Micro Focus, a long-standing partner, offers Net Express with the BS2000/OSD option. This is a development environment that runs on Windows systems and allows you to develop BS2000 COBOL applications.
With its BS2000/OSD option, the Net Express development environment offers all the functions required to develop BS2000 applications rapidly and efficiently. In addition to pure batch and openUTM applications with access to the LEASY, SESAM/SQL and UDS/SQL data storage systems, it is also possible to develop client/server applications and test them on a PC.
Batch and interactive applications that use the openUTM transaction monitor can be developed and tested on the Windows workstation using Net Express before being put into productive operation on a BS2000 platform. Transferring development activities to the PC in this way results in decisive improvements in terms of productivity and the quality of the software.
Client/server applications that use a BS2000/OSD server can be developed and tested under Net Express using the BS2000/OSD option. Net Express provides a uniform development environment for both the client and server components of the application as well as a runtime environment for productive deployment on the client and permits the client and server to be tested on a single platform with the help of the BS2000/OSD option.
Integrated development environment
Net Express offers a highly efficient development environment, and together with its BS2000/OSD option it represents a complete suite of tools and wizards for application development. A wizard guides the user right from the outset when creating a project, thus allowing BS2000-specific options to be generated automatically.
By using project management functions, it is possible to maintain even very large applications with ease. The various generation steps are defined once and can then be started with a simple mouse click using the Rebuild function. Designed for COBOL programmers, the editor also makes it easier to edit source code. The control functions for managing the source files permit people to work together in teams without one programmer overwriting the changes made by another.
Modern COBOL compiler
Net Express contains a modern compiler based on the proven strenths of COBOL and offers the following key features for the development of BS2000 applications:
compatibility with BS2000’s COBOL2000 compiler can be set by means of a directive. All constructs that do not meet requirements are marked as incompatible.
full support of the BS2000 EBCDIC code with the BS2000/OSD option
support for object-oriented COBOL development and debugging
functions for simulating the BS2000 system environment:
For development purposes on the PC the Net Express BS2000/OSD option simulates specific functions of the BS2000 runtime environment. These include user and task switches, whose settings can be stored in files so that they are available to the applications at runtime. A tool sets job variables in the Net Express development environment and makes them available for the application.
openUTM simulation
The openUTM simulation of the BS2000/OSD options is based on the definitions for the KDCDEF utility in BS2000. In this way, an openUTM application is described with all its parameters such as transactions and subprograms. The KDCCECK tool allows KDCDEF files designed or edited on the PC to be checked for syntax. The BS2000 offloading wizard sets all the parameters required for the compilation and the linkage run of an openUTM application and automatically ensures the application starts correctly in testing. The KDCS interface is supported for communication between the application programs and openUTM. Its parameters can be displayed and modified interactively at runtime of the application by means of the TRACE function.
In this way, the application logic and the associated transaction limits, the links of the various subprograms via openUTM and the control of mask output are visualized and rapid error localization enabled. The FHS formatting system is simulated to support formatted dialogs. IFG format libraries can be unloaded on the host and transferred to the PC.
There they can be edited using a special mask editor (SMSEDX) and then transferred to the host. The mask library is accessed at runtime of the application on the PC. The corresponding mask is formatted in accordance with the rules of the BS2000 formatting system, and color settings can be configured.
The keyboard inputs and screen outputs of formatted openUTM dialogs can be logged with the dialog test recorder. These recordings can be used for the automatic repetition of a logged test run. A special viewer (DTRVIEW) allows the logged test results to be compared and permits rapid error analysis if there are differences.
Simulation of the openUTM client
For the purpose of developing client/server applications with an openUTM application as the server, the Net Express BS2000/OSD option contains a simulation of the openUTM client. The client can thus also be developed and tested with Net Express. During testing, the client application can communicate with a server application running under the openUTM simulation of the BS2000/OSD option. In this way, the interaction between the two parts of the application can be tested on a single platform. Both parts of the application can be animated simultaneously, and the server can be monitored with the openUTM TRACE. For communication with a “real” openUTM application, the corresponding software is required.
Simulation of the LEASY, SESAM/SQL and UDS/SQL data storage systems
The Net Express BS2000/OSD option permits simulation modules to be selected for the BS2000 data storage systems LEASY, SESAM/SQL and UDS/SQL at installation. All DB simulations contain different utilities that are added to the integrated development environment of Net Express at installation. They enable structural information and test data to be taken from the host’s databases. The DB simulation modules allow BS2000 aplications that use these database systems to be fully maintained and further developed or implemented anew, regardless of whether they are batch or interactive applications. When a project like this is created, the BS2000 offloading wizard generates the corresponding database-specific settings for the compiler and the linkage editor.
The database simulation modules perform the database accesses on the PC and behave at the interface to the COBOL program completely analogously to the original database on the BS2000. This applies, in particular, to the returned parameters, such as the database status, thus allowing error situations to be tested in the simulation as well. In openUTM applications, the transactions of the databases are also coordinated with openUTM transactions in the simulation. Consequently, this interaction can be tested with the BS2000/OSD option as well.
TRACE function for database accesses
All database simulations are equipped with a convenient TRACE function with a graphical user interface. At the interface between the COBOL program and the database, all the parameters that are passed can be displayed and modified interactively. They can be displayed both before and after the call, thus allowing the effects of each action to be analyzed immediately. Help functions explain the possible causes of database or access errors.
The TRACES allow you to switch between different forms of representation for the database accesses. Whereas the current parameter contents of the CALL interface can be displayed for individual accesses to the database, the current history of database accesses can be followed in a table at any time. This type of representation is also possible for UDS/SQL applications that use the COBOL DML.
In addition, the TRACE function for UDS/SQL, which displays all currency tables, provides a detailed impression of the internal connections within the UDS/SQL database, which are of decisive importance for programming and error analysis.