This reminded me of the books available around that time that
did the same but the suites was poorly completed with large holes in the
functionality but as I run a distributor that sold these (amongst other
such as Osborne books), they did reasonably well sales wise.
The request for any such documents is to see how they differ from my O/S
released ACAS accounting system which you can find on SF and from my
website as a nightly build (for updates etc including manuals).
Note that ACAS has been migrated over to GnuCobol some 10 + years ago.
Current version also supports usage of RDBMS in the form of Mysql and
Mariadb subject to user requirements as well as tools to transfer Cobol
files to RDB if required.
Note O/S = Open Sourced as I discontinued selling the product as a
commercial system some years back having becoming 70 years young :)
All current users at that time were switched to using these versions
(v3.01 and the latest as v3.02) with no maintenance or rental charges
etc and they use a range of differing hardware and OS systems with the
one proviso that they can run the GnuCobol compiler..
On 12/05/2024 01:03, John Ritter wrote:
I wouldn't mind a show and tell. Unfortunately it will have to wait
because I did something really, really stupid by upgrading my RHEL
system without asking the clowns at VMware/Broadcom if it was OK. So
now VMware Workstation doesn't run. Of course it's the exact same
problem they've refused to fix for 10 years. And Broadcom has the most
idiotic web site to navigate. My daughter's cat could do a better job.
Might have to get a copy of VMware that runs on (ugh) Windows if it
isn't fixed fast.
With that rant out of the way, these applications started on a Xenix
TRS 6000 (or was it a Model 16?) with RM/COBOL. Then moved to a VAX
11/785 running AT&T System V. Then a brief spell on Novell Netware,
and finally to SCO UnixWare 7.1.4. Everything after the VAX was 386
and 486 computers. That's the nice thing about pseudo code: Just need
the proper runtime for the OS and it still works.
I purchased the entire Real World Accounting suite source code: AP,
AR, GL, OE and I forget what others. That's what screen.cbl is from.
Remember: It's still considered proprietary software. I even wrote a
Job Costing module for a company that interfaced with all of it. This
is when it came on those 8" floppy disks. They might have even been
double sided!! No idea where the software is now. It might be backed
up to DAT 72 tapes, but I don't have a working drive. Should have kept
better track of them over the past 40 years.
The application I'm talking about now is a tax return application
suite for a Fortune 100 corporation. It did the company's federal,
state and international tax returns. It was the largest single
consolidation of data in the company as it collected financial data
from about 600 business units. We used uucp to send files to other
servers all over the world, and printed to LaserJet compatible
printers globally.
We were able to write scripts that passed keystrokes to the
applications so they could run unattended, and the applications even
created Multiplan files (I think it was SYLK format) on the fly. The
bean counters loved that. And even back then we were able to call C
programs, and printing was built-in. Many aspects far better than
today's GnuCOBOL.
We even had a Xerox 3700 laser printer that had a hard drive on it. We
could upload pre-printed forms, (about 150) then call them down from
COBOL, populate rows and columns with data and print them on demand.
The compiler was always RM/COBOL. Started around version 1.7, and last
version was 2.1A1.
Hard as it may be to understand, this is more of a passing fun-time
project. Gives me something to fend off boredom on many cross-country
plane rides.
OK, save me having something to do but have enough with ACAS any way.
Have to find extra things to do to occupy myself at the young age of 77.
On 22/05/2024 18:26, John Ritter wrote:
This is proprietary source code that I paid for and is licensed. It
wouldn’t be appropriate to distribute it.
From: discussion@gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net
discussion@gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net On Behalf Of Vincent (Bryan) Coen
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2024 8:10 AM
To: [gnucobol:discussion] cobol@discussion.gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net
Subject: [gnucobol:discussion] Re: tandy rmcobol
Any chance of the Cobol source code?
Vince
On 22/05/2024 02:19, John Ritter wrote:
Unfortunately I don’t have any of the documentation. This goes back to
the early 80’s, so no PDF files.
From: discussion@gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net
discussion@gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net
discussion@gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net
discussion@gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net On Behalf Of Vincent (Bryan) Coen
Sent: Monday, May 13, 2024 8:29 AM
To: [gnucobol:discussion]
cobol@discussion.gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net
cobol@discussion.gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net
Subject: [gnucobol:discussion] Re: tandy rmcobol
Do you have access to the manuals for the accounting s/w still and is
it available as .pdf files ?
