What is isCOBOL Evolve?  [+]

What are the benefits of an isCOBOL Evolve approach?  [+]

How compatible is isCOBOL Evolve with my current COBOL?  [+]

What platforms does isCOBOL Evolve support?  [+]

My company is concerned about the future of COBOL, how does isCOBOL Evolve alleviate that concern?  [+]

What impact does isCOBOL Evolve have on developers?  [+]

What options are there for debugging isCOBOL environments?  [+]

Is there an IDE available with isCOBOL Evolve?  [+]

What data access options exist with isCOBOL Evolve?  [-]
There are multiple ISAM file system and database options available with isCOBOL Evolve. The isCOBOL environment offers isCOBOL ISAM Server if you are looking to deploy in a robust client/server environment. If you are looking to deploy in a compact, portable environment, the 100% Java-based Veryant JISAM (a Java-based index file system) is an additional file system option for isCOBOL.

In terms of RDBMS options, isCOBOL Evolve supports major databases such as Oracle, DB2, MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server. The isCOBOL Compiler automatically translates ESQL to JDBC, and the Veryant Database Bridge is available if you wish to move from ISAM files to a relational database without changing COBOL code or learning ESQL.

The following list briefly describes each file system option:

isCOBOL ISAM Server

• High capacity, scalable, transactional, client/server indexed file data access.
• Written in C/C++, available on Windows, aix4, aix5-32, aix5-64, hpux, linux, macosx, sco, soli386, solsparc-32
• Full Transaction Support
• Includes ODBC Driver for Windows
• Supports Live Backup
• Includes several feature-rich management utilities such as ISMIGRATE
• Technical characteristics:
  • Maximum file size: 16,700,000 terabytes (16 Exabytes)
  • Maximum number of keys: no limit
  • Maximum number of records: no limit
  • Maximum key length: no limit
  • Maximum number of segments per key: 16
  • Maximum fixed record length: 65,535 bytes
  • Maximum variable record length: 16,700,000 terabytes (16 Exabytes)

Veryant JISAM

• Supplied with isCOBOL Evolve
• Written entirely in Java, so it runs anywhere, even on a mobile phone
• Utility (‘JUTIL’) provided for basic file management
• Utility (‘ISMIGRATE’) provided for one-step migration of data files from Vision
• Technical characteristics:
  • Maximum file size: 9 EB
  • Maximum number of keys: no limit
  • Maximum number of records: no limit
  • Maximum key length: 256 bytes
  • Maximum number of segments per key: 16
  • Maximum record length: 32,767 bytes

Other RDBMS

• Other supported RDBMS options include any that provide a JDBC driver. Oracle, DB2, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server and DBMaker have been tested and verified with isCOBOL APS. These databases can be accessed with COBOL I/O statements or ESQL using the ESQL compiler and/or Database Bridge available with the isCOBOL Evolve environment.
• • The isCOBOL Compiler recognizes ESQL and translates it into Java source code, which then directly interfaces with JDBC., so no database-specific pre-compilation is required. Advantages to this approach are that you now have open access to the COBOL/ESQL source code which becomes part of your application. The interface to the database (i.e. the JDBC driver) is provided by and supported by the database vendor, and there is no need to relink runtime libraries.
• The Veryant Database Bridge is a 4GL technology that reads a specified COBOL file description from existing COBOL source files and generates an isCOBOL file system interface implemented with ESQL in COBOL. When you run a program, the COBOL file I/O operations are routed through the generated COBOL/ESQL interface with talks to the RDBMS through the JDBC driver provided by the database vendor. There is no need to change your COBOL code or learn ESQL. This method often proves preferable to middleware interface layers because now you have open access to the COBOL/ESQL source code which becomes part of your application. This is comparable to other 4GLs which gain access through a proprietary C interface layer.

Can data sources be mixed and matched within an application?  [+]

What advantages are there to using the Embedded SQL compiler available with the isCOBOL environment?  [+]

How hard is it to move to isCOBOL Evolve?  [+]

My code is sprinkled throughout the programs for Thin Client. What might I expect for a migration path for isCOBOL Evolve in this area?  [+]

What user interface (UI) features are not supported by isCOBOL Evolve?  [+]

Suppose I find a data inefficiency and want to write a new version of ‘get data,’ is that possible?  [+]

How does isCOBOL Evolve run COBOL programs in a Java environment?  [+]

After moving to isCOBOL Evolve, what am I maintaining – COBOL or Java source code? Also, what happens to highly commented COBOL code?  [+]

I’ve heard of COBOL being wrapped or converted to Java before, but developers tell me it is just turned into spaghetti code. What is unique about isCOBOL Evolve?  [+]

What about performance in general? Are there any performance issues moving from COBOL to Java technology?  [+]

I’ve seen specific issues where Embedded SQL (ESQL) generated at the Java level needs to be tweaked in order to perform correctly. How does isCOBOL Evolve address this?  [+]

How does isCOBOL Evolve facilitate integration between COBOL and non-COBOL application environments and platforms?   [+]

What if I want to distribute my isCOBOL application out to several different devices with a variety of look and feel, connectivity and file system requirements?   [+]

Can I run standard syntax COBOL programs at the PDA/CDC level with isCOBOL Evolve?  [+]