MSYS2 GnuCOBOL 3.2-dev (r4918) for Windows binaries (32-bit and 64-bit)

[Arnold Trembley]

With many thanks to Chuck Haatvedt and Simon Sobisch, you can now build MSYS2 32-bit and 64-bit versions of GnuCOBOL 3.2-dev for Windows, which includes gmplib, PDCursesMod, Berkeley DataBase (for ISAM), and GCSORT.exe. These versions includes GCC 12.2.0 as the embedded C Compiler, with XML parsing, cJSON, and debugging support includind code coverage testing. You can download a binary compressed with 7-Zip and rename the file extension from "7z" to "exe". Then you can run it as a self-installing archive. See the STARTHERE.txt file, or open a cmd.exe window in the install folder, and run "set_env.cmd" to set the environment variables. You can also download the MSYS2-Build-Kit.7z archive which contains the Build Guide in LibreOffice DOCX format and in PDF format.

https://www.arnoldtrembley.com/GC32M-BDB-x64-r4918-rename-7z-to-exe.7z

https://www.arnoldtrembley.com/GC32M-BDB-x32-r4918-rename-7z-to-exe.7z

https://www.arnoldtrembley.com/MSYS2-Build-Kit.7z

[Simon Sobisch]

Just a minor note: instead of opening "cmd.exe" you can also directly open (by double-click or otherwise) "set_env.cmd", which will open the "GnuCOBOL Development prompt", too.

As another option you can use it as "starter", for example:
X:\GnuCOBOL\set_env.cmd cobc -x someprog.cob
X:\GnuCOBOL\set_env.cmd someprog.exe

(Note: the first option is noted in STARTHERE.txt (just adding it here), but I think the "starter" option is missing there currently).

@arn79: Would you mind specifying the download size of the packages?

[Arnold Trembley]

The 64-bit compiler download size is 83.1 Megabytes (about 687 MB uncompressed).

The 32-bit compiler download size is 82.6 Megabytes (about 668 MB uncompressed).

The "Build Kit" is a 5.2 Megabyte download. The only reason it is so large is because it includes PDF manuals for the compiler's \docs folder:

 Directory of \MSYS2-Build-Kit\docs

12/29/2022  12:19 AM    <DIR>          .
12/29/2022  12:19 AM    <DIR>          ..
01/07/2023  06:36 PM         1,694,199 GCSORT_Manual.pdf
01/07/2023  01:00 AM         2,012,989 GnuCOBOL 3.2 Programmer's Guide.pdf
01/07/2023  01:00 AM         2,016,799 GnuCOBOL 3.2 Programmer's Reference.pdf
01/07/2023  01:00 AM           262,695 GnuCOBOL 3.2 Quick Reference.pdf
01/07/2023  01:01 AM           437,426 GnuCOBOL 3.2 Sample Programs.pdf

I will go back and update STARTHERE.txt to mention double-clicking on "set_env.cmd" to open the CMD.EXE window while setting the environment variables. That should be corrected by the time I build the download for Release Candidate 1.

Kudos to Chuck Haatvedt for making the build process so much easier!

[Simon Sobisch]

The build kit ideally would have a download for the PDFs with curl/wget in a script, no?

[Mickey White]

Not working for me, the 64 bit one is the one I installed.

C:\GnuCOBOL-3.1.2.0>TestGC

---

• VERIFY GnuCOBOL 3.2 install - by Arnold Trembley, 2021-12-06. *
• This .CMD file will install non-persistent GnuCOBOL Environment *
• Variables and PATH for Windows XP and higher. Then the TESTFUNC.COB *
• program will be compiled and executed, once as EXE, once as DLL. *
• NOTE: This .CMD file can only be executed in the directory where *
• the GnuCOBOL compiler is installed. The generated EXE, DLL, and LST *
• files will be stored in the temp folder and then DELETED. *

---

current directory = C:\GnuCOBOL-3.1.2.0\
call "C:\GnuCOBOL-3.1.2.0\set_env.cmd"

cobc (GnuCOBOL) 3.2-dev.0
Copyright (C) 2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Written by Keisuke Nishida, Roger While, Ron Norman, Simon Sobisch, Edward Hart
Built Jan 07 2023 18:08:47
Packaged Jan 06 2023 00:15:53 UTC
C version (MinGW) "12.2.0"

GnuCOBOL 3.2.0 (Jan 07 2023 18:07:57), (MinGW) "12.2.0"
GMP 6.2.1, libxml2 2.10.3, cJSON 1.7.15, PDCursesMod 4.3.5, BDB 18.1.40

Press any key to continue . . .

Compile the "TESTFUNC.COB" program as executable main program (-x),
enable all warnings (-Wall), with no binary truncation (-fnotrunc)

cobc.exe -x -Wall -fnotrunc -Xref -T C:\Users\19012\AppData\Local\Temp\testfunc.lst -o C:\Users\19012\AppData\Local\Temp\testfunc.exe testfunc.cob

C:/GnuCOBOL-3.1.2.0/bin/../lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/12.2.0/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/bin/ld.exe: C:/GnuCOBOL-3.1.2.0/bin/../lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/12.2.0/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/lib/../lib/crt2.o:crtexe.c:(.rdata$.refptr.mingw_app_type[.refptr.mingw_app_type]+0x0): undefined reference to mingw_app_type' C:/GnuCOBOL-3.1.2.0/bin/../lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/12.2.0/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/bin/ld.exe: C:/GnuCOBOL-3.1.2.0/bin/../lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/12.2.0/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/lib/../lib/crt2.o:crtexe.c:(.rdata$.refptr.mingw_initcharmax[.refptr.mingw_initcharmax]+0x0): undefined reference tomingw_initcharmax'
C:/GnuCOBOL-3.1.2.0/bin/../lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/12.2.0/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/bin/ld.exe: C:/GnuCOBOL-3.1.2.0/bin/../lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/12.2.0/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/lib/../lib/crt2.o:crtexe.c:(.rdata$.refptr.mingw_initltssuo_force[.refptr.mingw_initltssuo_force]+0x0): undefined reference to mingw_initltssuo_force' C:/GnuCOBOL-3.1.2.0/bin/../lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/12.2.0/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/bin/ld.exe: C:/GnuCOBOL-3.1.2.0/bin/../lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/12.2.0/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/lib/../lib/crt2.o:crtexe.c:(.rdata$.refptr.mingw_initltsdyn_force[.refptr.mingw_initltsdyn_force]+0x0): undefined reference tomingw_initltsdyn_force'
C:/GnuCOBOL-3.1.2.0/bin/../lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/12.2.0/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/bin/ld.exe: C:/GnuCOBOL-3.1.2.0/bin/../lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/12.2.0/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/lib/../lib/crt2.o:crtexe.c:(.rdata$.refptr.mingw_initltsdrot_force[.refptr.mingw_initltsdrot_force]+0x0): undefined reference to `mingw_initltsdrot_force'
collect2.exe: error: ld returned 1 exit status
GnuCOBOL Compile Returncode = 1

Deleting temporary files

Volume in drive C has no label.
Volume Serial Number is 70A4-EA29

Directory of C:\Users\19012\AppData\Local\Temp

01/12/2023 08:20 AM 7,690 testfunc.lst
1 File(s) 7,690 bytes
0 Dir(s) 852,746,727,424 bytes free

C:\GnuCOBOL-3.1.2.0>

[Mickey White]

Well Well, I removed every thing in the folder GnuCOBOL-3.1.2.0 and reran the .exe and it installed OK and now it WORKS FINE. Sorry for the false alarm, must of had some old versions there ....
Now, back to work

[Arnold Trembley]

Glad to hear it!

Generally it is easier to support multiple versions of the compiler under the same Windows User ID if you use temporary environment variables (from set_env.cmd) rather than permanent environment variables. Based on the symptoms I suspected either permanent environment variables pointing to a previous release, or a conflict in libraries between a previous release and current release. Unfortunately, the self-extracting archive does not clean up an existing folder the way a full-blown Windows installer would.

Kind regards,

[Mickey White]

Arnold, Chuck, Simon, You've Done IT !
The Windows users now have a 'click and go'.
Congratulations.