I could not find any for the Cobol implementation for the Tandy, only
for older system written in Basic some of which included the basic code
within. This reminded me of the books available around that time that
did the same but the suites was poorly completed with large holes in the
functionality but as I run a distributor that sold these (amongst other
such as Osborne books), they did reasonably well sales wise.
The request for any such documents is to see how they differ from my O/S
released ACAS accounting system which you can find on SF and from my
website as a nightly build (for updates etc including manuals).
Note that ACAS has been migrated over to GnuCobol some 10 + years ago.
Current version also supports usage of RDBMS in the form of Mysql and
Mariadb subject to user requirements as well as tools to transfer Cobol
files to RDB if required.
Note O/S = Open Sourced as I discontinued selling the product as a
commercial system some years back having becoming 70 years young :)
All current users at that time were switched to using these versions
(v3.01 and the latest as v3.02) with no maintenance or rental charges
etc and they use a range of differing hardware and OS systems with the
one proviso that they can run the GnuCobol compiler..
On 12/05/2024 01:03, John Ritter wrote:
I wouldn't mind a show and tell. Unfortunately it will have to wait
because I did something really, really stupid by upgrading my RHEL
system without asking the clowns at VMware/Broadcom if it was OK. So
now VMware Workstation doesn't run. Of course it's the exact same
problem they've refused to fix for 10 years. And Broadcom has the most
idiotic web site to navigate. My daughter's cat could do a better job.
Might have to get a copy of VMware that runs on (ugh) Windows if it
isn't fixed fast.
With that rant out of the way, these applications started on a Xenix
TRS 6000 (or was it a Model 16?) with RM/COBOL. Then moved to a VAX
11/785 running AT&T System V. Then a brief spell on Novell Netware,
and finally to SCO UnixWare 7.1.4. Everything after the VAX was 386
and 486 computers. That's the nice thing about pseudo code: Just need
the proper runtime for the OS and it still works.
I purchased the entire Real World Accounting suite source code: AP,
AR, GL, OE and I forget what others. That's what screen.cbl is from.
Remember: It's still considered proprietary software. I even wrote a
Job Costing module for a company that interfaced with all of it. This
is when it came on those 8" floppy disks. They might have even been
double sided!! No idea where the software is now. It might be backed
up to DAT 72 tapes, but I don't have a working drive. Should have kept
better track of them over the past 40 years.
The application I'm talking about now is a tax return application
suite for a Fortune 100 corporation. It did the company's federal,
state and international tax returns. It was the largest single
consolidation of data in the company as it collected financial data
from about 600 business units. We used uucp to send files to other
servers all over the world, and printed to LaserJet compatible
printers globally.
We were able to write scripts that passed keystrokes to the
applications so they could run unattended, and the applications even
created Multiplan files (I think it was SYLK format) on the fly. The
bean counters loved that. And even back then we were able to call C
programs, and printing was built-in. Many aspects far better than
today's GnuCOBOL.
We even had a Xerox 3700 laser printer that had a hard drive on it. We
could upload pre-printed forms, (about 150) then call them down from
COBOL, populate rows and columns with data and print them on demand.
The compiler was always RM/COBOL. Started around version 1.7, and last
version was 2.1A1.
Hard as it may be to understand, this is more of a passing fun-time
project. Gives me something to fend off boredom on many cross-country
plane rides.
All of ACAS as well as all my other applications written in Cobol are Open Source with the FSF Copying clauses set v3 I seem to recall.
You can do what you like for your own or company personal use but may NOT sell, rent or otherwise release for money without an agreement with me first.
I would always be interested in any proposals from any one in this regard.
Vincent B Coen FBCS (ret).
I don't think this works that way as the (L)GPL clauses allow you to use the software for any purpose. To reach what you've described you would need to adjust from a free to dual-license (commercial + an only open-source license with additional restrictions).
If you really feel that's necessary / useful, the later may be reached that with a modified BSD license, see https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/a/179385 for a reasonable note on that.
Akk my Cobol source are OS under the FSF license for own use.
For purposes of sales. rent or or other payment for usage you would have to send me your proposals.
Most of my applications are on SF user user vcoen.
.
