zCOBOL – Portable Mainframe COBOL compiler Posted by russell.smitheram Wednesday Feb 4, 2009 Tags: z/OS & OS390 Comments: No Comments

zCOBOL is a new Portable Mainframe COBOL compiler tool. The developers of zCOBOL are Don Higgins and Melvyn Maltz. zCOBOL has been written in structured conditional macro assembler. It can run on any J2SE platform including Linux and Windows operating systems. It can also be ported to HLASM if you want it running on the z9/z10 mainframes.

zCOBOL has a framework which makes the compilation of COBOL programs of multiple dialects into multiple target language executables a lot easier. zCOBOL supports the unique features and extensions in IBM COBOL, Micro Focus COBOL, and other older dialects of COBOL. The user can select the target language environments. Choices include IBM HLASM assembler for z9/z10, Java, C++ for Microsoft platforms, and HLA/MASM assembler for all Intel platforms.

Mainframe data types supported include zoned decimal, packed decimal, short floating point COMP-1, long floating point COMP-2, binary half word, full word, and double word. The initial release of zCOBOL includes support for CICS COBOL and SOA SEND/RECEIVE message extensions with demos targeted at Linux and Windows platforms.

zCOBOL-generated programs can be statically or dynamically linked with other HLASM compatible assembler programs or other zCOBOL programs. The zCOBOL compiler has been developed as a flexible tool for testing COBOL applications without rewriting existing programs. zCOBOL became feasible with the recent addition of z390 structurured conditional macro assembler extensions. Tools such as zCOBOL can help in seamlessly bridging legacy and modern IT solutions.

Further details about zCOBOL for those interested in using or contributing to zCOBOL are available at the website www.zcobol.org.