The Free COBOL structure analyzer tool (COBDATA)

[pete dashwood]

A new version of this tool is available for free from the PRIMA web Site.

https://primacomputing.co.nz

(Use the "Free components" tile on the hub...)

There were some problems with getting it, because you need to register
and log in before you can download it and the logon facility has been
broken for quite some time. I didn't know about it and nobody told me.

It was brought to my attention last week and I have fixed it.

The original PRIMA site used an Access DB, using COBOL through ODBC, to
manage the Registrations DB, but when the ISP died and we had to re-host
the site, this DB was overlooked.

The Access DB was lost and not on the new server (which also doesn't
support ODBC - many ISPs don't like it).

I retrieved it from my own archives and used a MicroSoft Tool to convert
it to SQL Server. I can recommend this tool if you have any old Access
DBs lying around... Check out a search on "migrate Access DB to SQL Server".

The new database is not on the server so we won't have that problem in
the future. I use direct connection to a secure SQL instance via
SQLClient with C# to deal with it and I modified the 3 code-behind
pages that use it.

The main use for COBDATA will be with people trying to use COBOL data
records with other languages and needing to have accurate offsets and
lengths for fields that may be REDEFINEd or OCCURring.

If you get sick of counting field lengths from pictures in your COBOL
CopyBooks, you might find it useful as well.

This tool will not be available indefinitely, and this is a limited offer.

Cheers,

Pete.
--
I used to write *COBOL*; now I can do *anything*...