The cobol Command

You can use cobol.exe to compile COBOL source and generate managed code assemblies as well as native code objects.

Command Line Syntax:

To invoke the compiler prompts:

>>--cobol---><

To invoke the compiler from the command line:

>>--cobol--s-file-,-.--------.-,-.--------.-,-.--------.-.--------.-.---.-><
                    +-o-file-+   +-s-list+-   -+o-list-+ +--dirs-.+ +-;-+
                                                          ^      |
                                                          +------+ 

Where the parameters are:

s-file

The name of the file containing your source code. By default, the system looks for s-file.cbl. You can override this default by either typing an extension of your choice or using the OSEXT directive.

o-file

The name of the file to contain the compiled object code. By default, the file is named s-file.obj.

If a filename with an extension of .exe or .dll is specified, the Compiler automatically invokes the Linker, once compilation is complete, to create the specified executable using the default run-time libraries as specified by the LINKLIB directive.

s-list

The name of the file to contain the source code listing. If the command line is terminated by a semicolon before the comma preceding this field, this option is set to NUL (indicating that no list file is produced). If the preceding comma is specified, but no filename is entered, the default is s-file.lst.

If you specify s-list without an extension or trailing period, the system adds the extension .lst to create the filename s-list.lst.

l-list

The name of the file to contain the object code listing. If the command line is terminated by a semicolon before the comma preceding this field, this option is set to NUL (indicating that no list file is produced). If the preceding comma is specified, but no filename is entered, the default is s-file.grp.

If you specify o-list without an extension or trailing period, the system adds the file extension .grp to create the filename o-list.grp.

dirs

A sequence of one or more Compiler directives. Directives can appear after any filename. Each directive must be separated by a space and must not be broken across two lines.

In order to compile for managed code you must include either the -ILGEN or -ILGEN(SUB) directives in this sequence.

;

Terminates the command line, causing the Compiler to use the default setting for any unspecified options. The semicolon can be entered any time after s-file.

When you invoke the Compiler without prompts:

• You specify the parameters you require and terminate the line with a semicolon
• The Compiler uses the default settings for any unspecified options
• If you omit the semicolon, the Compiler prompts you for any options that you did not specify
• Filenames specified in the command can be either a disk file or a system device