As described elsewhere, Micro Focus recommends that you always use projects when using Visual COBOL, as most of the functionality in Eclipse requires a project file. If you must work without a project, however, this section includes advice on doing so when you have a large number of files.
You can use Eclipse to edit, compile and debug standalone COBOL programs without creating a project file first. This is a quick way to start editing, compiling and debugging your application code in Visual COBOL. The IDE is preconfigured with the most commonly used Compiler directives for COBOL development. Working with standalone files can be useful when you have a large code base and you only need to edit a small number of the source files.
To open standalone files in Eclipse:
Eclipse offers limited support for developing standalone files compared with the functionality available if you are using a project. See Related Information for information on any restrictions, on which Compiler directives Eclipse uses for standalone files, and for how to compile and debug standalone files.