I am trying to get off the ground.. and having a tough time. I have many programs I wrote many years ago in MS Cobol V5.0 under DOS.. and want to be able to compile them.. and possibly upgrade them. I had batch scripts I used back then to do the compiles and run the jobs. I had a utility program that could accept a function key to know which men item on a screen I wanted to run. Is there any very basic dummies level guide that shows step by step how to get started, with examples? Ideally it could include the basic setup of the software and how to setup the environment, batch files, etc. Thank you.
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If you want to compile on the Windows console: get the official MinGW package which you'll find at https://arnoldtrembley.com/GnuCOBOL.htm (use the VBISAM version when in question),
Then you can just double-click on its set_env.cmd and have a command prompt open where you can compile with cobc -fregister=LIN,COL -frelax-syntax-checks -x prog.cob (if you don't need those MS-COBOL registers leave that part out).
Note: I'm quite sure that you'd need to adjust the function key handling part.
Some sample COBOL programs for MS-COBOL I've found when I've searched the last time did compile and run with GnuCOOBL, but there are not so many programs written for that dialect that where compiled with GnuCOBOL - please feel free to post when you see compile errors and we can have a look how to compile those, or can try to add missing features (not related to keystroke values) to GnuCOBOL.
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Anonymous
Anonymous
-
2021-05-20
Tried downloading the file and expanding using BreeZip or Zip Extractor. Got the following error:
Same thing. I downloaded latest 7zip, same results. While Arnold's two 7zip files are unreadable, the normal gnuCOBOL 3.1.2 files from the main site downloaded and opened just fine. Something about Arnold's file and my Windows 10 machine.. I think, that corrupts the headers.
When I got those files downloaded.. I could not find any exe files to run (such as the cobc for compiling). Not sure if I am thinking old DOS or if these files should exist somewhere. I tried building a batch file which I ran from command and it failed to find an executable for the compile.
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That's strange. I've just tested this on a Win10 machine and while I get the same Smartscreen note when renamed everything works. As Arnold's site does not use a distributed network for downloading we must have downloaded the same files.
I assume that you (or a proxy you use) possibly has an "internet security" or anti-virus solution that breaks the download (Win 10 Defender and another internet security suite here did not break it).
If this is the case then you likely also don't have any success with the nightly snapshot of 3.2-dev I've linked to - otherwise I'd suggest to try that.
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Anonymous
Anonymous
-
2021-05-21
I found another Arnold compilation that I thought was for 32 bit windows ;
but was stored in zip format (not 7zip).. and I was able to download that.
It did contain the exe files.
I gave it several hours today.. its now almost 2am.. I will pick up again
tomorrow. Thanks again for your help. I will try to continue doing
things you recommended, tomorrow.
Good night.
Last edit: Simon Sobisch 2021-05-31
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Anonymous
Anonymous
-
2021-05-24
Hi Simon,
Hoping you can shed light on what I am experiencing. Getting the following
comment at end of the compile (using Arnolds minGW32 COBOL. It seems to
be relatively error free; but when I run, I don't see the desired output.
lacking animator or other debug means to watch my program perform, I have
been building a series of displays and flat file writes to gauge progress;
but tI dont seem to see what I expect.
I am compiling my cbl program with the following statement : cobc
-fregister=LIN,COL -frelax-syntax-checks -x misli001.cbl -t misli001.lst (where program is misli001)
Thanks for your help,
Steve
That's a strange error message. Can you please explicit specify which version from Arnold you've downloaded? Additional: does this error message also happen if you temporarily disable the internet security/anti-virus solution? It may help to whitelist the "bin" folder (which seems wingw32). Explanation: some security suites find it very suspective if a process creates an executable, then scans it, and if another program then wants to access the executable (which seems to be there case here) there's a file lock. Depending on which part this happens this may screw the executable.
Note: adding --verbose (or -v)to the compile can shed some light in which part this actually happens.
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Anonymous
Anonymous
-
2021-06-01
Solved this one by sharing the folders in question. Had to right mouse
click folder names, press properties, go into sharing tab and allow broad
access. Then the compiles worked.
That's a strange error message. Can you please explicit specify which
version from Arnold you've downloaded? Additional: does this error message
also happen if you temporarily disable the internet security/anti-virus
solution? It may help to whitelist the "bin" folder (which seems wingw32).
