Using the RecordEditor with Cobol
The RecordEditor can edit Cobol Data files in 2 ways
As well as editing files, The RecordEditor can also
The first step in editing a file is to import the Cobol Copybook. To do this select Record Layouts >>> Load Cobol Copybook from the main menu
The next screen to be displayed includes:
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Field | Description | ||||||||||||||||
Cobol Copybook |
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Split Copybook | How the copybook should be divided up (No Split - one record in the file; on redefine - Split into separate record on a Redefine Statement; on 01 - split into separate records for each 01 level). | ||||||||||||||||
Font Name | Blank for native files. Normally left blank for PC files; For mainframe EBCDIC use cp037. | ||||||||||||||||
Binary Format | Indicates the format of Numeric fields (in particular Comp* Cobol Fields). The Values to use
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File Structure | Fixed Length Binary For files with multiple records:
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System. | Basically a way of grouping Copybooks together in to logical systems. |
If you use the Split on Redefine or the Split on 01 to split the copybook into multiple records, the system will display the Record Definition screen. On this screen you can define the criteria for when to use each record using the Field and Field Value fields or if more complicated criteria are required, use the buttons to the right.
Note: When a Cobol Copybook is loaded the RecordEditor sets a Cobol Copybook field to the Copybook name. When you reload a Cobol-Copybook, the RecordEditor will delete any copybook where the Cobol Copybook field is the same as the copybook being loaded !!!.
Once the copybook is loaded, it is then a matter of selecting the file
and Selecting your Copybook in the RecordLayout Field.
Note: You can use the system combo to limit Record-Layouts to a single System.
The Cobol Editor (shell script runEditorFileCopybook.sh) started life as specifically using Cobol Copybooks. These days its supports Cobol Copbooks, 2 XML layout formats, 2 csv layout formats. The primary screen looks like:
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Field | Description | ||||||||||||||||
File | File to be edited | ||||||||||||||||
File Structure | For files with a single record length use Fixed Length Binary For files with multiple records:
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Copybook Type | Format of the Record Layout. Use Cobol Copybook for Cobol Copybooks | ||||||||||||||||
Split Copybook | How the copybook should be divided up (No Split - one record in the file; on redefine - Split into separate record on a Redefine Statement; on 01 - split into separate records for each 01 level). | ||||||||||||||||
Copybook | Cobol copybook (or Record Layout description file) | ||||||||||||||||
Numeric Format | Indicates the format of Numeric fields (in particular Comp* Cobol Fields). The Values to use
Note: Same as field as Binary format in the "Importing Cobol Copybooks" screen. |
There are some options that can be set to make the RecordEditor easier to use with Cobol Copybooks / files. To make these changes
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Table Row | Description
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CopybookReader | Type of Copybooks to be read. Change to Cobol Copybook
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DefaultIO | File Structure - determines what reader is used to read the file. Should be changed to Fixed Length Binary
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DefaultBin | Binary Format Change as follows:
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The compare function will compare Selected fields from 2 files (either the same Copybook or different copybooks) and display the results in a formatted way. The Compare utility essentially does field to field compare, this allow you to compare comp fields with either comp-3 or zoned decimal fields.
Compare Table View:
Single record view:
One use for the RecordEditor's compare function is the standard Cobol Input / Output program.
Input File ----> Cobol-Program ----> Output File
| Inbput Copybook | Output Copybook
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|---|---|
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3 01 In-File. 4 03 In-Field-1 Pic X(5). 5 03 In-Field-2 Pic s9(5) comp-3. 6 03 In-Field-3 Pic X(5). |
3 01 Out-File. 4 03 Out-Field-1 Pic X(5). 5 03 Out-Field-2 Pic --,--9. 6 03 Out-Field-3 Pic X(5). 7 03 Out-Field-4 Pic 9999/Z9/Z9. 8 03 Out-Field-5 Pic X(8). |
With the RecordEditor Compare you can still compare the 2 files even though they have different number fields and fields are a different format (e.g. In-Filed-2 / Out-Field-2).
The compare function can be used to compare the output from the program (prior to change) with the output from the updated program. The field's that have changed will be highlighted in Green. In this case only Out-Field-5 changes.
A less obvious use is to exclude the fields that are expected to change (in this case Out-Field-5):
You can now do very large runs (100,000+ records) and compare the result, there should be no difference (Since field-5 is not compared). This is a good check that you have not changed something inadvertently.
A less obvious use for the RecordEditor is on-line testing. If you seperate front-end screen handling from the backend-Business logic, you can use the RecordEditor to setup and check the results.
In Mainframe-Cics I have worked with systems where the front-end program only does Screen handling with all business logic done in backend programs:
Front-End Program -- Call --> Backend Program
To Test the Backend we used a driver program like:
Read Screen-Record
while not end-of-file
Call Backend-Programs Screen-Record Response-Record
Move Screen-Record to Output-Input-Details
Move Response-Record to Output-Response-Details
write output-Details
end-while
The Screen-Records where written / maintained with File-Aid and results where checked with File-Aid / Compare utilites.
You can setup / maintain standard scripts and is generally very reliable. It works well when you have complicated business logic.
The copy function is still being developed (and will have a few problems). It can be reached from the RecordEditor File Menu (File >>> File Copy Menu). Currently there are 2 functions