Nothing new really to contribute, but managed to create a SCO UnixWare 7.1.4 VM with RM/COBOL 85 and everything from 40 years ago compiles without any errors. The original code was written on a DEC VAX 11/785 with AT&T System V UNIX. Even got Microsoft Multiplan to run! Now who remembers that one? Too bad I can't remember how to use it though with no manual. Naturally it only runs on this VM, but it was fun to bring the old applications back to life once again!
John,
Wanna do a show and tell at an online meetup?
On Fri, May 10, 2024 at 2:24 PM John Ritter jmrit@users.sourceforge.net
wrote:
John,
What cobol software were you able to compile? Was it the Tandy accounting
system? I used multiplan on the TRS 6000 & Model4p back in the 80s. The
menu is activated with the / key. If I recall correctly it was written by
Microsoft way before Excel.
-----Original Message-----
From: discussion@gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net
discussion@gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net On Behalf Of John Ritter
Sent: Friday, May 10, 2024 2:25 PM
To: [gnucobol:discussion] cobol@discussion.gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net
Subject: [gnucobol:discussion] tandy rmcobol
Nothing new really to contribute, but managed to create a SCO UnixWare 7.1.4
VM with RM/COBOL 85 and everything from 40 years ago compiles without any
errors. The original code was written on a DEC VAX 11/785 with AT&T System V
UNIX. Even got Microsoft Multiplan to run! Now who remembers that one? Too
bad I can't remember how to use it though with no manual. Naturally it only
runs on this VM, but it was fun to bring the old applications back to life
once again!
tandy
rmcobol
Sent from sourceforge.net because you indicated interest in
https://sourceforge.net/p/gnucobol/discussion/cobol/
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I wouldn't mind a show and tell. Unfortunately it will have to wait because I did something really, really stupid by upgrading my RHEL system without asking the clowns at VMware/Broadcom if it was OK. So now VMware Workstation doesn't run. Of course it's the exact same problem they've refused to fix for 10 years. And Broadcom has the most idiotic web site to navigate. My daughter's cat could do a better job. Might have to get a copy of VMware that runs on (ugh) Windows if it isn't fixed fast.
With that rant out of the way, these applications started on a Xenix TRS 6000 (or was it a Model 16?) with RM/COBOL. Then moved to a VAX 11/785 running AT&T System V. Then a brief spell on Novell Netware, and finally to SCO UnixWare 7.1.4. Everything after the VAX was 386 and 486 computers. That's the nice thing about pseudo code: Just need the proper runtime for the OS and it still works.
I purchased the entire Real World Accounting suite source code: AP, AR, GL, OE and I forget what others. That's what screen.cbl is from. Remember: It's still considered proprietary software. I even wrote a Job Costing module for a company that interfaced with all of it. This is when it came on those 8" floppy disks. They might have even been double sided!! No idea where the software is now. It might be backed up to DAT 72 tapes, but I don't have a working drive. Should have kept better track of them over the past 40 years.
The application I'm talking about now is a tax return application suite for a Fortune 100 corporation. It did the company's federal, state and international tax returns. It was the largest single consolidation of data in the company as it collected financial data from about 600 business units. We used uucp to send files to other servers all over the world, and printed to LaserJet compatible printers globally.
We were able to write scripts that passed keystrokes to the applications so they could run unattended, and the applications even created Multiplan files (I think it was SYLK format) on the fly. The bean counters loved that. And even back then we were able to call C programs, and printing was built-in. Many aspects far better than today's GnuCOBOL.
We even had a Xerox 3700 laser printer that had a hard drive on it. We could upload pre-printed forms, (about 150) then call them down from COBOL, populate rows and columns with data and print them on demand.
The compiler was always RM/COBOL. Started around version 1.7, and last version was 2.1A1.
Hard as it may be to understand, this is more of a passing fun-time project. Gives me something to fend off boredom on many cross-country plane rides.
I totally understand the value of a passing fun-time project. Thanks for the
interesting history lesson.
