Application Migration Process

Host Compatibility Option for SQL Server (HCOSS) and OpenESQL provides features and tools that assist in migration of mainframe applications that use DB2 to applications that run on Windows and use SQL Server. HCOSS also includes tools that enable you to migrate DB2 databases.

You can use a combination of the following tools and features to achieve successful COBOL application migration, which includes building and binding an application:

• HCOSS Assess Application Migration tool - used to determine the best method of migration you can use to automatically convert your DB2 SQL code to SQL Server.
• HCOSS Manage Connections tool - used to create a connection to the SQL Server database.
• Visual Studio HCOSS project templates - these templates automatically set up most of the Visual Studio and HCOSS environment that is required to migrate, build, and bind a mainframe COBOL application on Windows.
• HCOSS Manage Packages and Plans tool - used to bind DBRM members into packages and plans, and to bind packages into plans. It also generates and saves BIND commands to bind script (.hcodsn) files you can execute using the DSN Bind utility.
• DSN Bind utility - a free-standing Windows command-line utility used to achieve mainframe-like binding using a subset of the functionality of the mainframe DSN utility. This option is available if you do not create bind scripts that bind the application during the build process.
• HCOSS-specific OpenESQL SQL compiler directive options - provide SQL syntax compatibility between DB2 and SQL and also provide binding functionality.

While you can choose from other methods of application migration using HCOSS, the basic and recommended process of COBOL and PL/I application migration includes:

1. Using the HCOSS Manage Connections tool, connect to your SQL Server database.
2. In Visual Studio, create a project based on one of the following COBOL Native templates:
   • HCOSS (CICS) Mainframe Subsystem Application template for JCL or CICS applications that run under Enterprise Server
   • HCOSS Application Managed template for applications that run directly on Windows
3. Using the Assess Application Migration tool, determine the SQL conversion method that best fits your COBOL or PL/I source code.
4. Take appropriate steps to convert your source code, based on your selected conversion method. This could include manually fixing your existing code based on the findings reported in the Assess Application Migration tool, or using HCOSS with our without the BIND option to convert the code based on the HCOSS DB2 to SQL Server Conversion mappings.
5. Add mainframe or converted COBOL or PL/I source code to the project.
6. Edit the preset SQL OpenESQL compiler directive options in the project properties.
7. Also in the project properties, edit the post-build event to include the data source name of your SQL Server database.
8. Build the application, automatically binding the application to the database.
9. Run the application.