Enhancements for Visual COBOL 2.1 for Visual Studio 2012

Integration with Visual Studio 2012

Visual COBOL provides support for the new features of Visual Studio 2012 and the Visual Studio 2012 Integrated Shell, including:

Compatibility (Project Round-Tripping)

The project round-tripping features enables you to use Visual Studio 2012 to open and edit a project created with Visual Studio 2010 without upgrading or changing anything. After closing the project, you can still open it in Visual Studio 2010 to make further changes.

These are the requirements and the restrictions for using project round-tripping with COBOL projects:

Note:

• If you are switching between Visual Studio 2012 and Visual Studio 2013, your managed COBOL application can target versions of the .NET Framework 2 to 4.5.1.
• Starting with Visual COBOL for Visual Studio 2012, the COBOL SQL CLR projects have a new project format. COBOL SQL CLR projects created with Visual Studio 2010 will be upgraded when opened in Visual Studio 2012 or later.

.NET Framework 4.5 Compatibility

Provides support for creating managed COBOL applications that target version 4.5 of the .NET Framework.

Reference Manager

Supports the new Add Reference dialog box which provides a faster way for adding references to your projects.

Browse Code in Solution Explorer Hub

Supports the enhanced Solution Explorer Hub without the in-built class/object browser features.

Previewing Files in the Code Editor

Supports code preview for COBOL files which enables you to explore the files in your project without opening them in the editor.

Loading Projects Asynchronously

Enables you to load your source code in the IDE and start working on it faster even when you have large applications.

Search

Supports the enhanced search features across the IDE for COBOL projects.

Visual Studio 2012 Themes

Visual COBOL conforms to the new look and feel of Visual Studio 2012.

Microsoft Help Viewer 2.0

Provides support for the Micro Focus Help in Microsoft Help Viewer 2.0.

New SQL CLR Project Templates

The COBOL SQL CLR project template has a new format. COBOL SQL CLR projects created with Visual Studio 2010 will be upgraded when you open them in Visual Studio 2012.

Windows 8

Visual COBOL supports Windows 8.

Coexistence with Visual COBOL for Visual Studio 2010

Visual COBOL 2.1 for Visual Studio 2012 and Visual COBOL 2.1 for Visual Studio 2010 can coexist on the same machine. You can use either one of these versions to edit COBOL projects that are supported by the project round-tripping feature in Visual Studio 2012.