Typical development process example

This section provides an example of how to produce an XML-enabled application. These instructions assume that Visual COBOL including XML Extensions (version 2.2 or later) is installed on your computer.

Note: More examples and information about complete sample application programs can be found in Appendix A: XML Extensions Examples, Appendix B: XML Extensions Sample Application Programs, and in the XML Extensions samples directory, which is found via the Samples Browser (click on the Samples link under your installed Visual COBOL product).

The basic steps to developing an XML-enabled application are as follows:

Design the COBOL Data Structure and Program Logic. Develop a COBOL program, or modify an existing one, using XML Extensions statements.
Compile the Program. Use the Visual COBOL compiler with compiler directive XMLGEN(WS), which, by default, results in the production of the XML-format symbol table.
Note: On the development machine, a large XML-format symbol table may necessitate an increase in system resources, including the addition of hardware (for example, memory and/or disc space) or system configuration modifications.
Execute the COBOL Program. Test the program and repeat steps 1 and 2, as necessary.
Deploy the Application. Distribute the XML Extensions deployable files.
These files consist of the XML Extensions library and the underlying XML parser that this library uses. See Deployment Components for details.

There are further sections that describe each of the basic steps involved in the example provided, and they include explanations of how more functionality is added to the program.