This tutorial walks you through the creation of a Windows ASP.NET Web application that interacts with the BookDemo base application using SQL. The project includes a page that is generated in managed COBOL. The page calls an intermediary class method to funnel all requests from the web page to a single routine. This encases the functionality within a run unit for isolation of resources, such as a database connection, for any function triggered from the Web page. The intermediary program maps .NET data types onto COBOL data types, and then calls the existing COBOL program to perform the work and access the database.
Demonstration Solution
The SQLBookDemoWebApplication solution and project you create for this tutorial uses the following provided demonstration files in addition to the BookDemo base application:
- sqlbook.cbl
- In this tutorial, the
sqlbook.cbl program is recompiled to managed code without any changes. Recompiling the program exposes it as a class and exposes its main entry point as a static method. Its linkage section defines data as standard COBOL types, such as PIC X. Non-COBOL client programs do not understand these standard COBOL types. Therefore, you must map the standard COBOL types to .NET compatible types before communicating with the client program. This mapping is done by the
SqlBookWrapper.cbl program.
- SqlBookWrapper.cbl
- In this tutorial, SqlBookWrapper program is recompiled as an intermediary class. This intermediary class is added as a project reference to the Web application project. In addition to acting as an interface between the client form and the business logic COBOL program, this program also wraps the business logic around a run unit for isolation of resources such as database connections.
- Default.aspx
- The main Web form. You modify it to contain user input fields, output display fields, and a trigger button used to call the client program. Input and output fields are defined as text boxes.
- Default.aspx.cbl
- This is the generated client COBOL program that is triggered by an end user click event initiated from the main Web form. When triggered, it:
- Extracts the input data from text boxes on the form as System.Strings.
- Calls the SqlBookWrapper program, passing it the string objects and receiving output as System.Strings.
- Populates the text boxes on the form with the received System.Strings.
- Web.config
- The application configuration file.
Populate the BookDemo Database
Create a Solution and Project
In this procedure, you create the SQLBookDemoWebApplication solution and project, which contains skeleton versions of the files listed in the
Demonstration Solution section.
- Start
Enterprise Developer.
- In
Enterprise Developer, click
File > New > Project.
- Under
Installed > Templates, expand
COBOL; then click
Web.
- At the top of the center pane, ensure that
.NET Framework 4.5 is selected.
- In the center frame, select
ASP.NET Web Application.
- Complete the remaining fields as follows:
Name
|
SQLBookDemoWebApplication
|
Location
|
Full path to any local directory; for example,
c:\VSTutorials
|
Solution Name
|
SQLBookDemoWebApplication
|
- If the location you specified doesn't exist, check
Create directory for solution.
- Click
OK.
Add Existing Projects
These projects contain the BookDemo base application.
- In the Solution Explorer, right-click the solution; then select
Add > Existing Project.
- Browse to the
%PUBLIC%\Documents\Micro Focus\Enterprise Developer\Samples\SQL\ado.net\SqlLegacyBook directory.
- Double-click the
SqlLegacyBook COBOL project.
- Again, in the Solution Explorer, right-click the solution; then select
Add > Existing Project.
- Browse to the
%PUBLIC%\Documents\Micro Focus\Enterprise Developer\Samples\SQL\ado.net\SqlBookWrapper directory.
- Double-click the
SqlBookWrapper COBOL project.
Add Project References
- In the Solution Explorer, right-click the
SQLBookDemoWebApplication project; then select
Add Reference.
- In the left pane, expand
Solution; then click
Project.
- In the right pane, check
SqlBookWrapper and
SqlLegacyBook; then click
OK.
Add Project Dependencies
- In the Solution Explorer, right-click the
SQLBookDemoWebApplication project; then select
Project Dependencies from the context menu.
- From the
Projects drop-down list, select
SQLBookDemoWebApplication.
- Under
Depends on, check both
SqlBookWrapper and
SqlLegacyBook; then click
OK.
Declare a Data Item
- In the Solution Explorer, open the
Default.aspx.cbl file, located in the
SQLBookDemoWebApplication project under the
Default.aspx entry.
- Declare the
my-book data item in the
working-storage section as follows:
01 my-book type SqlBookWrapper.SqlBook.
- Save and close the file.
Build the SQLBookDemoWebApplication Project
- In the Solution Explorer, right-click the
SQLBookDemoWebApplication project; then select
Build Solution from the context menu.
Update the Web.config File
The default
Web.config file added when you created the solution does not contain the configuration code needed to access the COBOL runtime and configure the project to run COBOL applications. Here, you replace the default file with a provided updated file.
- In the Solution Explorer, right-click
Web.config; then select
Delete from the context menu.
- Click
OK to delete the file.
- Right-click the
SqlBookDemoWebApplication project; then select
Add > Existing Item.
- Browse to the
%PUBLIC%\Documents\Micro Focus\Enterprise Developer\Samples\SQL\ado.net\SqlBookDemoWebApplication directory.
- Double-click
Web.config.
