Smart Tags in COBOL

Smart tags are a feature of the Visual Studio editor that enables you to implement code constructs more easily.

With COBOL you can use the following smart tag:

Smart Tag for Implementing an Interface

Enables you to implement interfaces in managed OO COBOL programs. You need to type the definition of the implementing class or value type, class-id MyClass implements type Interface. Double-click the name of the class to see the smart tag () appear underneath at the beginning of the declaration of the class. When you place the cursor over the tag, the icon appears. Click Implement interface InterfaceName from the drop-down list. This adds the missing interface members to the implementing class or value type.

Note: The smart tag does not support generic interfaces and does not add event members from an interface.

Smart Tag for Adding a Using Directive

You can use a smart tag to add in the appropriate using directive when you specify a type without fully qualifying the namespace. For example, to use System.IO.File::ReadAllText, type File::ReadAllText. An error message is generated in the output window, and then the smart tag icon appears in the program editor under File::ReadAllText showing System.IO on the list of namespaces.

Note: To use this feature, you must have background parsing turned on (default).