-----Original Message-----
From: discussion@gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net
discussion@gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net On Behalf Of John Ritter
Sent: Saturday, May 11, 2024 8:03 PM
To: [gnucobol:discussion] cobol@discussion.gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net
Subject: [gnucobol:discussion] tandy rmcobol
I wouldn't mind a show and tell. Unfortunately it will have to wait because
I did something really, really stupid by upgrading my RHEL system without
asking the clowns at VMware/Broadcom if it was OK. So now VMware Workstation
doesn't run. Of course it's the exact same problem they've refused to fix
for 10 years. And Broadcom has the most idiotic web site to navigate. My
daughter's cat could do a better job. Might have to get a copy of VMware
that runs on (ugh) Windows if it isn't fixed fast.
With that rant out of the way, these applications started on a Xenix TRS
6000 (or was it a Model 16?) with RM/COBOL. Then moved to a VAX 11/785
running AT&T System V. Then a brief spell on Novell Netware, and finally to
SCO UnixWare 7.1.4. Everything after the VAX was 386 and 486 computers.
That's the nice thing about pseudo code: Just need the proper runtime for
the OS and it still works.
I purchased the entire Real World Accounting suite source code: AP, AR, GL,
OE and I forget what others. That's what screen.cbl is from. Remember: It's
still considered proprietary software. I even wrote a Job Costing module for
a company that interfaced with all of it. This is when it came on those 8"
floppy disks. They might have even been double sided!! No idea where the
software is now. It might be backed up to DAT 72 tapes, but I don't have a
working drive. Should have kept better track of them over the past 40 years.
The application I'm talking about now is a tax return application suite for
a Fortune 100 corporation. It did the company's federal, state and
international tax returns. It was the largest single consolidation of data
in the company as it collected financial data from about 600 business units.
We used uucp to send files to other servers all over the world, and printed
to LaserJet compatible printers globally.
We were able to write scripts that passed keystrokes to the applications so
they could run unattended, and the applications even created Multiplan files
(I think it was SYLK format) on the fly. The bean counters loved that. And
even back then we were able to call C programs, and printing was built-in.
Many aspects far better than today's GnuCOBOL.
We even had a Xerox 3700 laser printer that had a hard drive on it. We could
upload pre-printed forms, (about 150) then call them down from COBOL,
populate rows and columns with data and print them on demand.
The compiler was always RM/COBOL. Started around version 1.7, and last
version was 2.1A1.
Hard as it may be to understand, this is more of a passing fun-time project.
Gives me something to fend off boredom on many cross-country plane rides.
tandy
rmcobol
Sent from sourceforge.net because you indicated interest in
https://sourceforge.net/p/gnucobol/discussion/cobol/
To unsubscribe from further messages, please visit
https://sourceforge.net/auth/subscriptions/
Do you have access to the manuals for the accounting s/w still and is
it available as .pdf files ?
I could not find any for the Cobol implementation for the Tandy, only
for older system written in Basic some of which included the basic code
within. This reminded me of the books available around that time that
did the same but the suites was poorly completed with large holes in the
functionality but as I run a distributor that sold these (amongst other
such as Osborne books), they did reasonably well sales wise.
The request for any such documents is to see how they differ from my O/S
released ACAS accounting system which you can find on SF and from my
website as a nightly build (for updates etc including manuals).
Note that ACAS has been migrated over to GnuCobol some 10 + years ago.
Current version also supports usage of RDBMS in the form of Mysql and
Mariadb subject to user requirements as well as tools to transfer Cobol
files to RDB if required.
Note O/S = Open Sourced as I discontinued selling the product as a
commercial system some years back having becoming 70 years young :)
All current users at that time were switched to using these versions
(v3.01 and the latest as v3.02) with no maintenance or rental charges
etc and they use a range of differing hardware and OS systems with the
one proviso that they can run the GnuCobol compiler..
On 12/05/2024 01:03, John Ritter wrote:
Unfortunately I don’t have any of the documentation. This goes back to the early 80’s, so no PDF files.
From: discussion@gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net discussion@gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net On Behalf Of Vincent (Bryan) Coen
Sent: Monday, May 13, 2024 8:29 AM
To: [gnucobol:discussion] cobol@discussion.gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net
Subject: [gnucobol:discussion] Re: tandy rmcobol
Do you have access to the manuals for the accounting s/w still and is
it available as .pdf files ?
I could not find any for the Cobol implementation for the Tandy, only
for older system written in Basic some of which included the basic code
within. This reminded me of the books available around that time that
did the same but the suites was poorly completed with large holes in the
functionality but as I run a distributor that sold these (amongst other
such as Osborne books), they did reasonably well sales wise.
