To create a .NET project in the IDE

  1. Click File > New > Project.
  2. Type .NET in the Search field.
    Restriction: .NET COBOL projects only support Windows and Linux OS. The Create a new project dialog box, however, shows other platforms as supported.
  3. Select COBOL from the first drop-down menu (which contains All languages by default).

    Both .NET Framework and .NET templates are listed.

  4. Select the .NET template that you want to use.
  5. Click Next.
  6. In the Project name field, type a name for the project.
  7. In the Location field, browse to the directory in which to store the project, and click Next.
  8. On the Additional Information page, specify the following:
    • Framework - this release supports .NET 8.0.
    • Automatically include compilable items - specify whether COBOL source files should be added to the project file. Checking this can help keep the project smaller.
    • Automatically include non-compilable project items - specify whether non-source files such as copybooks should be added to the project file. Leaving this unchecked can help keep the project smaller.
    • Use COBOL Runtime Metapackage - only check this if you want the project to include the COBOL Run-Time System NuGet metapackage. This package is included for compatibility with .NET projects created with earlier releases of Visual COBOL.

      Micro Focus recommends you leave this option unchecked for new projects. In this case, projects link to the MicroFocus.COBOL.Runtime.Core NuGet package which has the core functionality. If you need to add any additional Micro Focus COBOL NuGet packages, use the Application page in the project's properties to specify any extra ones. This can help keep your applications smaller, and with fewer dependencies. See To package Micro Focus COBOL .NET assemblies with a .NET application.

  9. Click Create.
Note: An alternative way to create a .NET project is to use the dotnet new command. See Creating a .NET Project Using the Command Line.

Other Micro Focus COBOL functionality to include with a .NET project

  • If you need to include SQL support in your project there are additional steps you need to perform. See Configuring a .NET Project for SQL Support for more information.
  • If you will be deploying the project to an Azure .NET environment you need to modify the settings of the CALLFH and CALLSORT directives in order to avoid dependency issues with the C runtime. See Deploying to Azure .NET in .NET Known Issues and Restrictions for more information.
Parent topic: Creating a .NET Project