Using COBOL at BCC

COBOL at BCC is run from the Windows 3.1 system simply because it takes less room. I run it under Windows 95 at home, it works fine under either system. It also works under 98.

You can login to COBOL as COBOL01, COBOL02, COBOL03, COBOL04, COBOL05, COBOL06, COBOL07, COBOL08, COBOL09, COBOL10, COBOL11, COBOL12, COBOL13, COBOL14, COBOL15.

Login: k205n.cobol01.cis.div3 (or k205n.cobol02.cis.div3 through k205n.cobol10.cis.div3)
Password: COBOL is the new password.

We currently have these twenty versions of COBOL and only one person can be logged on to each copy at a time. Fifteen copies are available in K104.

Don't forget when working with Windows 3.1, when you see the F: prompt, key in WIN.

At BCC, when COBOL first comes up you must select Animator V2 and then there will be a series of windows that appear. You should answer YES or OK to each. Note: at home the selection of Personal COBOL will get the Animator V2 and these windows will not appear.

When COBOL comes up, the cursor is on Margin A/column 8 and you can start to key in your program. When you want to save your program, use FILE and then SAVE or SAVE AS. For your own sanity, save your program about every fifteen minutes to avoid significant lose of code if there is a problem.

When you want to compile your program, go to COMPILE and select compile program. The program will compile and either give you a clean compile or the errors that were discovered. The errors will be highlighted in your code. You can fix the errors, save and recompile.

If you saved your program and now want to bring it up to work on or compile, you should go to FILE and open for edit. This will bring up the source code for you to work with.

When you have a clean compile and you want to execute your program, save and close the program and then open for execution. Now you can select RUN and try out your program to see if it is working.

There are a lot of options within COBOL that allow you to step through your program and test it with other techniques. Try them out!

Remember, if you need help with the basics, ask a lab assistant for help or come and see me.