The request for any such documents is to see how they differ from my O/S
released ACAS accounting system which you can find on SF and from my
website as a nightly build (for updates etc including manuals).
Note that ACAS has been migrated over to GnuCobol some 10 + years ago.
Current version also supports usage of RDBMS in the form of Mysql and
Mariadb subject to user requirements as well as tools to transfer Cobol
files to RDB if required.
Note O/S = Open Sourced as I discontinued selling the product as a
commercial system some years back having becoming 70 years young :)
All current users at that time were switched to using these versions
(v3.01 and the latest as v3.02) with no maintenance or rental charges
etc and they use a range of differing hardware and OS systems with the
one proviso that they can run the GnuCobol compiler..
On 12/05/2024 01:03, John Ritter wrote:
I wouldn't mind a show and tell. Unfortunately it will have to wait
because I did something really, really stupid by upgrading my RHEL
system without asking the clowns at VMware/Broadcom if it was OK. So
now VMware Workstation doesn't run. Of course it's the exact same
problem they've refused to fix for 10 years. And Broadcom has the most
idiotic web site to navigate. My daughter's cat could do a better job.
Might have to get a copy of VMware that runs on (ugh) Windows if it
isn't fixed fast.
With that rant out of the way, these applications started on a Xenix
TRS 6000 (or was it a Model 16?) with RM/COBOL. Then moved to a VAX
11/785 running AT&T System V. Then a brief spell on Novell Netware,
and finally to SCO UnixWare 7.1.4. Everything after the VAX was 386
and 486 computers. That's the nice thing about pseudo code: Just need
the proper runtime for the OS and it still works.
I purchased the entire Real World Accounting suite source code: AP,
AR, GL, OE and I forget what others. That's what screen.cbl is from.
Remember: It's still considered proprietary software. I even wrote a
Job Costing module for a company that interfaced with all of it. This
is when it came on those 8" floppy disks. They might have even been
double sided!! No idea where the software is now. It might be backed
up to DAT 72 tapes, but I don't have a working drive. Should have kept
better track of them over the past 40 years.
The application I'm talking about now is a tax return application
suite for a Fortune 100 corporation. It did the company's federal,
state and international tax returns. It was the largest single
consolidation of data in the company as it collected financial data
from about 600 business units. We used uucp to send files to other
servers all over the world, and printed to LaserJet compatible
printers globally.
We were able to write scripts that passed keystrokes to the
applications so they could run unattended, and the applications even
created Multiplan files (I think it was SYLK format) on the fly. The
bean counters loved that. And even back then we were able to call C
programs, and printing was built-in. Many aspects far better than
today's GnuCOBOL.
We even had a Xerox 3700 laser printer that had a hard drive on it. We
could upload pre-printed forms, (about 150) then call them down from
COBOL, populate rows and columns with data and print them on demand.
The compiler was always RM/COBOL. Started around version 1.7, and last
version was 2.1A1.
Hard as it may be to understand, this is more of a passing fun-time
project. Gives me something to fend off boredom on many cross-country
plane rides.
tandy rmcobol
https://sourceforge.net/p/gnucobol/discussion/cobol/thread/c067e0b078/?limit=25 https://sourceforge.net/p/gnucobol/discussion/cobol/thread/c067e0b078/?limit=25&page=1#1514 &page=1#1514
Sent from sourceforge.net because you indicated interest in
https://sourceforge.net/p/gnucobol/discussion/cobol/
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tandy rmcobol https://sourceforge.net/p/gnucobol/discussion/cobol/thread/c067e0b078/?limit=25&page=1#1514/3668
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Any chance of the Cobol source code?
Vince
On 22/05/2024 02:19, John Ritter wrote:
This is proprietary source code that I paid for and is licensed. It wouldn’t be appropriate to distribute it.
From: discussion@gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net discussion@gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net On Behalf Of Vincent (Bryan) Coen
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2024 8:10 AM
To: [gnucobol:discussion] cobol@discussion.gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net
Subject: [gnucobol:discussion] Re: tandy rmcobol
Any chance of the Cobol source code?
Vince
On 22/05/2024 02:19, John Ritter wrote:
Unfortunately I don’t have any of the documentation. This goes back to
the early 80’s, so no PDF files.