Paint the Form
- In the Solution Explorer, right-click
Default.aspx; then select
View Designer from the context menu.
- At the bottom of the Form Designer, click
Source.
- Add the following code immediately before the closing
</asp:Content> element:
<asp:Label ID="Label1" runat="server" Text="CATALOG SEARCH"></asp:Label>
<asp:Label ID="catalogNumberLabel" runat="server" Text="Catalog Number"></asp:Label>
<asp:TextBox ID="textBoxStockNo" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
<asp:Button ID="searchButton" runat="server" Text="Search" OnClick="searchButton_Click" />
<asp:Label ID="errorLabel" runat="server" Text="Status" Visible="False"></asp:Label>
<asp:TextBox ID="errorField" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
<asp:Label ID="Label2" runat="server" Text="RESULTS"></asp:Label>
<asp:Label ID="titleLabel" runat="server" Text="Title"></asp:Label>
<asp:TextBox ID="textBoxTitle" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
<asp:Label ID="authorLabel" runat="server" Text="Author"></asp:Label>
<asp:TextBox ID="textBoxAuthor" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
<asp:Label ID="typeLabel" runat="server" Text="Type"></asp:Label>
<asp:TextBox ID="textBoxType" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
<asp:Label ID="priceLabel" runat="server" Text="Price"></asp:Label>
<asp:TextBox ID="textBoxPrice" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
<asp:Label ID="soldLabel" runat="server" Text="Sold"></asp:Label>
<asp:TextBox ID="textBoxSold" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
<asp:Label ID="onHandLabel" runat="server" Text="On Hand"></asp:Label>
<asp:TextBox ID="textBoxOnHand" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
<asp:Label ID="stockValueLabel" runat="server" Text="Stock Value"></asp:Label>
<asp:TextBox ID="textBoxStockValue" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
Note: This is a short-cut method to painting the form. Alternatively, you could paint the form using the Toolbox. For more information, see the
Painting a Button and a Label section in
Tutorial: Developing .NET COBOL Applications.
- Save the form, but do not close the Form Designer.
Create a Click Event
- At the bottom of the Form Designer, click
Design.
- Double-click the
Search button on the form.
This opens
Default.aspx.cbl in the COBOL editor, and inserts a
searchButton_Click method into the code. This method is known as a Click Event. At this point in development, the method is empty.
- Click
(Save All).
- Close the
Default.aspx file in the Form Designer.
Code the searchButton_Click method
This calls the legacy program and provides input values.
- In the COBOL editor, edit the code for the searchButton_Click method to read as follows:
method-id searchButton_Click protected.
working-storage section.
01 book type SqlBookWrapper.SqlBook.
01 anException type System.Exception.
01 bookFunction string.
local-storage section.
procedure division using by value lnkSender as object by value lnkEvent as type EventArgs.
try
set book to type SqlBookWrapper.SqlBook::New()
set book::StockNumber to textBoxStockNo::Text
set bookFunction to "1"
invoke book::CallLegacyWithRunUnit(bookFunction)
invoke self::PopulateForm(book)
catch anException
invoke self::DisplayException(anException)
end-try
end method.
Code the PopulateForm and DisplayException methods
- In the COBOL editor, add code for the PopulateForm and DisplayException methods as follows:
method-id PopulateForm final private.
procedure division using aBook as type SqlBookWrapper.SqlBook.
if aBook <> null
set errorLabel::Visible to false
set errorField::Visible to false
set textBoxStockNo::Text to aBook::StockNumber
set textBoxTitle::Text to aBook::Title
set textBoxAuthor::Text to aBook::Author
set textBoxType::Text to aBook::Type
set textBoxPrice::Text to type System.Convert::ToString(aBook::RetailPrice)
set textBoxOnhand::Text to type System.Convert::ToString(aBook::NumberOnHand)
set textBoxSold::Text to type System.Convert::ToString(aBook::NumberSold)
set textBoxStockValue::Text to type System.Convert::ToString(aBook::StockValue)
else
set textBoxStockNo::Text to "****"
set textBoxTitle::Text to "*************************************"
set textBoxAuthor::Text to "*************************************"
set textBoxType::Text to "****"
set textBoxPrice::Text to "****"
set textBoxOnhand::Text to "****"
set textBoxSold::Text to "****"
set textBoxStockValue::Text to "*****"
end-if
end method.
method-id DisplayException private.
procedure division using by value lnkException as type System.Exception.
set my-book to null
set errorLabel::Visible to true
set errorField::Visible to true
set errorField::Text to lnkException::Message
invoke self::PopulateForm(my-book)
end method.
- Save the file and close the editor.
Build the SQLBookDemoWebApplication Solution
- In the Solution Explorer, right-click the
SQLBookDemoWebApplication solution; then select
Build from the context menu.
Run the Application
- From the main menu, click
DEBUG > Start without debugging.
- On the form, type
1111 into the
Catalog Number field; then click
Search.
- Experiment further by searching for the
2222 and
3333 catalog records.
- Close the form.