Explanation: some security suites find it very suspective if a process
creates an executable, then scans it, and if another program then wants to
access the executable (which seems to be there case here) there's a file
lock. Depending on which part this happens this may screw the executable.
Note: adding --verbose (or -v)to the compile can shed some light in which
part this actually happens.
Tried again. When I renamed 7z to exe it failed (Smartscreen filter).. and I turned filtering off, and retried. This time it failed on the same messages as the 7z (when attempting to extract using various unzip software).. saying that the header is corrupt.
I just cant get his files to download.. at least not on this machine. I might try on my WIn7 machine and try to copy the files over to the win10 box, if it works.
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Anonymous
Anonymous
-
2021-05-20
Thanks a lot Simon. Steve
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Anonymous
Anonymous
-
2021-05-21
So, the Arnold Tremble files fail to extract on my win10 box; so I downloaded latest versjon of gnuCOBOL again. That said I see reference to COBC as the compiler; but when I try to run a batch file that has the COBC -x pgmname.extension.. I get messages that it cannot find cobc
should there be a cobc.exe or cobc.obj like I had in the past on dos?
Should I be running the batch files from windows, or from a command window.. or neither..
I cant even get the hello program to compile yet..
Thanks for helping me get started
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Hi Highly suggest to register/login, this removes the need for a moderation task taken by a human and allows you - only if you want to - to subscribe to topics (or complete discussion boards).
Yes, after the download of the MinGW binary package you get a "bin" folder which has cobc.exe included.
The set_env,cmd sets some environment variables and if no cmd was open before leave it open. If you want to you could then permanently set the variables, which allows you to compile "from everywhere" (I personally prefer to double-click the set_env.cmd, you may want to create a link on your desktop and name it "GnuCOBOL command prompt").
If, for some strange reason, you cannot download the release package from Arnold, you could try to download 3.2-dev binary package as described in https://sourceforge.net/projects/gnucobol/files/gnu-cobol/nightly_snapshots/ under "ready-to.use-binarries" (but those are not as nice as the hand-crafted and verified build you find on Arnold's site).
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Simon.. thanks to you I am slightly off and running. Was able to utilize Arnold's MIN library to compile one of my programs.. and ran it without issue. It was a basic reporting program; but I generated a listing and executable, without error. I can attempt to move onto programs that have indexed files and those with screens, next.
Thank you so much for your generous time. Hope I can return the favor for you or someone else down the road.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
I am trying to get off the ground.. and having a tough time. I have many programs I wrote many years ago in MS Cobol V5.0 under DOS.. and want to be able to compile them.. and possibly upgrade them. I had batch scripts I used back then to do the compiles and run the jobs. I had a utility program that could accept a function key to know which men item on a screen I wanted to run. Is there any very basic dummies level guide that shows step by step how to get started, with examples? Ideally it could include the basic setup of the software and how to setup the environment, batch files, etc. Thank you.
If you want to compile on the Windows console: get the official MinGW package which you'll find at https://arnoldtrembley.com/GnuCOBOL.htm (use the VBISAM version when in question),
Then you can just double-click on its set_env.cmd and have a command prompt open where you can compile with
cobc -fregister=LIN,COL -frelax-syntax-checks -x prog.cob(if you don't need those MS-COBOL registers leave that part out).Note: I'm quite sure that you'd need to adjust the function key handling part.
Some sample COBOL programs for MS-COBOL I've found when I've searched the last time did compile and run with GnuCOOBL, but there are not so many programs written for that dialect that where compiled with GnuCOBOL - please feel free to post when you see compile errors and we can have a look how to compile those, or can try to add missing features (not related to keystroke values) to GnuCOBOL.
Tried downloading the file and expanding using BreeZip or Zip Extractor. Got the following error:
The download was either corrupt or your 7-zip version is totally outdated.
What happens if you rename the 7z to exe and double-click?
Same thing. I downloaded latest 7zip, same results. While Arnold's two 7zip files are unreadable, the normal gnuCOBOL 3.1.2 files from the main site downloaded and opened just fine. Something about Arnold's file and my Windows 10 machine.. I think, that corrupts the headers.
When I got those files downloaded.. I could not find any exe files to run (such as the cobc for compiling). Not sure if I am thinking old DOS or if these files should exist somewhere. I tried building a batch file which I ran from command and it failed to find an executable for the compile.
That's strange. I've just tested this on a Win10 machine and while I get the same Smartscreen note when renamed everything works. As Arnold's site does not use a distributed network for downloading we must have downloaded the same files.
I assume that you (or a proxy you use) possibly has an "internet security" or anti-virus solution that breaks the download (Win 10 Defender and another internet security suite here did not break it).
If this is the case then you likely also don't have any success with the nightly snapshot of 3.2-dev I've linked to - otherwise I'd suggest to try that.
I found another Arnold compilation that I thought was for 32 bit windows ;
but was stored in zip format (not 7zip).. and I was able to download that.
It did contain the exe files.
I gave it several hours today.. its now almost 2am.. I will pick up again
tomorrow. Thanks again for your help. I will try to continue doing
things you recommended, tomorrow.
Good night.
Last edit: Simon Sobisch 2021-05-31
Hi Simon,
Hoping you can shed light on what I am experiencing. Getting the following
comment at end of the compile (using Arnolds minGW32 COBOL. It seems to
be relatively error free; but when I run, I don't see the desired output.
lacking animator or other debug means to watch my program perform, I have
been building a series of displays and flat file writes to gauge progress;
but tI dont seem to see what I expect.
I am compiling my cbl program with the following statement :
cobc -fregister=LIN,COL -frelax-syntax-checks -x misli001.cbl -t misli001.lst(where program is misli001)Thanks for your help,
Steve
Last edit: Simon Sobisch 2021-05-31
That's a strange error message. Can you please explicit specify which version from Arnold you've downloaded? Additional: does this error message also happen if you temporarily disable the internet security/anti-virus solution? It may help to whitelist the "bin" folder (which seems wingw32). Explanation: some security suites find it very suspective if a process creates an executable, then scans it, and if another program then wants to access the executable (which seems to be there case here) there's a file lock. Depending on which part this happens this may screw the executable.
Note: adding
--verbose(or-v)to the compile can shed some light in which part this actually happens.Solved this one by sharing the folders in question. Had to right mouse
click folder names, press properties, go into sharing tab and allow broad
access. Then the compiles worked.
On Sun, May 30, 2021 at 11:50 PM Simon Sobisch sf-mensch@users.sourceforge.net wrote:
Tried again. When I renamed 7z to exe it failed (Smartscreen filter).. and I turned filtering off, and retried. This time it failed on the same messages as the 7z (when attempting to extract using various unzip software).. saying that the header is corrupt.
I just cant get his files to download.. at least not on this machine. I might try on my WIn7 machine and try to copy the files over to the win10 box, if it works.
Thanks a lot Simon. Steve
So, the Arnold Tremble files fail to extract on my win10 box; so I downloaded latest versjon of gnuCOBOL again. That said I see reference to COBC as the compiler; but when I try to run a batch file that has the COBC -x pgmname.extension.. I get messages that it cannot find cobc
should there be a cobc.exe or cobc.obj like I had in the past on dos?
Should I be running the batch files from windows, or from a command window.. or neither..
I cant even get the hello program to compile yet..
Thanks for helping me get started
Hi Highly suggest to register/login, this removes the need for a moderation task taken by a human and allows you - only if you want to - to subscribe to topics (or complete discussion boards).
Yes, after the download of the MinGW binary package you get a "bin" folder which has cobc.exe included.
The set_env,cmd sets some environment variables and if no cmd was open before leave it open. If you want to you could then permanently set the variables, which allows you to compile "from everywhere" (I personally prefer to double-click the set_env.cmd, you may want to create a link on your desktop and name it "GnuCOBOL command prompt").
If, for some strange reason, you cannot download the release package from Arnold, you could try to download 3.2-dev binary package as described in https://sourceforge.net/projects/gnucobol/files/gnu-cobol/nightly_snapshots/ under "ready-to.use-binarries" (but those are not as nice as the hand-crafted and verified build you find on Arnold's site).
I registered and logged in. Will continue as yo usuggest later today. Thanks again.
Simon.. thanks to you I am slightly off and running. Was able to utilize Arnold's MIN library to compile one of my programs.. and ran it without issue. It was a basic reporting program; but I generated a listing and executable, without error. I can attempt to move onto programs that have indexed files and those with screens, next.
Thank you so much for your generous time. Hope I can return the favor for you or someone else down the road.