From: discussion@gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net discussion@gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net
discussion@gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net discussion@gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net On Behalf Of Vincent (Bryan) Coen
Sent: Monday, May 13, 2024 8:29 AM
To: [gnucobol:discussion] cobol@discussion.gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net cobol@discussion.gnucobol.p.re.sourceforge.net
Subject: [gnucobol:discussion] Re: tandy rmcobol
Do you have access to the manuals for the accounting s/w still and is
it available as .pdf files ?
I could not find any for the Cobol implementation for the Tandy, only
for older system written in Basic some of which included the basic code
within. This reminded me of the books available around that time that
did the same but the suites was poorly completed with large holes in the
functionality but as I run a distributor that sold these (amongst other
such as Osborne books), they did reasonably well sales wise.
The request for any such documents is to see how they differ from my O/S
released ACAS accounting system which you can find on SF and from my
website as a nightly build (for updates etc including manuals).
Note that ACAS has been migrated over to GnuCobol some 10 + years ago.
Current version also supports usage of RDBMS in the form of Mysql and
Mariadb subject to user requirements as well as tools to transfer Cobol
files to RDB if required.
Note O/S = Open Sourced as I discontinued selling the product as a
commercial system some years back having becoming 70 years young :)
All current users at that time were switched to using these versions
(v3.01 and the latest as v3.02) with no maintenance or rental charges
etc and they use a range of differing hardware and OS systems with the
one proviso that they can run the GnuCobol compiler..
On 12/05/2024 01:03, John Ritter wrote:
I wouldn't mind a show and tell. Unfortunately it will have to wait
because I did something really, really stupid by upgrading my RHEL
system without asking the clowns at VMware/Broadcom if it was OK. So
now VMware Workstation doesn't run. Of course it's the exact same
problem they've refused to fix for 10 years. And Broadcom has the most
idiotic web site to navigate. My daughter's cat could do a better job.
Might have to get a copy of VMware that runs on (ugh) Windows if it
isn't fixed fast.
With that rant out of the way, these applications started on a Xenix
TRS 6000 (or was it a Model 16?) with RM/COBOL. Then moved to a VAX
11/785 running AT&T System V. Then a brief spell on Novell Netware,
and finally to SCO UnixWare 7.1.4. Everything after the VAX was 386
and 486 computers. That's the nice thing about pseudo code: Just need
the proper runtime for the OS and it still works.
I purchased the entire Real World Accounting suite source code: AP,
AR, GL, OE and I forget what others. That's what screen.cbl is from.
Remember: It's still considered proprietary software. I even wrote a
Job Costing module for a company that interfaced with all of it. This
is when it came on those 8" floppy disks. They might have even been
double sided!! No idea where the software is now. It might be backed
up to DAT 72 tapes, but I don't have a working drive. Should have kept
better track of them over the past 40 years.
The application I'm talking about now is a tax return application
suite for a Fortune 100 corporation. It did the company's federal,
state and international tax returns. It was the largest single
consolidation of data in the company as it collected financial data
from about 600 business units. We used uucp to send files to other
servers all over the world, and printed to LaserJet compatible
printers globally.
We were able to write scripts that passed keystrokes to the
applications so they could run unattended, and the applications even
created Multiplan files (I think it was SYLK format) on the fly. The
bean counters loved that. And even back then we were able to call C
programs, and printing was built-in. Many aspects far better than
today's GnuCOBOL.
We even had a Xerox 3700 laser printer that had a hard drive on it. We
could upload pre-printed forms, (about 150) then call them down from
COBOL, populate rows and columns with data and print them on demand.
The compiler was always RM/COBOL. Started around version 1.7, and last
version was 2.1A1.
Hard as it may be to understand, this is more of a passing fun-time
project. Gives me something to fend off boredom on many cross-country
plane rides.
tandy rmcobol https://sourceforge.net/p/gnucobol/discussion/cobol/thread/c067e0b078/?limit=25&page=1#1514/3668/01ef/0f7b
Sent from sourceforge.net because you indicated interest in https://sourceforge.net/p/gnucobol/discussion/cobol/
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OK, save me having something to do but have enough with ACAS any way.
Have to find extra things to do to occupy myself at the young age of 77.
On 22/05/2024 18:26, John Ritter wrote: